Patrol Cooking

[johndaigler]

"The majority of the patrol leader's work at summer camp has to do with the patrol cooking."

 

Is this an absolute??

 

jd

[DugNevius]

eagledad- Yes there are other ways to build leadership and teamwork outside of patrol cooking. They all can be done while patrol cooking as well. Nothing is lost by cooking in patrols instead of eating at a mess hall and more is gained. The more experience our boys get the better in the long run.

[KoreaScouter]

Patrol cooking is one technique to teach and reinforce teamwork, and attention to detail. But, it's only one technique. There are many others, and they should all be used in some sort of balance. I think the BSA emphasis on cooking is where it needs to be -- part of the overall advancement requirements for First Class, and Cooking MB as an elective. In out Troop, our emphasis on patrol cooking mirrors BSA's. If we thought we needed more, we'd have more.

 

I also happen to like the recent Cooking MB requirements change to include home cooking as well as patrol cooking.

 

Just my opinion; I could be completely wrong...

KS

[PMON]

Go with the scouts cooking for their own patrols. I've been on campouts where there was pressure to combine patrols because of low turnout. I resist this unless there is only one scout left in a particular patrol. The patrol method is there to help them rely on themselves within the patrol structure. We have tents, a dining fly, rope, cooking gear, and tools for each patrol. It is all clearly marked with the patrol name, so no other patrols can claim ownership. The adult patrol always camps in its own site with its own equipment, usually closest to the new scout patrol. The adult patrol is to show the rest of the patrols, by example, how to operate properly within the patrol method system. I view each patrol site as a "house". It is to be respected, with no trespassing unless invited in. The adults should invite scouts to their site, show them some camping skills, let them interact to establish adult-scout relationships...then send them to their "house". Meal efficiency is done through repackaging. Pancake batter can be mixed and put into a clean screw-top soda bottle instead of lugging a box of mix, eggs, and milk to the campsite. Use paper plates if you are going to have a campfire. Greasy plates make fine firestarters. Get rid of the mess kits (boy are they named right!) and get a sturdy plastic plate, cup, and spoon. Teach 'em these tricks and meals will be much shorter. Camping is about enjoying the outdoors, not taking hours to make meals and clean up.

[hacimsaalk12]

in our troop we dont cook in patrols, unless it is neccessary. we cook as a troop b/c we have found that in our troop it works better. the only times we cook as patrols is A. We have an extremely large group on the campout or B. It's a cooking contest. id just find out what works for you. if patrol cooking works better, go with that. if troop cooking works better.

 

the +'s to troop cooking: more hands to help, most of the time making for faster results, more help cleaning up, and it also helps to unify the troop, b/c they realize that if they dont help each other, they dont eat.

 

the -'s to troop cooking: more dishes to clean up, more pans needed to cook.

 

i dont know much about the +'s & -'s of patrol cooking, as our troop doesnt really use this method.

[FScouter]

"in our troop we dont cook in patrols, unless it is neccessary. we cook as a troop b/c we have found that in our troop it works better."

 

Is our purpose really to find the most efficient camping methods? Or something bigger?

[Kudu]

This is one of those rare occasions when FScouter is absolutely correct :-/

 

As the BSA mistakenly attributes to Baden-Powell, "The Patrol Method is not ONE method in which Scouting can be carried on. It is the ONLY method!"

 

Kudu

 

[kraut-60]

Hello all, Great topic. In the troop I serve in as ASM we practice patrol cooking as a standard operating procedure for the troop on all outdoor camping trips, and especially for summer camp. In fact, the troop will only choose a summer camp if it offers the patrol cooking option. As such, we do not attend the same summer camp year after year, instead we cycle between 3-4 out of council camps that offer patrol cooking. The patrol method is reinforced by cooking as a patrol. At last summers camp we had only 8 boys including the SPL and ASPL. The SM,SPL,ASPL,and I sat down and had the the SPL/ASPL write up the duty roster to assign 2 boys per meal to cooking and 2 other boys to clean-up. 1 boy out of both cooking and clean-up teams were additionally tasked with fire and water duties. the SPL/ASPL were not assigned cooking or cleaning duties , but were instead assinged the jobs of PL/APL for all meals and other duties. Basically it was up to them( the SPL/ASPL) to make sure the other duties were carried out by the scout assigned to on the patrol duty roster. How did it work you may be asking?....It worked pretty well, yes there were the usual glitches(late to pick-up food at the commisary,food burned to the bottom of the pot,etc...) but overall the best proof that what our scouts learned and practiced was that the SM and myself did not have to chase around getting scouts to do their assigned duties and on Wed. afternoon for the evening meal, the SM and I had to be woken up to eat with the boys (we had done our mile swim that afternoon and were enjoying a well deserved over forty nap). The SPL/ASPL got a lot of day-in, day-out leadership experience, all the new scouts(3)learned how to share duty and responsibility with other scouts and all ate rather well.

[hacimsaalk12]

""in our troop we dont cook in patrols, unless it is neccessary. we cook as a troop b/c we have found that in our troop it works better."

 

Is our purpose really to find the most efficient camping methods? Or something bigger? "

 

when you say something bigger, what do you mean? teamwork? leadership? reliance on others? im just wondering.

 

i know we probably should change up our method of cooking, but we're having enough problems getting simple things done (mostly b/c of leadership.), so i dont think now is the time to try to change that.

[Venividi]

i know we probably should change up our method of cooking, but we're having enough problems getting simple things done (mostly b/c of leadership.), so i dont think now is the time to try to change that.

 

Our exerience was that when we switched from a patrol cooking summer camp to a dining hall camp, the youth leadership actually got worse. There weren't a lot of other opportunities to lead where the patrol actually experienced discomfort as a result of not working together as a patrol. When we returned to a patrol cooking camp, the patrol had to work together, and the patrol had to lead, or a patrol was very hungry by the time they got around to getting the meals ready, and they saw other patrols eating and cleaned up before they even started eating. What I am trying to say is that we saw patrol cooking fostering leadership, not leadership fostering cooking.