Author Topic: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?  (Read 9582 times)

Blodwyn Pig

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cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« on: 11 November, 2017, 06:35:22 pm »
Does 'every one' take stove, pots plate spork etc, or do some folks  'wing it' ,  ie kebab shop, cafe, pub ,chippy. Granted not always available, but sundries could be carried. Seems a lot of stuff just to eat?  Or is the campside cooking part of the pleasure?  Sticky burnt pans and all that, seems a lot of faff for noodles!

Kim

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Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #1 on: 11 November, 2017, 06:59:51 pm »
Not cooking is a perfectly legitimate option, at least in places where there are reasonable alternatives.  I think most people use their stoves primarily to make caffeinated drinks, and I've frequently observed that I can save almost an hour of morning faff (read: valuable extra time in bed) compared to the average YACFer simply by not being a tea drinker.

A campsite fry-up is certainly part of the pleasure though.

fuaran

  • rothair gasta
Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #2 on: 11 November, 2017, 07:08:16 pm »
For shorter trips in warmer weather, I think its fine to just eat cold food. eg you can take a tub of ready made pasta for a few meals. Or sandwiches etc, easy to buy more bread along the way. Or muesli is OK for breakfast.
If its just for one or two nights, I often don't bother with a stove.

Disadvantage is ready made food can be bulkier and heavier. eg much less weight to carry dried pasta / cous cous.
And in cold weather, its great to get a warm meal at the end of the day.

Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #3 on: 11 November, 2017, 07:11:59 pm »
I know a lot of people do the whole cooking thing for the vibe of it, but for me, I'm not fussed.

I do take cooking stuff with me on a camping tour, but only really to make a cup of coffee on a chilly morning or to heat up some tin of stuff if other options are limited.

I think if I was touring in Outer Mongolia, I'd get my camping cooking shit together. But in Western Europe? There are cafes, bars and restuarants...
Those wonderful norks are never far from my thoughts, oh yeah!

Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #4 on: 11 November, 2017, 07:25:06 pm »
Depends what I want, camping where I use the bike to get around or cycling where I'm using the tent as somewhere to rest. 
The first I'll take a Trangia and cook from scratch, the second I'll take a jetboil for a coffee and maybe re hydrate something instant.
I like both but every trip I do is far more one than the other and I've known which before setting off.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #5 on: 11 November, 2017, 07:36:28 pm »
Not camped recently but seldom went in for full cooking lark. Mostly did the 'just add boiling water' thing for various powders with which I travelled, packaging up in advance.
Porridge: oats, skimmed milk powder, raisins.
Instant mash
Cuppa soups
Coffee/tea/hot choc

Washing-up was less tiresome.

Also works in hotel bedrooms if you don't want formal dining.

Kim

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Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #6 on: 11 November, 2017, 07:46:47 pm »
[...]
Washing-up was less tiresome.

Minimising washing-up is, IME, key to harmonious camp-cooking.  Just adding water is a proven strategy, as are meals where you bung everything in one pan, and magic non-stick frying pans that can be wiped clean with a tissue.

Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #7 on: 11 November, 2017, 08:32:04 pm »
When I started cycle camping, 22 years ago, I carried a Trangia and a plate etc.  I did that for at least 10 years before it occurred to me that I seldom cooked properly, simply heated something if needed.  Now I carry a compact gas burner which fits inside a little pot which is big enough to boil a mug and  a half of water; so enough for a cup of tea, noodles or a tin of something if really needed.  Add to that a tin mug and a spork, and that is all the cooking kit since the knife is already there on my Swiss Army knife - the gas canister fits in the mug.  All of my camping kit has to be low bulk to keep me happy, and a Trangia is just too much.

Cudzoziemiec

  • Ride adventurously and stop for a brew.
Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #8 on: 11 November, 2017, 08:35:40 pm »
"Just add water" does not necessarily minimise washing up if the product is porridge!
Riding a concrete path through the nebulous and chaotic future.

Kim

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Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #9 on: 11 November, 2017, 08:40:42 pm »
"Just add water" does not necessarily minimise washing up if the product is porridge!

It does if the porridge comes in a pot.

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #10 on: 11 November, 2017, 10:47:03 pm »
Mostly made porridge in a mug. Washing up is most tiresome when things containing food are actively heated.
Mug porridge is less sticky than pan porridge and a pan used just to boil water needs no cleaning.

αdαmsκι

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Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #11 on: 12 November, 2017, 10:03:10 am »
I've done both. When I cycle camped my way to Greece I took a sub 1 kg tent and didn't bother with cooking stuff apart from a spork. Finding food across Europe wasn't any issue, but I wasn't anywhere remote. If I did this again I'd probably take a small plastic dish to allow me to prepare salads etc. in the evening.

On tours with Pippa we've taken pots & pans. We took one pan, two plastic camping bowls & cups when we spent a week cycle camping around The Netherlands and made dinner every night with that set. When we went away for nine months last year we took a bit more stuff, including two different sized PrimeTech pots that have a non stick coating. Part of the fun was sitting around in the evening making dinner, and in a lot of places where we were camping there wasn't anywhere we could have bought food.
What on earth am I doing here on this beautiful day?! This is the only life I've got!!

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Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #12 on: 12 November, 2017, 11:12:35 am »
I've done both as well. On the whole I like to be able to make tea, at least, and once you have the stove and pan for that you are halfway to cooking equipment. The only times I don't bother now are if I know that there is a cafe on site or I'm visiting people so I am only going to be at the tent for sleeping. We do have different levels of equipment depending on whether we are cycle camping or car camping and depending on where we are going and how long we are away.
Quote from: Kim
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Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #13 on: 12 November, 2017, 11:21:02 am »
I should add that it depends who is likely to be cooking as well. I like the 1950s meths picnic stove because it's quiet and I can talk  with it lit, and hear what the duck is up to with it lit and it is very safe, whilst clarion prefers the gas primus that sounds like a rocket but gets you to a cup of tea very fast. When I was single, I used a canister top msr titan which was tiny and worked fabulously. We still carry it as a back up.
Quote from: Kim
^ This woman knows what she's talking about.

Oscar's dad

  • aka Septimus Fitzwilliam Beauregard Partridge
Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #14 on: 13 November, 2017, 08:56:57 am »
A definite "Yeah!" from me!

This year I toured alone for five days.  I cooked every evening and did breakfasts too.  On my final night decided to see if it was possible to cook a steak dinner with all the trimmings on a Trangia - it is...!





Last year four of us mid-Essex chaps toured up to the Yorkshire Dales and cooked for ourselves most evenings.  We pooled our cooking kit which resulted in a smashing camp kitchen:

Untitled by Steve Rowley, on Flickr

For me cooking on tour is part of the fun as I like the self sufficiency of it.  Sure, you have to carry extra weight but that's fine.

Oscar's dad

  • aka Septimus Fitzwilliam Beauregard Partridge
Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #15 on: 13 November, 2017, 09:00:15 am »
Huh?  I can't work out why the bottom picture has rotated by 90degs and can't seem to fix it but you get the idea.

LEE

  • "Shut Up Jens" - Legs.
Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #16 on: 13 November, 2017, 09:45:20 am »
Yeah.

It gives you the option to cook.  If you are carrying enough stuff to make a breakfast brew then a couple of stackable pots don't really add much weight.

The "Faccombe 4" tended to eat at cafes and restaurants during the day and prepare a meal in the evening.  Sometimes the evening meal was a "cold buffet" (bread, cheese, meats..etc and sometimes just heated up tinned Cassoullet.  However, you can't beat a hot brew and a Lardon Omelette in the morning.  The smell of cooking bacon is sure to get everyone out of their sleeping bags.

Just make sure you buy a Trangia non-stick stackable pan set. Non-stick makes like 1000% easier.
Some people say I'm self-obsessed but that's enough about them.

Oscar's dad

  • aka Septimus Fitzwilliam Beauregard Partridge
Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #17 on: 13 November, 2017, 10:01:18 am »
+1 to non-stick Trangia pans.

And also  :thumbsup: to Trangias.  I haven't use any other type of stove except a white box stove, which also runs on meths, but can't see myself changing away from Trangias as they do the job so well.

Kim

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Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #18 on: 13 November, 2017, 01:03:21 pm »
+1 to non-stick Trangia pans.

Thirded.  At least the frying one.  It's much less important for the others.  My Trangia had the regular aluminium pans, but I picked up the non-stick lid cheaply in a sale, and it's a massive improvement for frying.


Quote
And also  :thumbsup: to Trangias.  I haven't use any other type of stove except a white box stove, which also runs on meths, but can't see myself changing away from Trangias as they do the job so well.

Trangias are hard to beat for real cooking, simply because of the stability and not arsing around with windshields.  Meths burners are good at simmering, fine for boiling water, and awkward for frying.  The fine control of gas is much better for frying, and the higher power means you can get your caffeine fix more quickly.  A Trangia with a gas burner is the next best thing to a suitcase car-camping stove and Real Pans.  Little lightweight gas stoves are better if you just want something compact for a brew up or emergency noodles.  Pressurised liquid fuel stoves are a faff, but will make your coffee in about the time it takes a rocket of equivalent loudness to reach orbit, and will run on nearly anything.

Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #19 on: 13 November, 2017, 01:30:50 pm »
Last year four of us mid-Essex chaps toured up to the Yorkshire Dales and cooked for ourselves most evenings.  We pooled our cooking kit which resulted in a smashing camp kitchen:
Travelling as a group or couple does change a lot of things, not only can you share the weight, it makes self catering far more economical, and you can share the effort.
 
If you are carrying enough stuff to make a breakfast brew then a couple of stackable pots don't really add much weight.
I thought along the same lines when I started camping, but the reality didn't turn out like that.  Touring on my own, I found it hard to buy food in meal quantities, it resulted in carrying what wasn't used, or wasting it, or being very restricted in what I bought.  Add to that the extra fuel needed, plus the seasoning, frying fat and utensils and before long I had a pannier full (So add in the weight of the pannier too)
I like to camp off site, or to be accurate I don't like to bother going out of my way to find a site, you can be more discrete when not cooking, plus the lack of water supply is less of an issue. 

hellymedic

  • Just do it!
Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #20 on: 13 November, 2017, 02:07:02 pm »
Cycle-camping in the far north of Sweden, it was handy to have pots in which to cook the pike my travelling companion1 had just caught to eat for dinner...

Just saying, like...

1) Dane who appeared in my rear view mirror one day and with whom I cycled north for the next 8 days.
Wild camping, wild eating, wild companionship...

Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #21 on: 13 November, 2017, 05:36:22 pm »
Forthed.

+1 to non-stick Trangia pans.

Thirded.  At least the frying one.  It's much less important for the others.  My Trangia had the regular aluminium pans, but I picked up the non-stick lid cheaply in a sale, and it's a massive improvement for frying.


Quote
And also  :thumbsup: to Trangias.  I haven't use any other type of stove except a white box stove, which also runs on meths, but can't see myself changing away from Trangias as they do the job so well.

Trangias are hard to beat for real cooking, simply because of the stability and not arsing around with windshields.  Meths burners are good at simmering, fine for boiling water, and awkward for frying.  The fine control of gas is much better for frying, and the higher power means you can get your caffeine fix more quickly.  A Trangia with a gas burner is the next best thing to a suitcase car-camping stove and Real Pans.  Little lightweight gas stoves are better if you just want something compact for a brew up or emergency noodles.  Pressurised liquid fuel stoves are a faff, but will make your coffee in about the time it takes a rocket of equivalent loudness to reach orbit, and will run on nearly anything.

We have the gas adapter, and the smaller model 27 Trangia and it's brilliant if you away longer than a night or two.

I bought the non stick frying pan when we went to lundy and it makes the thing so much better, I'm thinking about getting the non stick 1L pan as well.

D.
Somewhat of a professional tea drinker.


Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #22 on: 19 November, 2017, 03:46:09 pm »
Cycle-camping in the far north of Sweden, it was handy to have pots in which to cook the pike my travelling companion1 had just caught to eat for dinner...

Just saying, like...

1) Dane who appeared in my rear view mirror one day and with whom I cycled north for the next 8 days.
Wild camping, wild eating, wild companionship...

Hang about I thought this was a thread about food ...

I always carry cooking stuff.

The mini gas stove is vital for my multiple espresso fixes and the Trangia for my cooking, which isn't that different from my cooking at home, and usually vastly superior to what I could buy in some sad interior.

Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #23 on: 08 December, 2017, 03:50:11 am »
Mug porridge is less sticky than pan porridge and a pan used just to boil water needs no cleaning.
And boiled water, poured into mug which held the just-eaten porridge, accompanied by teabag, helps to clean the mug, if you don't mind a few porridge bits in your tea.

When backpacking in the wilds, I've done some "freezer bag" cooking - dried food in a durable plastic bag; add water, seal, keep in a warm place while it rehydrates for 5-10 minutes.  Eat out of the bag.

I've also taken all of the fixings for a from-scratch pasta meal (angel hair pasta, garlic clove, tomatoes, capers, chunk of cheese and a mini-grater) along for a first-night dinner (and eaten freeze-dried after that).  All cooked with one pot and matching pan/lid.

Re: cooking? yeah or ney to pots and pans.?
« Reply #24 on: 13 February, 2018, 02:20:39 pm »
Depends really.

Usually if I intend cooking I just take a homemade beer-can stove and boil water in a mug and add required amount to food in bag or maybe the pan. Keeps my mug clean for a brew  :) Has the advantage that the only washing up is the spoon/fork. I'm usually only fussed about having a hot brew, years of alpine climbing got me used to eating cold food on bivvies.

If I'm going on a longer trip then I'll look at a more "traditional" setup and cook food.

I think the boil water add to freezer bag type cooking came from the States where you don't want food smells around camp because of bears. Simply re-hydrating food in a sealed bag does limit the amount of odours escaping. Then again, not many bears in the Yorkshire woods  ::-)