solar - RV And Camping

A employee birthday party at Lake Piru in 2016

When you imagine campground cooking, the chuckwagon food that was prepared for cowboys in the old west comes to mind. I can imagine hearing cowboys saying, “Not beans again”. I can remember many campouts where we prepared baked beans with freshly made biscuits, yum. Also, doesn’t chuckwagon stew sound good?

Although baked beans are great with barbeque, it is not necessary for every camping trip. The food that you plan for your camping trip does not have to be the same old fare that you prepare at home or take to a picnic. It is your choice, but I personally try to stay with an outdoors style menu. There are dozens of campground cooking books available at your local bookstore or on Amazon. The following are six different outdoor cooking style ideas:

Dutch oven- Campground stew, take hamburger, potatoes, carrots, onions, and a package of stew mix, and simmer on the camp stove or firepit until done.

Dig a hole, prepare coals with firewood or charcoal, when you have a good bed of coals, put the Dutch oven in the center of the coal, mix a cobbler or cake mix, pour contents into the Dutch oven, put the lid on and cover with coals. Bury the Dutch oven with dirt. Cook for two hours.

Campfire– Our family likes to do the in-foil dinners. Get some good coals going, take tin foil and double wrap hamburger, chicken, or pork, with green peppers, onions, potatoes, and carrots. Coat with Worchester sauce. Put into a bed of coals or even on top of the grill. Turn frequently with tongs. Serve in the foil or put on a paper plate.
Camp stove– Skillet dinners cooked in a cast iron skillet, love it. Bacon frying in a pan on a camping trip is about the most delightful aroma I can imagine. I love campground breakfast.
Charcoal Barbeque- I personally do not use charcoal, it takes time to get the coals ready to cook over, and you cannot control the heat. Barbeque fare is mostly what you will cook over charcoal and you get the charcoal flavor.
Propane Barbeque- Although I believe this is more of a picnic fare; steaks, ribs, chicken, hot dogs, and hamburgers, are always a welcome cookout fare for camping.
Solar oven- Most of us do not use a solar oven, but they are sold at sporting goods stores. Making a solar oven yourself does not take a lot of time. The only issue you will run across is controlling the heat and cooking time. Most outdoor cooking fare can be cooked in a solar oven.

Various Issues with Each Cooking Method

Your campground cookout does not have to be the same old fare that you prepare at home or take to a picnic. Get a good outdoor cookbook and try something new. The Dutch oven does not have to be buried, it can be used on campfire, stove top, or on the barbeque, most campgrounds will not allow the hole in the ground style of cooking.

When you cook over a campfire, you cannot control the flame, you get soot on the bottom of the pan or skillet, and cooking times will vary greatly. Charcoal takes time to get hot, you can’t control the heat, and you get the taste of charcoal. A camp stove is the most popular camp cooking method, and my favorite camp stove is the Camp Chef brand. The Camp Chef camp stove has large burners, this helps when you are at a high altitude where the air is thinner.

I am often amazed at the amount of light that campers feel they need in their campsite, so I thought that I would write the Idiots Guide to Campsite Lighting. Forest campgrounds by nature are dark, the height of the trees in the forest often block out even the moonlight, I love it. Campfire lighting is my preference for subdued lighting at my campsite. At times, campers seem to have more light in their campsite than they likely have in their backyard patio at home.

5 Ways to Add Light to Your Campsite

Electric Lighting- If electricity is available at your campground, you can light the campsite with a shop light, clip-on lights, or work lights on a stand. I have seen these types of lighting in many campgrounds that I have worked at, personally I find this to be too harsh of lighting for a campsite.
Fuel based Lighting- For many years, campers used Kerosene or white gas for their campsite lantern. With liquid based lanterns, you need to carry and store gallon cans of kerosene or white gas, have a funnel, and often need to pour this liquid into the lantern in the dark. I used to try and remember to take care of the lantern before dark, but as I relaxed in the campsite, I would forget until I needed it. Propane lanterns are the most convenient to use at a campground, and by having a propane post that attaches to a 5-gallon propane tank, all the camper needs to do is light the lantern.
Battery Lighting- Battery operated lights for a campsite are by far the safest form of lighting, specially in a tent. There are a lot of string lights that use batteries. I use these in my campsite because they give off a low amount of light without losing my ability to star gaze. You can get some really bright halogen battery operated lanterns today, that do a better job of lighting your campsite than the old fashion propane lanterns. The other popular thing that campers do, is the head light style of flashlight or cob light, great for hands free lighting.
Solar Lighting- Solar lighting is the most safe and economical lighting choice for a camper. No batteries, gas, propane, or electric cords to store. Light your walkways with pathway lights, table with solar lantern, tent with solar lights, even flashlights are available with solar.
Candle Lighting- I used a candle lantern when I backpacked because it was light weight, I do not recommend this method of campsite lighting, however, due to the possibility of a candle falling over and starting a fire. But these candle lanterns are still available in the sporting goods stores, so they need to be mentioned.

My recommendation of campsite lighting

Although there are many forms of campsite lighting: electricity, fuel based, battery, and candles. I highly recommend solar light strings, solar lanterns, and solar flashlights. Our landfills are full of used batteries, fuel-based lanterns are messy and potentially bad for the environment, and candles can tip over and ruin your belongings. Renewable energy is the safest and most economical form of lighting for your campsite.

Tag: solar

Campground Cooking: Not beans again!

Idiots Guide to Campsite Lighting