7 Kitchen Hacks For Camping
Summer camping is tons of fun for the whole family, and these 7 Kitchen Hacks For Camping will make everything easier for you while at you are at your temporary camp. One of the best parts about camping out in nature is cooking fun foods on the grill, or eating those classic S’Mores treats.
You have to also be prepared for basic cooking needs for more than just the special meals. Things like breakfasts, snacks and simply cleaning your utensils can be a hassle if you aren’t prepared. These are essential knowledge just as the 10 Things Not to Forget when Camping in a Tent is!
With years of camping experience under our belt, this list is our go to for making sure we have things as simple as possible while camping as a family.
7 Kitchen Hacks For Camping
Invest in the nesting cooking gear: You may want to save money by simply taking pots and pans from home, but at the end of the day, you’ll be frustrated trying to fit them easily into boxes or back seats for your camping trip. Nesting cooking gear is worth the money spent. Not only will you have everything you need for multiple types of meals, but you can store it all back in a neat box that easily packs into your car or corner of your tent.
Marinate and freeze meats before your trip: Grilling meats is one of the best parts of camping out. If you want to do things like chicken, beef or pork on the grill, bag them with marinade and put into your freezer at least a day or two prior to your camping trip. Load them into the bottom of your ice chest and cover well with ice. They will thaw over the first 2-3 days but stay at temperature in the cold ice chest, help keep things cool, and be ready to just toss right on the grill without a ton of sanitary issues. Make sure to double or triple bag them for safety and preferably keep them in a separate cooler.
Limit yourself to 4 basic utensils: You feel the need to bring every utensil from home, but all you really need are a good knife, a spatula, a slotted spoon, and a pair of tongs. These four items will help help you cut food, mix food, turn food as it is cooking, serve food and pick up meats off the grill. A few plastic spoons can help serve food out of dishes as it is time to eat.
Use paper plates & plastic utensils: Paper plates are easy to toss into the recycling bins, or to burn on your fire. Plastic utensils aren’t great for the environment, but they are sturdy enough to use multiple times so a package can be washed and used over again. If your budget allows, you can invest in the wooden utensil sets that are disposable while being Eco-Friendly. For camping, don’t bring the real dishes from home.
Prepare mixes in advance: For things like pancakes, cornbread, fish fry mix, or any other breading or mix you might need to use while camping, simply mix together, pour into Ziploc bags and label well. You won’t have to bring out your flour, cornmeal and all of your seasonings when you have this ready. You can also create a basic season salt blend, or dry rub for meats instead of bring your whole spice cabinet on the road.
Pack nesting storage bowls: There are various brands of storage bowls that nest together allowing lids to fit inside the nest as well. They may not be your favorite for every day use at home, but they are perfect for camping since the go inside each other and save space. If you can find square or rectangular bowls that do the same, that is even better as they pack into coolers easier.
Limit cleanup with disinfectant wipes & soap dispensing sponge: A kitchen sponge that has the soap dispensing handle can be a great way to bring your method of washing dishes without bringing a giant bottle of soap. It also gives you something that will air dry and no pick up germs as quickly as a wash cloth or kitchen rag would. For cleaning off door handles, tables and other frequently touched surfaces, grab a canister of disinfectant wipes to bring along.
These kitchen hacks for camping make packing easier, as well as your time camping easier. Keeping what you take with you to a minimum helps keep things running smoothly. You’ll have fewer issues with cleanup and storage when following these simple tips and hacks .
Do you have any other camping hacks to share?
I’ve never seen nesting cook ware – but I’m going to look for it. I also appreciated your simplified list of utensils. I have way too many in my camp kitchen box. I’ll be lightening the load before we go on our next camping trip!
I am a camping nut also! Well, I’m more into glamping now. Hubby and I went full time rv-ing for 6 months once. Great lifestyle!
Thanks for these kitchen camping tips Michele. Definitely going to keep these in mind with the summer months coming up and it being time to camp. Glad you linked up with us at #TALENTEDTuesday!
Hope you are having a great day!
Cheers,
AJ
Great tips! I always tend to bring too much, so I love the nesting cooking gear and 4 utensil rule! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the tips! We’re trying to become brave enough to camp with our awesome crew. I’ll definitely remember nesting bowls when we do. I LOVE practical space-saving ideas.
You’ve got some really great tips here for the campers. Let’s hope that the nice spring/summer weather is just round the corner!
Sally @ Life Loving
#LifeLovingLinkie
We are camping nuts, grew up camping and now we camp with our kids, basically follow all of these tips except for premixing batters, we woods it for more than a week at a time. One other essential item to bring… tin foil, great for campfire cooking with out the pots…. pinning to my camping board!
We go camping just once a year. These are super hacks! I like #2 and #5. We rent a fully stocked camper, which is also nice, but I have to admit, I have a few favorite utensils I like to bring! 🙂
These are great tips. I really want to take my 3 and 5 year old camping this summer. You should link up at Family Joy Blog Link Up Party. Check it out, it opens up Sunday evening http://thinking-outside-the-pot.com/?p=2329
great tips for camping! I should have read this back before we went the first time – would have save a ton of hassle and at least one bins worth of unneeded stuff hauled around.
These are great ideas! We haven’t done much camping the past few years but we sure do miss it. I would love for you to share this at the Friday Favorites link party going on now.
~Bonnie
http://www.oursecondhandhouse.com/2016/03/friday-favorites-week-317.html
Great tips! I pinned for later. Love camping and plan to really amp up our camping trips this year. 😀
These are great tips! We camp all the time and do many of them. Thanks for sharing with us at Brag About It! Pinned and tweeted to share!
~Laurie
Great tips for a camping trip -Thank you for sharing with Pin worthy Wednesday
These are great. I’m going to try freezing marinated meat on our next camping trip. I usually just avoid meat after the first night, but freezing it would help keep it colder longer. Thanks! I would also add a plastic cutting board to the list. We use it for lots of things, sometimes just to have a clean surface.
Great tips! We just went camping. My mom is the camping pro. She’ll love this post. Thanks so much for sharing at #HomeMattersParty. Hope you’ll join us again.
Great tips!
Great tips! We are taking a big cross-country trip soon, camping along the way and love to read what other people do to stay organized. Thanks for sharing!
I love camping!! Great ideas!! Luckily we have a small pop up camper and I can store a few things… Hey I would love if you came and shared your stuff at my blog hop…My 2 Favorite Things on Thursday!! I’d love to have you!!
Great ideas! We love to camp in the summer. I will definitely be using these tips!!
Thanks Have a great camping season!