General principles of camping cooking, especially the preparation of soups and cereals in the field at the stake during a camping trip.

In most trips, the main purpose of which is to follow a certain route, there is no time to prepare complex soups and cereals. Attention to culinary subtleties is possible only in simple trips, the main purpose of which is passive relaxation and contemplation of nature, provided that the group has an experienced cook-tourist. 


If the cook is enthusiastic, but he has little experience, all efforts can end in embarrassment. Do not forget that the bonfire or stove is not a gas stove, but a clearing is not a kitchen. Even an experienced hostess may find herself in a difficult position on a camping trip. Therefore, we will send gourmets to the tourist literature, where there are recipes for many camping dishes and cereals, and talk about the most general principles of camping cooking.

or rice, the ratio of cereals and water should be 1: 3 or 1: 5. A little less water, about 3 volumes, will go to millet and horns. When using an autoclave, all these cereals will require no more than 2 volumes of water.

For semolina porridge and oatmeal Hercules requires 3-4 volumes of water. These cereals, as well as potato flakes, must not be autoclaved. Soups are boiled quickly, so boiling water does not play a big role here. For soups, about 400 g of water per person is needed. Recommendations on the packaging of soups are not suitable for tourists. Dry mashed potatoes are very sensitive to the amount of liquid. In order not to spoil this delicious and nutritious product, you must adhere to the recommendations given on the package. If there is little water or milk, the powder will quickly thicken and become unattractive. If there is enough liquid, mashed potatoes will bring a pleasant variety to the menu.

Before entering the route, the manager should know how much water is needed to prepare this or that dish, and be sure to remind the duty officers about this. Typically, water is measured in circles or its quantity is determined by the marks on the handle of a ladle. In practice, 4-5 ladles (0.5 liters) of the prepared soup and 2-3 ladles of cereal (0.3 liters) of cereal, and tea or stewed fruit from 0.5 to 1 liter should be accounted for. The volume of the cookware (taking into account the evaporation of water) should be at least 0.5-0.7 liters per person.

The usual question that arises on duty is to put food in cold or hot water. If the products are poorly digested (dry meat, dried fruits, buckwheat, rice, peas, beans), they must be placed in cold water. If you have to cook in the morning, you can soak them in the evening. All other dishes are cooked in boiling water, so that the contents of the boiler do not stick together, boil and burn. Milk powder is diluted with warm water in a separate bowl and poured into the boiler before filling the cereal.

Pour semolina, mashed potatoes, etc. into the boiler with continuous stirring so that lumps do not form. Semolina porridge is cooked for about 5 minutes, mashed potatoes, Bystrov porridge and instant buckwheat are ready in 1.5-2 minutes, therefore it is convenient to cook them before an early exit. In the mountains at an altitude of 3000 meters, the boiling point of water drops to 90 degrees and continues to fall by 5 degrees when rising for every 1500 meters. Because of this, the cooking time of cereals and therefore the fuel consumption during cooking in ordinary dishes increases. Hard-to-digest foods remain half-baked.

Therefore, in the mountains at an altitude of more than 3500 meters, tourists can not do without autoclaves. Unfortunately, the industry does not produce autoclaves and pressure cookers suitable for tourists. The designs of home-made autoclaves are given in the literature, so we will not dwell on them. If food is cooked in an autoclave at elevated pressure, then all products are placed in cold water. Semolina, mashed potatoes and the like cannot be cooked in an autoclave. After the temperature rises to 105 degrees, the autoclave is removed from the fire, wrapped in a sleeping bag or jacket and wait until the temperature drops to 90 degrees.

Normal should be considered a holding time of at least 20 minutes. If the temperature drops quickly, hard-to-digest cereals will remain moist. In this case, it is necessary to check the gaskets or to pour part of the water from the autoclave and heat it again. At least 1/3 of the free volume should remain in a fully charged autoclave, where superheated steam is collected, which, when cooled, gives off heat while maintaining the temperature inside the autoclave at the boiling point for some time. Otherwise an autoclave is useless.

Cooking requires a bonfire or stove. To make the fire burn with even flame during the whole cooking process is not simple, but necessary. If the fire burns weakly, and the water does not boil, then after half an hour it is necessary to redo the fire without losing precious time, or to inflate it, waving a sheet of duralumin or a rug. Effectively inflating the fire with the mouth through the tube, for example, through a hollow rack from the tent. After the water boils, we will reduce the fire, otherwise the food will burn and it will be difficult to stir in the boiler. Of the huge number of homemade products for hanging cookware over a fire, the most convenient is a steel cable with hooks.

In a treeless area, you can fold a fireplace of stones. An ax is needed for logging, and in winter there is also a two-handed or chain saw. Bonfire accessories have a lot of place in tourist literature. Therefore, in order not to repeat ourselves, we note that axes weighing 500-800 grams on a long handle are suitable for hiking. The ax should have a beard to rest in the ax, protecting it from loosening. The ax must be tightly planted on the ax and strengthened with a wooden wedge. So that the ax does not come off due to a bad nozzle or because of the drying out of the ax, it must be soaked in water before mounting and on bivouacs or fixed with steel plates.

Based on materials from the book Camping Food.
Alekseev A.A.

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