Let's talk about camp food!

Yooper906

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Jan 4, 2020
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Headed on a spring bear hunt, which is a first for me. Also, doing a basecamp which is also a first. The last four years I've been doing the backcountry thing for elk, so obviously weight is important (i.e. dehydrated meals, light as possible, suffering vs pleasure items)...

With that said, I'm looking for some advice for camp food. Been thinking cook meals at home, freeze them, then boil water at camp and submerge frozen food. Or get groceries, split 3 ways with the group and cook good food every night... Thoughts?

What's your favorite/quick camp food?
 
I like the frozen vacuum sealed meals to boil at camp. I can make more variety without having to tote all the groceries along. Turkey hunting favorites were venison chipotle Mac and cheese, lasagna, and cheesy kielbasa potatoes. Good hearty meals and all I had to do was boil water. One of the greatest things about it for me is that when I’m tired, there’s not much to prepare and not much to clean up.
 
Headed on a spring bear hunt, which is a first for me. Also, doing a basecamp which is also a first. The last four years I've been doing the backcountry thing for elk, so obviously weight is important (i.e. dehydrated meals, light as possible, suffering vs pleasure items)...

With that said, I'm looking for some advice for camp food. Been thinking cook meals at home, freeze them, then boil water at camp and submerge frozen food. Or get groceries, split 3 ways with the group and cook good food every night... Thoughts?

What's your favorite/quick camp food?
yep you are on the right track. it’s nice to have real food when you get back to camp. Beef/venison stew, and lasagna are my favorites. I also like doing shredded meat with bbq, and then just bringing along some buns.
 
Headed on a spring bear hunt, which is a first for me. Also, doing a basecamp which is also a first. The last four years I've been doing the backcountry thing for elk, so obviously weight is important (i.e. dehydrated meals, light as possible, suffering vs pleasure items)...

With that said, I'm looking for some advice for camp food. Been thinking cook meals at home, freeze them, then boil water at camp and submerge frozen food. Or get groceries, split 3 ways with the group and cook good food every night... Thoughts?

What's your favorite/quick camp food?
I have been going elk hunting every year for last seven. I have not had to do any pack in hunts, I have hunted outta base camp, a 14 ft enclosed trailer. Every year I would can my own chili, pea soup, beef stew, boiled dinner, chicken soup in quart jars that I simply heated in boiling water, ate it outta the jars, used the boiling water for tea or coffee. As the years went by I started to bring Hormel Completes meals, there is about 40 varieties they don't need refrigeration, heat in boiling water, 8 oz meals two bucks a piece, good for lunches just eat cold. Where u from? I'm a yooper too. https://www.amazon.com/Hormel-Compleats-Meals-Microwavable-Spaghetti/dp/B00D5WZUFA
 
For the group hunts I do we typically assign a dinner to each member of the group to provide and breakfast and lunches are individual. Snacks etc typically get shared pretty widely.
 
I like to make frozen bagged meals,along with a couple of bags of tortillas.
Any and all leftovers can be made into burritos or tacos,heck even stews
and chili's can be rolled up and eaten any time of day or night. 💥
 
I've premade burritos wrapped in foil, freeze them and take them and just throw them on the grill in the morning and rotate until cooked until they are warm. As for meals I premake meals in larger sizes leading up to season vac seal portions then boil as others have stated. My go to meals are chili, lasagna, pizza casserole, taco pasta, spagetti, and goulash. I thinkn I am gonna try doing enchiladas this year.
 
I like to cook one thing then prepare it a couple different ways, saves time. Like ground burger into hamburgers, tacos, sloppy Joe's and chili.
 
Over the years, I have lived for months in a tent at remote locations. A necessary tool for meals is a dutch oven. Roast chicken, pot roast, stews, soups, cakes, - almost anything you can imagine can be cooked in one or a number of them at the same time. As the voice of experience, use coals not a fire. A little fire goes a long ways.
 
My percolator coffee game is weak...always lumpy. Outside of making sure there is enough coffee...I like rotating dinners between the group. You get some serious food flex in our camps. I like boil in bag like BigFin does. Lasagna is easy to do. Street tacos works very well too. Frozen Chili is easy.
 
If you are hunting out of a base camp I am a big fan of the pre-made home cooked meals. My hunting group usually arrives at camp with one cooler filled with meals that are frozen and vacuum sealed and kept frozen with dry ice. These meals range anywhere from chili, pasta sauce, gumbo, soups, stews, curry, machaca, burgers, fish etc. Add in some of the pre made salad mixes and other tasty sides. We joke that we eat better at hunting camp than we often do back at home. With just the cooler and dry ice we can have up to 10 days worth of meals in mild temps.

Some of the meals require a little extra cooking if you want some rice or pasta to eat with it, but we keep it pretty simple. And we will often have some fresh steaks or fish for the first couple of nights to grill up. We also add in some fresh veggies such as squash, peppers, asparagus or potatoes that can be wrapped up in tin foil and grilled on the side.

We do the meal rotation too. One to two peoples are responsible for a dinner each night. That way you don't have to cook yourself every night. Depending on the hunt we will have 4-8 people in camp.

And multiple coffee options! From Starbucks Via instant to percolator or french press. Add a little butter to a strong cup of coffee and your hunt is off to a great start!
 
Burritos 🌯 Burritos 🌯 and more Burritos 🌯! Breakfast, bean/cheese, steak/cheese, steak/egg, sausage/cheese..... possibility’s are about endless. Freeze them, I warm them up in boiling water since I package them in a quart freezer bag. Takes 10 min., my go to meal for all outdoor activities.
Matt
 
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