Cooking from Base Camp.

[Scott/IL]

I'm looking for ideas for cooking from a base camp. We'll have a fire each night, but will also have a small charcoal grill, and possibly a Coleman Stove.

Our problem will be, after the first night we fear we likely won't be able to keep anything in coolers any longer.

Was thinking about warming up chili the first night and then that leaves 4 more nights of meals to be made. And of course hopefully some fresh straps.

For breakfast, I have thought about making biscuits before hand and bringing gravy mix, having oatmeal, or mixing in some mountain house a few mornings.

There will be 4 of us in camp, and snacks/lunches will be packed and carried up the mountain with us.

 

[realunlucky]

Why do you feel you won't be able to use coolers after the first night? My base camp meals are for the most part pre cooked than frozen than warmed up. I like quick and easy as a food plan so I can eat quick than rest up for the next day.

 

[Scott/IL]

Day time temps reaching into the 70's. How long can frozen meals last?

 

[AK Troutbum]

Everything that I can vacuum seal and freeze I do so before a trip then pack it all into an appropriately sized cooler so it is totally full with very little extra air space. Any extra space in the cooler can be filled up with insulation like bubble wrap. The only time I've ran into problems has been on trips lasting upwards of two weeks. If you're going out for less than a week you shouldn't have a problem just so long as you make sure and only open the cooler when you absolutely need to and try and keep it in a shaded place. A quality cooler also goes a long ways in keeping your frozen goods frozen.

 

[realunlucky]

Quality cooler, block ice, shade, limited openings, no worries for over a week to ten days. I also use a seat cushion/ old sleeping bag on the lid for added insulation. Drinks need a separate cooler because the lid will be opened more and ice melts quicker. I also typically have a cooler with just ice in it so I can put the meat on ice when the time comes.

 

[6mm Remington]

Here's fixings for a couple great meals in those days. Do this:

1. Two sheets of tin-foil layed out about 18" long, one on top of the other. (This will be one persons meal.) Spray a little no stick cooking spray on the top sheet and a couple pats of butter.

2. Take burger and make a couple round balls about 1" in diameter or thereabouts, maybe just a touch larger, about meatball size. Do the same with some type of bulk sausage that you like. Put four of these on the foil. Just about any sausage works great. Shake it up and use breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, anything that sounds good and you like. I like to put a couple burger balls and a couple sausage balls in each dinner for a bit of flavor and variety!

2. Buy baby carrots in a large bag or cut up larger carrots. Put several carrots, some sliced up onions, and maybe red and green peppers chunked up on the foil with the meatballs.

3. Take and chunk up several potatoes in larger bite size pieces and toss a bunch of potatoes on the foil. Figure enough for one persons meal.

4. Salt and pepper, garlic salt, and other seasonings if you like. Carefully fold up the "camp stew" so it's all nice and square. Put these in your coolers. Come dinner time do this.

5. When you have a fire going and have a nice set of coals to cook on, put the camp stews on a wire rack or grate of some type 6 inches or so above the coals. Cook for 20 minutes on one side and then flip and do 20 minutes on the other side. Dinner is now served!! These will keep fine for several days and you can eat the meals in the foil or on paper plates. Anything works. No dirty dishes to do except for the silverware!! These are simple and very good and fill a guys stomach with some good nutrition. Only downside, if there is one, is that it takes a while to get some good coals to cook. You can put the tin foil directly on the coals too, but it works better have the meal above the coals.

6. Stop at your favorite Les Schwab or other tire center that deals with diesel truck rims and ask them if you can have a cracked or defective steel rim that they are going to recycle. Even if it costs a few bucks, the truck rims (steel only, don't use aluminum!!) make a great fire pit! They have the slots in the side so they ventilate, they can be set out just about anyplace, the large flat top surface makes a GREAT place to set your cooking screen or grate, and you instantly have a safe camp fire location and cooking place anywhere you go. Take it with you when you leave and keep it at home till next trip. You won't cook on a rock fire ring ever again!!

 

[5MilesBack]

Day time temps reaching into the 70's. How long can frozen meals last?

Easily a week. I too freeze stuff like chili then it's real easy to just plop it into a saucepan and heat it up until it melts and heats. All the frozen meals also help with keeping stuff cold in the cooler. If I was more of a breakfast guy before hunting, I'd bring eggs and bacon and bread and pancake mix and french toast fixins, etc.

I like easy quick meals after hunting hard all day. I usually don't get back to base camp until well after 9pm a lot of times so want quick. One the best for me is to marinade some chicken breasts and ribeyes, and grill them at home. Then I slice them up and put them into a container to be used on salads. Put enough ribeye on a ceasar salad and that's a good meal when I'm tired as heck and ready for bed.

I'll also bring a couple dozen pieces of Popeyes or KFC, and take up some carne asada burritos as well.

 

[JG358]

Day time temps reaching into the 70's. How long can frozen meals last?

Weeks. We keep food on the mountain with out a cooler for the better part of a week with out issue.

 

[Scott/IL]

I really was missing the boat on this one then! Thanks for the tips guys.

 

[Curtis C]

Vacuum seal and freeze sauces, stews, chilis, or meats in marinade and place in a dedicated cooler. Each evening remove the next nights meal and place in your drink cooler so it starts the thaw process. You should only open your frozen cooler once or twice a day if done this way. Heat and enjoy.

Other quick ideas are

brats or links of some kind cooked over fire and served in a tortilla
sausage, tater tots, and eggs in a carton make good breakfast burritos
mix in the bottle pancakes if you have a sweet tooth going.

 

[Becca]

Lots of good ideas here! I will add a few ideas I routinely use when we hunt from a base camp and I get to bring a cooler:
Sloppy Joes Filling (bring buns to serve on and shredded cheese to top with)
Fajita Filling (bring tortillas to serve on, and top with sour cream and shredded cheese)
Soups, Stews or Chilli
French Dips- sliced game roast or roast beef in beef broth with onion soup mix added to make au jus (bring rolls to serve it on)
Stir Fry or Curry (serve over boil in the bag rice)
Pulled pork or game roast with bbq sauce
Rotisserie Chicken- slice as you would for serving, then vacuum seal (boil in the bag to reheat, serve with instant potatoes or stovetop stuffing)
Tomato Sauce with Italian Sausage Meatballs (serve over spaghetti noodles, or on rolls for meatball subs)
Sausage Gravy- cook as you normally would, but make it thinner than Usual before freezing, as it thickens later (serve over biscuits)


I make 7-10 days worth of these sorts of meals for between 3 and 5 trips each year. I do all the cooking ahead, and freeze the fillings in vacuum sealer or freezer bags. Most often I double or triple recipes I am already making at home for dinner, and then just freeze the leftovers. As others have said, a cooler packed tight with frozen foods will usually last longer than the trip does, and I am usually still pulling stuff out to thaw before cooking after a week or more. Most of the meals I make ahead can be reheated by simply heating the still sealed vacuum sealer bag in a pan of hot water, which is handy because there are no dishes


For breakfast, freeze muffins or quick bread. Can also preassemble breakfast burritos, wrap in foil and freeze. Reheat in a pan over the cook stove or Woodstove, or on a grate over a low camp fire.

 

[neverquit]

I camp with the family during the summer in Arizona. Day time Temps hit the 90s. My Colman ice chest keep ice for 5 days.

 

[bz_711]

Same here - cannot beat freezing some containers of chili, stew, pasta/sauce, etc...even in 70 degree days with cheap coleman cooler, they are still rock solid when I pull them out on day 4 or 5 (plus obviously act as solid ice to keep other items cool during the week).
Freeze some gallon or 1/2 gallon milk jugs to pack cooler with, can also be used as drinking/cooking water as it melts...but you may be surprised how little they actually melt.

For grilling, brats and turkey/polish sausage type meats freeze well, plus last longer than fresh meats anyway once thawed...and are great on the grill.

Bring some foil, and fresh burger for one of the first nights...make a hobo (large piece of foil, burger patty, sliced potatoes/carrots, or even onion or fresh green beans, salt & pepper) wrap in foil, I typically double wrap, place on hot coals for 20 minutes...unwrap and enjoy.

Any meal tastes better at a camp

 

[Whisky]

When I base camp I always have my Weber Q on hand (small gas grill). Nothing beats a cold beer and a hot burger after a long day of hunting. We also bring venison /waterfowl sausages, and brats . Summer sausage for sandwiches. canned goods too but usually I can be eating a cheese burger before the guy with the can has his stew hot enough . Its not a lot of work to grill up a burger and brat and toss it on a bun.

 

[Scott/IL]

Keep the tips coming!

The freezing milk jug idea is what I use in the summer when fishing/camping here. The idea of having tasty meals that just need warmed up sound a lot better than eating canned beef stew and ramen all week. Probably try and bring some deer steaks for the first night, and then come up with some frozen plans for the other 4 nights. My main thing with breakfast is just to be quick, so we'll figure something easy out for that.

 

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

Block ice, frozen water bottles, shipping blanket over cooler, keep in shade equals 7 days even in az whitetail country. Family size cans of chicken noodle and caned chicken is great when the cooler runs out.

 

[Jason Snyder]

Dinner ideas:

Taco soup
Sweet & sour pork w/ minute rice
Gumbo w/ minute rice
Tortellini w/ meat sauce

Since you have a grill, grill some steak, fry onions and peppers and make some fajitas. Grilled brats are fried onions are a given.

Plus all the others mentioned above. I use ziplock freezer bags, freeze solid and turn your freezer down as low as it will go for 24 hours prior to leaving. Pack your cooler solid, keep it in the shade and keep the lid closed. No problems at all.

For a fast breakfast you could pre cook some ham/bacon, potatoes, and onions. Throw it in a pan with some eggs and make breakfast burritos. Fried egg sandwiches on english muffins or bagels are good.

You can also pre-make your gravy, just don't use any thickener (i.e. milk, sausage, seasoning). Heat it up and add some cornstarch and voila, you're ready to eat. Pre-making the biscuits is a good idea, you can also do this with waffles. Heat them up in a frying pan.

Hunting out of a base camp, you should eat like a king. There is no excuse to do Mountain House there.

 

[rayporter]

if you really dont trust the cooler, add 5 lbs of dry ice when you go through town. that will stop all melting for 24 hours.

 

[MULEPACKHUNTER]

Here's one I did with the kids on their javi hunt last year, frozen pizza digorno with all the toppings. Threw them in skillet with foil over it cooked on low. When bottom was crisp I added foil under to avoid burning and cooked for 20 min or so. After hiking all day it was really good with a cold beer

 

[Stid2677]

Cooking from a remote camp is not that hard. I have no trouble keeping frozen food good for a week or more. Just cook food first that is more perishable. Bag salads and soft stuff gets eaten first. Fresh corn last a long time and is awesome grilled, same for potatoes. Wrap them in foil add to a coal bad and go hunt, come back and eat. Can beans add more flavor.

Once meat is down add that.