10 Best Camping Ideas, Tips, and Tricks
Get ready to be a happy camper! These are our best secrets to ensure your outdoor adventure is enjoyable.
Get ready to be a happy camper! These are our best little secrets to ensure your outdoor adventure is enjoyable.
10 Of Our Best Camping Ideas, Tips, and Tricks
- After cooking a meal, fill a pan of water and leave it on the stove/fire, so the water will be warm enough for clean up.
- Hang soap in a stocking or sock from a tree to keep it off the ground and clean.
- Bring two coolers: one for drinks only and the other for food only. This will help keep the food cooler from being opened and closed too many times.
- Bring a throw rug or welcome mat to place in front of your tent/camper. Then make sure all campers wipe their feet before they enter. A small broom and dustpan are a must too.
- Always pack duct tape. It’s useful for many things.
- A crumpled ball of foil makes an excellent scouring pad for pots and pans.
- To save time and prep work, create a bin of essential camping items that you can keep packed and ready year-round. Buy an extra set of pots and pans at a garage sale or rummage sale. Make sure the bin is rain and rodent-proof.
- While it’s best to cook on coals, sometimes you have to cook directly on open flames. For easier cleaning, rub the outside of your pots with dish soap. Allow it to dry and then cook with them. This will make the black soot come off easier.
- Don’t overpack. Pots and pans can be used as mixing bowls to save room, and heavy duty aluminum foil can be used to cook vegetables and meats on or in the fire.
- To keep marshmallows from burning dip them in water before holding them over the flame.
Have everything? If you’re looking for the ultimate Camping Checklist, check this one out!
Don’t forget about camping safety! Read these important tips here.
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Farmers' Almanac Staffhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/fa-admin
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Farmers' Almanac Staffhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/fa-admin
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Farmers' Almanac Staffhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/fa-admin
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Farmers' Almanac Staffhttps://www.farmersalmanac.com/author/fa-admin
Regarding Aluminum. Research studies conducted through autopsies of Alzhiemer patients found aluminum in the folds of the brain. Also, aluminum is found in deodorants. I use foil, but use parchment or waxed paper between food and foil. No foil when grilling.
In the Boy Scouts we would just go down by the lake and grab a little sand to rub inside our cooking kit pans and then rinse with the lake water. Works like a charm. One can also use a scrubbing sponge with baking soda. Baking soda great for many things. It will scrub out stains that soap and water will not clean. Mix with a little salt might even work better. Just make sure pan is only slightly wet. The baking soda and salt mix needs to be dry when you start.
The cook states aluminum is not good for cooking only stainless steel and cast iron. Yet when we started out we couldn’t afford so we used aluminum. Surprising how the cooks change there mind over 50 years, all the way from aluminum not to stainless steel and cast iron frying pans yet cast iron does not distribute heat like stainless steel.
NEVER pack duct tape. Use Gaffers tape instead. It’s expensive but it doesn’t leave a sticky gooey mess after it’s been in place for a period of time. Especially in the heat or in the sun.
Thanks for the info, Mark! Good info!
Aluminum is a light metal. Iron is another heavy metal and actually essential–not all heavy metals are toxic.
Aluminum IS NOT a heavy metal. It is used extensively in the food industry and is safe to cook with. Lead and arsenic are heavy metals. Research it.
Aluminum falls into a category of metals known as ” Heavy Metals “. As a result, it is highly toxic. It should never be used to prepare or store foods or water. Cooking in Aluminum, in any form, should be avoided. That said, some will use foil, at least, to cook on the coals. I encourage those who do to securely wrap the food, First, in Parchment.
Please do your own research.
Hi Jamo. While it’s true that some foods probably shouldn’t come in contact with aluminum (like tomato sauce), it poses no threat for the average cook. As for the possibility that aluminum is a carcinogen: It’s not classified as one by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Toxicology Program. Ted Gansler, M.D., director of medical content for the American Cancer Society, says, “From the perspective of cancer risk, I don’t see a single reason to be concerned about aluminum foil.”
When roasting marshmallows they should be held over the hot coals not over the flame, thus they will not catch on fire and will be done to perfection.