How to cook while cold-weather camping
Digging a deep trench helps you save fuel by shielding from wind
If you have very deep snow, you can set up a perfect camp kitchen while coldweather camping. Use a small packable shovel or your snowshoes to dig a onemetre-deep trench in the snow. From there, you can carve out a table, chairs, storage and cooking area. The area provides shelter from the wind, helping to save fuel in your camp stove.
Stainless steel pots and pans are the way to go. Aluminum is lighter and cheaper, but doesn’t do as good a job. A three-litre pot with a 2L pot nestled inside is sufficient for two to four people. More than that and you’d better go with an 8l pot with a 4 or 6l one nestled inside.
Some campers think it’s an absolute sin to use pots over a campfire rather than a cook stove because they get blackened by the soot from the fire. Just make sure to store the pots in a separate storage bag and pack a pair of cooking gloves. Coating the outside of the pot with soap also helps minimize the amount of soot collected.
Extreme lightweight campers use a pot lid as a frying pan. It’s the handle of the frying pan that makes it difficult to pack, so either remove the handle from the pan after you buy it or simply buy one without a handle — just make sure to take a pot-gripper. A griddle can also be used when cooking for larger groups — perfect for a couple rows of flapjacks surrounded by bacon. Combine the griddle with a firebox or campfire grill and you can make some amazing meals for large groups.
You’ll need a knife, fork and spoon for each person. A spork (half fork and half spoon) can help reduce weight and bulk. Extra utensils that come in handy include a whisk, cheese grater, large spoon and a spatula.
Campers usually prefer plastic plates. However, a Frisbee isn’t a bad idea. It can be used to hold a paper plate, which is burned in the fire after use, and the Frisbee can be tossed around camp after dinner. Drinking mugs can be enamel or stainless steel, but an insulated mug is far handier.
Today, there is a huge assortment of reusable containers available to store spices and foods. Various sizes of widemouth polyethylene bottles are great, but make sure to double-pack everything in zipper storage bags, just in case.
For water treatment, filters are the easiest piece of camp gear to eliminate parasites. The trouble is, they freeze up in the winter and become useless. You still must treat your water and boiling water in winter is commonplace and just five minutes of boiling will eliminate most parasites. Iodine tablets or other forms of chemical treatment are also options, but there’s a strong odour, not to mention a bland or odd taste to the water.
Just remember that it takes time to let the water sit before it’s drinkable.
Stainless steel pots and pans are the way to go. Aluminum is lighter and cheaper, but doesn’t do as good a job