Cooking

 

Kama Kamp Kooking guide (by Burra)

Purpose

• To provide tips for camp cooking.

Safety, Safety, Safety

• Burns. Burns (to the fingers in particular) are very common. Cooking gear gets hot – always pick up billys with Paddy’s Fingers.
• Cuts. Cuts are very common. Some simple rules:
  • Keep the kitchen area tidy.
  • Keep the kitchen knife in its scabbard when not in use.
  • Cut away from yourself .
  • Only cut food on a flat stable surface – do not sit on the ground and use your leg as the cutting board.
• Scalds. Scalds are very common. When pouring hot water (or soup or hot chocolate) always put the cup or plate on a table or on the ground – don’t hold it in your hand (cos your hand will get splashed with hot water from the billy).
• Fire. Simple rules
  • Always keep the kitchen clear of grass, leaves, twigs.
  • Have a fire fighting plan –something like “ if the fire spreads out of the fire pit we will use the billy water to put it out”.
  • Everyone must know what to do if there is a fire in the campsite.
  • DO NOT cook near the tents. Tents catch fire easily and burn really, really well.

• Shelter. All stoves/fires cook much better if the flame is sheltered from any breeze.
• Lids. All food and water cooks quicker if the lid is kept on the billy.
• Presoaking. Dried fruit or veges etc cook quicker if soaked in water for a couple of hours or overnight.
• Boil water first. You always need hot water. Before you do any other preparation put a billy of water on to heat up – then start chopping the veges or whatever.
• Kitchen table. In Kama we use a small piece of plastic (about 1 metre square) to use as the kitchen table. NO-ONE steps on, over or across this.
• Chopping board. In Kama we use thin flexible chopping boards when hiking – set these up on the kitchen table.
• Crowded kitchens.
  • You need space to prepare and serve the food, space to cook the food, space for food storage and somewhere to put the rubbish. Decide how much space the kitchen will need …. then double it!
  • Keep on-lookers outside the kitchen – nothing worse than having someone, not part of the kitchen team and ‘just hanging around’, accidentally kick over the billy of food.
• Time. Everything takes longer when camp cooking. Allow plenty of time (otherwise you will be doing the washing up in the dark).
• Cooking with wood. Tips:
  • Start with a small pyramid fire.
  • Keep the fire small – reduces the risk of fire speeding and saves on wood.
  • Decide how much wood you will need before starting cooking, then double the amount, then collect it before starting cooking. You will need a lot of wood and it can be a pain to have to get it.
  • Keep the firewood away from the kitchen area (so that busy cooks don’t accidentally trip over a log).
  • Keep kindling under the tent fly over night to keep the dew off it.
• Trangias
  • Trangias burn with a low heat and are best for stews, soups and boiling – a little bit slow when frying bacon etc.
  • Make sure the burner cup is empty before putting it away in your pack.
  • Use the red safety containers to carry metho- the thin plastic bottles the metho comes in aren’t strong enough and leak (into your pack and food!)

Sharing The Work.

• Simple things in the kitchen get harder when camping – there is no hot water tap etc etc.
• PLs must make sure that all the hard, or unpleasant or icky or not-fun jobs (like chopping up the chicken for stir fry or washing up) get shared equally over the hike or camp. PLs must actively take the lead and be seen to be doing a fair share of these jobs themselves.

Kitchen Hygiene

• Rubbish bags.
  • Buy the strong ones –the thin ones break far too easily.
  • You need a separate bag for each meal – at the end of the meal tie it up tightly and put it away.
• Hand washing or hand lotion. If the PL hasn’t checked that your hands have been washed you may not enter the kitchen or work on the meal.
• Gloves. If you’ve got them (and you may not have them on a hike) use them.
• Food handling tips:
  • Keep the food in its box, bag or tin until you need it.
  • Sick people (coughs, colds, runny nose or whatever) must not work in the kitchen.
  • Cut up the veges or make the salad first – only then chop up the meat.
  • Storage – keep critters out of the food – remember the Vennies losing all their bread at Mt Clear because kangaroos can open milk crates?
  • Leftovers. Keep leftovers ONLY if you have a cold esky or fridge – otherwise they go into the rubbish bag.
• Packing stuff in...and then out. If we carry it in…we carry it out.
• Care but don’t share. Don’t share cups and spoons – this is the way gastro, colds and flu spread.
• Water disinfection. All kitchen water gets disinfected just like the drinking water.

Washing up.

• DO NOT leave this till the next meal. Once you’ve finished eating wash up and put away.
• You will need a collapsible bucket (or whatever) to wash up in.
• DO NOT wash up in a creek (this is pollution!)– do this in the kitchen area.
• Utensil and cooking gear care. These must be washed, dried and put away. Must be kept immaculately clean.

Recipes

Under construction – we’re still collecting them! Some we will practice on a Tuesday nite and others we’ll develop as we camp.