Outdoor cooking utensils

What makes outdoor cooking fun? Aside from having lots of joy with your MSR cooker its essential to have the right utensils to be flexible enough to make youself a great meal. I’m not the ultra light backpacker who has to double check if the weight is all ok, but I am definately someone who loves cooking up a good meal outdoors.

And I’m talking about meals that includes meat and poultry or wild too, depending on where you are. We go often on road trips, we love to hit it out in the nature and absorb all it’s beauty into the skin. Eating outdoors doesn’t mean you’ll have to restrict your meals to canned raviolis or astronout foods. Take a look at the rucksack of the french climber…you’ll find baguette, cheese, sausages, a bottle of red wine. (;-) I suppose a VW campervan would be everything what you would call comfort … but we love having everything in our car and we make use of every space it has to offer. And it works! All 16 years of experience has proven it works well. Our car: my kitchen, my bed, my closet…

I have listed up a basic check list which is always packed and it looks like this:

Cutlery:

• Fork
• Spoon
• Teaspoon
• Can/bottle/cork opener
• Steak knife (rounded, so i can use them for my nutella bread spread too)
• Riffled knife
• Small, smooth very sharp kitchen knife for meats
• A tiny knife sharpener (update 2023: blunt knifes are nogo)
• Small Wooden cooking spoon
• 1 strainer
• Orange press (update 2023: I love fresh pressed orange juices in the mornings!)

Pots and pans:

• 1 medium size aluminium pot (for tea)
• 1 medium size (1,75l) Trangia Tundra 2 Hard Anodized Ultralight Aluminium pot (for cooking noodles, rice)
• 1 large size 18/10 (3 l) pot to replace the two above. (optional)
• 1 medium size 18/10 sandwich bottom pan
• 1 espresso maschine (optional)

Stove:

• 1 MSR multiple fuel stove
• 1 spare camping gaz stove
• 2-3l fuel (white gas secures long livety of your MSR)

Basic Spices:

• Salt
• Pepper
• Chillies
• Herbs du Provence
• Cumin
• Garam masala
• My own freshly grounded spices from the spice islands (grounded just before each bigger road trip to keep the aetheric oils fresh)
• Sugar
• Olive oil
• Vinegar

Others:

• Kitchen towel (paper or/and cloth)
• sponge
• dish washing liquid

I’ve been using my MSR fuel stove for 2 decades without having it getting big repaired. The secret to a long successful longlivety of your fuel stove is to always use the best fuel available. We use white gas and this ensures that the stove doesnt soots up. Kerosine usage comes to rescue only when white gas is no where available.

Ever since I added my sandwich bottom stainless steel pan to my kitchenary all outdoor cooking with the MSR fuel stove became pure enjoyment. It doesn’t burn, it keeps your food warm without needing a cover for it. And you can clean the pan easily without having to fear you’d make scratches in them. I avoid using teflon coated pans coz they are vulnerable to scratches and too much teflon in your stomach is unhealthy. However, my latest collection fell upon a hard anodized saucepan from Trangia which was ultra light and scratch resistant. They are perfect for making tortillas and everything else that are not suppose to stick.  I realised that the water boils a little quicker than the usual aluminium pans.

My stainless steel pan does it all and gives me satisfactory results. I don’t have to worry about problems with simmering or burning foods. Making a Risotto or Rösti in it is a dream. And if it does happen, put some fine sand to wash it all out. Viola! No fuss, no deal.

With this check list, theres nothing stopping you for cooking up a gourmet meal outdoors. Need ideas and recipes? Check out my Recipes for Cooking Outdoor

Disclosure:  Some of the products on this page links to Bergfreunde, where I have recieved samples in reviewing the product. All thoughts and opinions are as always, my own.