Cooking safely in a tent with kids

[SleepWhatSleep1]

Pre-kids i happily cooked just outside my tiny tent or just inside the porch if raining.
3 kids later and we've now got a tunnel tent with an additional porch bit to come off the side entrance. We had planned on cooking in the porch, but now it's arrived it's got huge no-cooking notices blazoned on it!
I don't fancy cooking just in the middle of a field in case the toddlers wander up and touch something hot. Obviously can't cook inside the tent itself due to CO.

What do you do?

Bloody hell, Smith1, what type of gas was it? The suitcase type aerosol style canister or a gas bottle?

I never cook inside the tent. I would never have a flame between anyone else in the tent and the open door. Especially not with kids running around, excited.

We either cook on a fire or have a gas stove under a tarp.

Kids aren't an issue with either!

Biscuit tin with a hinged lid makes a good windbreak/ shield and you can keep all your camping gear in it. Part of the no cooking in porch is from people using barbecues which can fill up tent with carbon monoxide. I use a small gas burner on low, watched completely throughout in porch for morning coffee...But if cooking breakfast etc, i do it outside. Only heavy rain will affect frying, but won't really affect boiling water etc. If you are using hexiburner or other solid fuel don't do in porch..Both fumes and lack of flame control are a problem. You can also get ghillie cans where you build fire inside the can, which are great in rain..But store dry tinder and twigs in tent/porch ..

Agree with either small tarpaulin/ plastic film..You can get sheets to size from garden centres and buy 'fix your own' eyelets (I've used this as waterproofing for field shelters) or an army basha is good you can get poles too..Or between trees...

We use a gazebo.

Incidentally our tent has another door opposite the one with the porch - the plan was to use the other door when using the porch for cooking. But we're going to get a tarpaulin and poles anyway :)

@Smith ....we saw the same thing happen last year too ..chap cooking breakfast, had cylinder not attached properly ..massive flame in entrance of the tent ..he legged it leaving wife and small kids in the tent !! Another camper ran in and grabbed them.
Terrifying ...made me think twice about cooking even close to the tent ...I prefer to use a tarp or see others use those Event Shelters ..but depends how much room you have on the pitch.

The secret to cooking with children is marinading them a few hours in advance. It makes them more tender.

A slow cooker might make your life easier.

We have windbreakers. And this thread means.... Yey camping season!

Where we are camping has no electricity hook up so slow cooker is a no go i think

I've just 2 hours at work following a link and finding new sites..... and spending another few hundred euro in my head on gear again too Dh would not be impressed as he already thinks I have waaay tooooo muuuuuch!! (That's only because he gave up on canvas entirely the last time I gave up on it - but as I have to do it for scouts, I may as well embrace it with DD!)

I managed last year on a 1 ring gas canister stove and using open fire for evening meals. I have a mini BBQ as well though which we didn't use as the fire pits were available and more fun!

kitchen tent. I use a kitchen stand with the windbreaks up and a gas stove, door always open.

soul I don't know which gas it was tbh. Just saw the effects Luckily the camp site owner was very good and offered them accommodation in their lodge type thingies. The owner was at the pitch within a minute of the fire starting as well