Options for cooking

[GreasedPiglet]

I'm considering different options for cooking when camping, but I'm really new to all of this, so I feel a bit clueless. So, I'm considering:

Gas stove. We have a small one that we've had for years, but we've never used it. I think it scares me a bit TBH.

Cobb. We've used this at home quite a lot, and like it. But how would we boil water for a cup of tea?

EHU then a different option (slow cooker / induction hob?). Is this even possible?

This feels like the big problem that I can't quite get my head around 😄.

Do you always have EHU? If so you might as well use an electric hob. Or people take a Multi-Cooker, Tapanyaki grill, slow cooker, even microwaves.

Gas stoves are safe if you use as advised. With the suitcase stoves it is important not to use a pan that extends over the gas compartment. With the double burner with grill: no using the grill and burners at the same time

I use one hob type cooker and one ‘real fire’ cooker. So, a gas hob plus my BBQ, or kit for cooking on the campfire. You could take Cobb plus gas stove for the kettle or a pan of beans / pasta etc.

Yes, maybe Cobb + gas stove is the answer.

I'm not sure re EHU, we haven't got the necessary kit yet.

I never have EHU.
But it depends on your camping style.

The Appetizer 3-Burner has three individually controlled burners above and a grill below, so it’s perfect for cooking a massive English breakfast or a meal made up of different elements. The burners aren’t the strongest, though, so don’t expect speedy cooking times – I reckon it takes six to seven minutes to boil a litre of water. The whole thing is sturdy, with rubber feet and a wind shield. It’s a very decent price. Strangely, the gas hose and regulator kit you’ll need to use the stove is free, but has to be ordered separately. Powered by gas canisters.

I don't know what my camping style is yet 😄.

The 3 burner sounds good...

Cadac?

We have the Safari and you can cook pretty much anything on it. I’ve added the oven pan and pizza stone so we have the full kit now. It packs away into a bag, although you will also need the gas - we use a bottle but also have a connection to use a canister.

We also take EHU and have a toaster and kettle though!

We bought a mini oven from Aldi a couple of years ago when we were redoing our kitchen and took it camping this week it was great! It toasts and grills and bakes so I could do bacon, waffles and chicken (not at the same time!) obviously needs EHU but for £20 it was a game changer!

Cadac Carri Chef 2 - currently set up in the garden as a BBQ. Easy to pack up. Large cooking area and various changeable cooking plates: chef pan, griddle, BBQ, skottle, pizza stone, paella pan, gas ring. Expensive but lovely.

We use any of the following, depending on what style of camping we are doing:

double burner gas stove
single burner (backpacking style) gas stove
trangia (run on gas, but you can use meths)
cobb
slow cooker
kelly kettle
electric kettle

The kelly kettle fits very nicely over the cobb fuel ring. We have easily boiled up a few litres of hot water using the leftover cobb fuel, which you could use for tea (possibly store in a flask?) but I think it would be a pain (and a waste of fuel) to light the cobb just for drinks. You can also use a little fire under the kelly kettle, but that would require having a little woodpile! A ghillie kettle uses the same principle.

If we go EHU, I tend to use the electric travel kettle, but I do drink copious mugs of tea. I usually take the slow cooker too, but I often use it at home anyway.

Open fire cooking! I know it's not for everyone AND not everywhere allows campfires but I honestly think it's not real camping without one :-)
BBQ's on the open fire are great, just get a grill and pop it straight on. Alternatively I often use dutch ovens straight in the campfire coals. You can cook anything in one but great for one pot meals. My last camping trip I made us all a delicious lasagne on the fire and then used the dutch oven to make a cake. Anything is possible :-)

One of my favourite campsites is Beech Estate Campsite in Sussex, they allow fires and provide grills and dutch ovens if you don't have you own - but I'm pretty sure they're also ok with bringing your own stoves too

Thanks everyone. I'm intrigued by the idea of a Kelly kettle fitting over the Cobb...