If you enjoy organising barbecue hangouts with friends and family or you love camping and preparing your food while there then this article is for you.
Cooking outdoors is a very interesting activity. Those who participate in it often usually describe outdoor cooking as an adventure. This is because even if the recipes and location are the same, no two outdoor cooking events end up being the same.
There are many things that make outdoor cooking different from cooking indoors. The most obvious difference is the location. Associated with this difference are things such as convenience, availability of equipment and ingredients, materials used, and even the type of dishes made.
Every true outdoor cooking enthusiast has a standard mode of operation, a way he manages his outdoor cooking event. Regardless of how any outdoor cook operates, there are a couple of tips that can help everyone interested in outdoor cooking have a better experience the next time they cook outdoors.
Tips
1. Carefully pick out the right equipment:
This sounds simplistic but many outdoor cooking events have ended up being a disaster simply because some of the equipment needed for the event we’re not available, not because the cook did not have the equipment but just because he forgot to bring them with him to the event. Thus it is important to take a cursory look at the things you plan and decide on the best equipment to use. For instance, if you are planning to make barbecue in the cookout you would need to decide on the best barbecue smoker and other associated equipment. This will enable your cooking to go more smoothly.
2. Be conversant with your cooking fire.
When it comes to cooking outdoors, comfort is paramount. Thus it is important for you to make plans to cook with fire that you are comfortable with. Whether it is an open fire or a gas cooker, you must confirm that you can use it comfortably before heading out.
3. Use easy recipes:
Though I agree that outdoor cooking should always be an adventure, I also believe that it should be kept as simple as possible, especially when it comes to the recipes. This is because complicated dishes tend to complicate things given the fact that you would most likely be far from where you can get extra supplies or assistance should you ever have a need for it. Hence it is pertinent for you to plan to prepare only dishes that you are comfortable with to reduce chances of disaster or complications.
4. Have a lot of foil paper:
This actually goes without saying. Everyone knows that foil paper is the gold of outdoor cooking. Foil paper has so many uses at a cookout from being used when making barbecue to being used to pack everything packable at the cookout. Because of the multi-purpose use of foil paper, it tends to get finished way quicker than expected and sometimes that can leave you quite stranded. So it is very important that when packing, you take as much foil paper as humanly possible because with foil paper more is definitely better than less.
5. Chop meat and vegetables before the cookout:
Cooking can be a very busy and time-consuming activity. Cooking outdoors is even more intense in its busyness and consumption of time. Hence it is important to do your best to conserve as much time as possible when cooking outdoors. You can do this by chopping the meat, vegetables and any other thing which needs to be chopped before coming for the cookout. This eliminates the need for you to do it at the cookout, saving you a great deal of time and energy.
6. Ensure you have enough water:
If foil paper is the gold of outdoor cooking then water is the diamond. Water is so integral to the success of a cookout as it is used to cook basically every dish and it is also needed for cleaning up. Without enough water, the cookout is bound to be a failure. Thus you need to ensure you have more than enough water to handle all your cooking activities.
7. Pack light:
Taking only the things essential to the cookout is quite beneficial because it makes your movement much easier and it helps make things more organized and uncluttered. This makes it easier for you to keep track of everything and progress smoothly.
Every outdoor cooking enthusiast has his own system of managing his cookout events and that is important. The tips given here though can apply to every system and improve our outdoor cooking experience.