Safety around the fire and cooking in the outdoors
Much of the
cooking within this book refers to open-flame style of cooking.
Fire safety
is essential. Always keep an eye on the fire, never leave it unattended, and
make sure that the fire is completely out, even if it is in a fire ring. Keep
fire extinguishers at the ready, just in case.
Second,
fire cooking is a tricky business. Until you know how to judge the heat of a
fire or its coals, you may have some challenges first. The best way to attain
success is to keep vigilant while cooking. Note that the best way to cook is
directly on hot coals. This means you must have the time to start a fire, make
it hot, and then let it die down into coals. If you do not have this time or
patience, you might want to consider alternatives, as cooking over a flame
though good, is trickier. Using a grill is helpful, and moving the food
consistently may help prevent scorching. If you do not feel comfortable cooking
over open flame, any camp stove will work quite well.
Do not
forget to put the fire out after you are finished using it. One of the best
ways to do this is to cover it with sand or dirt until it dies off completely.
Here are
some additional tips regarding food safety. While this list is by no mean
exhaustive, it is a good starting point.
- Washing
your hands before and after handling food is an important safety rule to follow
at all times. It may be even more so when cooking in the outside. You can also
us hands sanitizers.
- Working on
a clean surface, and keeping bugs and undesired creepy crawlers out of your food
supply is also vital to avoid food poisoning. If you can, keeping your cooler
in your car or trailer is a really good way to avoid contamination.
- Wash your
fruits and vegetables with safe, drinkable water.
- Drink
bottle you’ve bought or brought from home to make sure the water supply you use
is safe to drink.
- Clean-up
immediately after each meal, storing leftover food in airtight containers and
away from night prowlers.
Food Security
All that
said, special care should be taken when preparing your foods on site. Many of
these recipes include foods that require refrigeration. Keep all foods in a
cooler filled with ice or in a refrigerator until cooking. This is especially
true for raw meats, dairy, and eggs. When preparing raw meats (and eggs), be
careful not to cross-contaminate. This is when raw meat juices spread to other
foods, like vegetables, which may be left raw. This is a problem because
botulism and other bacteria can cause serious illness when consumed, even in
small quantities. Make sure to wash hands, knives, and prep materials between
each dish. Keeping a cutting board and knives for each food item (green for vegetables,
white for meat, for example) can help prevent cross contamination. You may wish
to prepare as much as possible prior to your camping trip.
