The amount of calories you expel on a hike is tremendous. After taking into account your body weight, the intensity of the hike, the weight of your pack, and the terrain, the calories burned per hour in hiking is easily in the thousands. So, don’t hold back on food! You need that energy. Preparation of this food, however, is just as important. And just because you’re away from home for the weekend doesn’t mean you have to be less equipped, and doesn’t mean you should give it in for less than the best camping cooking equipment. Before heading out on your next trip, consider these 10 items that will make cooking, eating, and drinking so much more enjoyable in camp.
Let’s check the best camping cooking equipment
This applies both for backpackers and campers, but with backpacking you should be aware of the weight of some of these beauties.
Stove: Solo Stove Lite (Wood-Burning Stove)
- Weight: 9 oz
- Price: $$
- In short: Clearly one of the best stoves money can buy! Amen to that!
The Solo Stove Lite, Backpacker Magazine’s 2014 Gear of the Year winner, is the stove you’ll find a joy to light for any warm meal. This cool, 9 oz. wood-burning stove, meant to satisfy one or two backpackers, has a few tricks up its stainless steel sleeve that you’ll want to take note of.
Because it’s wood-burning, you’ll never have to carry fuel canisters again! That means less hassle, lower pack weight, money saved, and a smaller carbon footprint. With that being said, you still have the chore of collecting your own kindling every time you want to cook. But once this stove has been lit, it gets hot fast because the stove design is incredibly efficient. Air enters from the bottom vents to fuel the primary combustion while the inner walls heat up at the same time, meaning a dual combustion system will heat whatever you’re waiting to consume.
The Solo Stove is also small enough to fit in most pots when packed away in your backpack. You’ve got to get your hands on one of these.
Emergency Fire Starter: Light my Fire Swedish Firesteel
- Price: $
- Weight: 1.7 oz.
- In short: Buy once, never have trouble lighting a fire again. Seriously, amazing.
The stainless steel firestarter provides strikes of 3,000-degree Celsius, so you can count on lighting anything you need to. If there really is an emergency, a built-in whistle and the bright spark itself should draw attention for search and rescue.
Such a small item can make a huge difference on your next trip.
Pots/Pans: Solo Stove 2 pot set
- Price: $$
Weight: 3L Pot, 24oz., 1.5L Pot, 18 oz. - In short: Ideally you’ll pair this with Solo Stove Campfire, but that’s not a necessity.
All the backcountry meals you’ve ever wished for will be happily brought to heat in the Solo Stove 2 Pot Set. Another fine piece of equipment from Solo Stove, this duo comes with a 1.5L pot and 3L pot.
Although the ‘Solo Stove Campfire’ stove is ideally paired with these pots, there’s no reason the ‘Solo Stove Lite’ mentioned in this article wouldn’t work. The ‘Solo Stove Lite’ is the smaller version, so expect slower boiling times, but the ‘Lite’ will tuck away just as nicely inside these pots once packed down in your backpack.
The stainless steel pots also have volume measurement etchings in ounces and milliliters to make the culinary art of cooking easier for gourmet chef backpackers. User-friendly lids, fold out handles, and vent holes make cooking in the Solo Stove 2 pot set a pleasure.
Kitchen: GSI Outdoors Crossover Kitchen
- Price: $
- Weight: 9.6 oz.
- In short: Go full Gordon Ramsay on your next backpacking trip. Bring the kitchen with you!
Don’t let anyone tell you your kitchen has to stay at home. The GSI Outdoors Crossover Kitchen is a lightweight cooking package that includes:
- Compact Scraper,
- Scrubby Pad,
- Cutting Board,
- Pivot Tongs,
- Pivot Spoon,
- Pivot Spatula,
- Spicer,
- Soap Bottle,
- Oil Bottle,
- Camp Towel,
- Tote.
The pivoting tools spin open for easy use and store away just as simply. Spices stay dry in the waterproof shaker. After dinner chores of cleaning up will be quick and painless with the scrubbing pad, compact scraper, soap dispenser with your own soap, and the camp towel.
Everything you need to cook a gourmet meal in the backcountry is right here in the Crossover Kitchen.
Oh, and if you are a backpacking fashionista, do notice how the colours work perfectly with the firestarter steel.
Bowl: Sea to Summit X-Bowl
The direction that backpackers are beginning to approach is more packable, lightweight gear. If you’ve adopted this new age philosophy to backpacking, look no further than the Sea to Summit X-Bowl. The X-Bowl only weighs 2.8 oz. and is a collapsible dish that can sneak easily into your pack without being noticed while hiking.
When you get to camp and are craving that meal you worked so hard for, just pop up the sides of the X-bowl and you have a functional dinner dish with bendable walls. Don’t fret about soupy meals because the spill-resistant design fits whatever meal you’ve got in store for the X-bowl solidly.
The sturdy base of the bowl can also act as a makeshift cutting board because the material is cut resistant. The BPA free silicone bowl is also able to handle hot foods and any nearby heat source of up to 300 degrees Fahrenheit (148 degrees Celsius).
It is also dishwasher and microwave safe for when you get home from your trip.
Utensil: Light My Fire Titanium Spork
- Price: $
- Weight: 0.7 oz.
- In Short: It’s a Knife. And a Spoon. And a Fork. ‘Nuff said!
You want a utensil that can do it all and endure it all. That’s why the Light My Fire Titanium Spork should be a part of your outdoor kitchen. If you don’t already know, spoon+fork+knife=spork. All parts will meet your basic needs. The serrated edge on the fork will dice your food up while still being a safe tool to eat with. From aircraft to surgical use, titanium is used often by professionals for a variety of reasons. Because the spork is 100% titanium, it is light and flexible while still being durable, heat-resistant and non-toxic. The spork also has an anti-slip grip to make eating just that much easier.
Put the Light My Fire Titanium spork in your pack today.
- Price: $
- Weight: 3.2 oz.
- In Short: You could pour some bourbon in it too! Just know how to hold your liquor.
Whether you’re an Englishman who needs his daily tea or you want something to pair your meal with, the GearUp Outdoor Pro Mug should be on your wish list. Like the Light My Fire Spork, the mug is made of titanium. You know what that means: a lightweight yet strong mug for any beverage you want to slurp up.
GearUp Outdoor Pro also reaches out to those eco-friendly hikers since the titanium used to make the mug doesn’t leave a carbon footprint. A lid is also included to keep those hot beverages hotter for longer on cold days, although it isn’t spillproof. This 450mL mug is a nice addition for holding your hot and cold drinks alike.
Kettle: Level One Collapsible Kettle
- Price: $
- Weight: 16 oz.
- In Short: “OMG where is it? I can’t find it! It blends so nicely with the wood I’m in right now.”
Hiking baristas will start popping up once they discover the LevelOne Collapsible Kettle exists. The kettle has an aluminum base, silicone main body, and plastic handle which make for a lightweight yet tough enough accessory that can withstand heat with some outdoor beating.
Even after you’ve finished with your hot beverage after lunch, you’ll be excited to see the kettle shrink away and fold into your bag.
Check out the other colors available too, I picked the camouflage, because survival! And also, because this kettle is so awesome that someone will try to steal it from you. But with this pattern they won’t be able to find it so easily. Right?
Coffee Filter: Kuissential SlickDrip
- Price: $
- Weight: 4.8 oz.
- In Short: Coffee! Because you can sleep when you’re 99.
Never go camping again without your coffee just because you couldn’t bring a bulky machine with you. The Kuissential SlickDrip, a collapsible coffee drip, is the perfect item for your camp brew. The silicone design enables it to fold small, which can be easily stored in your pack and it doesn’t add any unwanted flavors to your hot beverage.
Washing it by hand or in the dishwasher is also no problem. For best coffee results, Kuissential recommends #2 or #4 coffee filters. The company also boasts that the SlickDrip will last longer than more expensive versions of the coffee drip.
If you’re someone who can’t bear the thought of leaving home without your caffeine, your prayers have been answered with this unique coffee drip.
Dish Tub: Prepworks Collapsible Dish Tub
- Price: $
- Weight: 13.8 oz.
- In Short: Don’t leave a mess behind you. Wash it all.
Before you can go off to bed with your happy tummy, you have to be (or should be) a responsible adult and wash your dirty dishes. The dirty task can be made slightly more enjoyable with the Prepworks Collapsible Dish Tub. The fact that it is a 10-quart capacity tub that can fold neatly into your pack is saying a lot. Even so, it is a durable tub that won’t spill liquids while cleaning up. Make sure to use biodegradable, eco-friendly soap, like Dr. Bronner’s Magic Soap when on the trail. Sleep well with a clean conscious.
Now that you have your food in order, are you sure you have all the basic necessary equipment for backpacking in 2016 ? Or if you are a beginner hiker, your hunger is dealt with, but make sure you read this article to know what is the other essential gear for beginners.
And I know your time is valuable, so thank you for reading this article!
That concludes our broadcast for today, but we can still stay in touch.
Did we miss something? Would you like us to look into something else? Maybe a special product you like and give you our opinion?
What is your favourite backpacking cooking equipment?
