ELEVATED CAMP COOKING
These tools take some of the rough out of roughing it.
WRITTEN BY BARBARA TWITCHELL
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE MANUFACTURERS
Just imagine the aroma of hot, fresh-baked, chocolate chip cookies wafting through your campsite. How about evening cocktails around the campfire — perhaps margaritas? Crushed ice? Of course! Welcome to a more glamorous form of camping known as glamping.
Shelly Curt, food and beverage creative development manager at Atlantis Casino Resort Spa in Reno, admits she is something of a glamper. From the feather bed cushion on her cot to her portable camping oven, she is a firm believer in bringing some comforts of home to the camping experience. And being a true foodie, this especially applies to her camp kitchen.
“Just because you’re camping doesn’t mean you have to eat camp chicken,” Curt says. “Why not take it up a notch?”
Why not, indeed? Check out these amazing glamping tools.
YETI Cooler
It’s not cheap, that’s for sure, but the YETI cooler is just about the best that money can buy. With thicker walls, more than twice the insulation, freezer-style gaskets, and seamless construction, this cooler is touted as being practically indestructible. It’s even been field-tested with wild grizzly bears. According to the manufacturer, the only thing the bears got was frustrated.
“If you invest in nothing else, invest in a good cooler,” Curt says. “It’s a food-safety issue, and a good one lasts forever.”
http://www.Yeticoolers.com http://www.Cabelas.com http://www.Scheels.com YETI Tundra series from $299
Rustic Roasters
Still rooting around at dusk, looking for a stick to roast your marshmallows? Feast your eyes on these beauties. The unique fire sticks are handcrafted using premium stainless-steel rods capped by handles made from naturally shed deer or elk antlers. Each truly is a one-of-a-kind creation. Why just use them for camping? They’re so distinctive, you might want to keep them by your fireplace for s’mores year round.
http://www.Rusticroasters.com set of 2/$75; set of 4/$139; also available with reclaimed branch handles, $60 to $119
Camp Chef Outdoor Oven
Fresh-baked bread, sizzling roasts, hot cookies … you can have it all in the middle of nowhere. This compact, portable, two-burner range plus oven can meet all your cooking needs anywhere you go. Don’t be fooled by its size. This little guy packs a whopping 14,000 total BTUs of cooking energy and can hold a sustained temperature of 350 degrees F for up to seven hours. Runs on a 1-pound propane bottle. Stainless-steel construction plus nonstick enamel cooking surfaces make it both durable and easy to maintain.
Curt bought hers two years ago and loves it. “This oven opened up a whole new culinary adventure in camping for me,” she says.
http://www.Cabelas.com $224.99
GSI Outdoors Halulite Pressure Cooker
After a long day of outdoor activity, it’s nice to be able to feed hungry campers a great meal without waiting hours for it to cook. The GSI pressure cooker cuts cooking time by up to 66 percent while maximizing the nutritional value and flavor of foods. Make soups, stews, rice, or beans in no time. Made of anodized aluminum, it is lightweight, sturdy, and highly portable. It features a triple safety system-locked lid and an independent release valve.
http://www.Gsioutdoors.com 2.7L/$59.95; 5.7L/$74.95
GSI Outdoors Vortex Hand Blender
How about a slushy mocktail on a hot afternoon, or a frozen daiquiri at the end of a long, active day? Being in the forest is no reason you need to forego those treats. This nifty, lightweight hand blender has two speeds that make it perfect for crushing ice or mixing drinks, shakes, cocktails, or sauces. Operates with a hand crank, so no power is needed other than your own. C-clamp holds it stable.
http://www.Gsioutdoors.com $114.95
My Camp Kitchen Mini Chef
This is perfect for the serious outdoor chef. Everything you need, neatly organized, in one handy place. Made of Baltic birch plywood for a durable yet lightweight kitchen, it features six shelves, a utensil holder, a paper towel holder, and a slide-out shelf with a knife rack. It’s designed to hold spices, oil, vinegar, utensils, plates, cups, wine bottles, and glasses — all the essentials.
http://www.Mycampkitchen.com $245
Reno-based freelance writer Barbara Twitchell would never call herself a glamper. She’s more of a basic tent-and-sleeping-bag kind of gal. Still, she says it was kind of fun researching these glamping tools. And she admits she’s tempted to get a YETI cooler, just for the fun of seeing a frustrated grizzly (from a safe distance, of course)!
