Is there anything better than cooking and eating outdoors with family and friends? Our visits to a farmhouse or a picnic in the wild is not complete without cooking outdoors.
Cooking outdoors is an experience in itself. Something about cooking the old fashioned way with the basic and bare minimum items makes the entire experience – from food preparation to enjoying the last bite – special. Everything moves at an unhurried pace and it is truly relaxing and enjoyable. Though the food is simple but for some inexplicable reason, it always tastes good. With KG as our resident chef, cooking outdoors is a given.
Based on our experience, let me share some tips to help make cooking in the outdoors less daunting, and more fun.
1. Make a List and Plan Ahead
This is a no-brainer but it’s worth following. Unless you carry the entire contents of your kitchen, which you shouldn’t, it’s easy to forget items you need. For cooking outdoors, planning your menu and making a list of all the required ingredients and utensils is a must. If possible, do basic meal prep at home.
2. Put Everyone to Work
The designated cook shouldn’t do all the work. There’s a lot of work involved with making meals outside, so assign work to everyone in the group. For many, it is a first experience and hence becomes a memorable and enjoyable event. I remember, in one of our picnics, a friend who had never ventured in the kitchen, became an expert in chopping onions and another one could roll out perfect round chapatis. The wives still thank KG for initiating their husbands into cooking.
3. Always Cover Food while Cooking
Covering pots and pans will not only keep insects out of the food, but it will also help the food to cook faster.
4. Keep Food Locked Up
Aah! Once our pet dogs polished off the cooked chicken and we had to have our meal with pickle and namkeen. It was such a bummer of an outdoor meal.
5. Have a Back-up Plan
May be the rains play spoilsport or the main cook is injured or unwell, sometimes things dont work as per the plan. Once we got lost and reached the designated camping site pretty late, so cooking a meal was just out of question. So packaged food, heat-and-eat meals, snacks or no-cook meals should be available as a back-up. Be flexible in your approach. In the absence of skewers, meat was grilled on tree branches.
6. Say Bye-Bye to Perfection
Perfection and outdoors don’t go together. When outdoors, don’t sweat the small stuff. The idea is to cook, eat, and enjoy the meal together. So, apart from everyone following the basic safety and hygiene rules, do not stress about perfection.
7. Have Fun!
Remember, your outdoor cooking should be about fun and enjoyment. It’s the time to bond with your family and friends in the exciting outdoors. So, even if things don’t go as per the plan and often, they won’t… just go with the flow and focus on having a fabulous time.
Have you cooked meals in the outdoors? How has been your experience?
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23 Responses
As summer is nearing, we have a plan for setting up barbeque at the river side. Will keep your pointers in mind. Perfect timing of this post for me.
I like cooking outdoors, particularly when I can make foil packet meals. That’s mostly due to ease of cooking and cleanup, however. Taste-wise, it’s ALL good.
Happy A-Z’ing
We enjoyed many barbeques in summers in the US. Never got a chance to cook outside in India yet but would love to go on a picnic with friends and try outdoor cooking.
Liked your tips. Cooking outdoor is fun and as you said , having a back up plan is necessary. Another one which I liked put everyone to work:) Your post reminded me of my last time experience:)
The only time I did outdoor cooking as a child was, campfires. Now every winter we get the barbeque ready in our balcony for kababs, makke di roti, roasting baigan for bharta. Great points that you have suggested.
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When we lived in the US, we regularly did outdoor picnics and barbecues. Then that habit carried over when we moved here. I have a nice barbecue that we fire up sometimes with friends and enjoy.
We once cooked food in the open in our GIRL GUIDE CAMP and most of it was a disaster. Though our teachers pitched in and helped us we didnt enjoy it. Later I never got an opportunity to do outdoor cooking. Enjoyed your post, SHILPA Garg.
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True in an outdoor situation, one may not have access to every facility, it is the excitement and hunger that makes food enjoyable. Whenever, I went with groups for a picnic or even during Durga Puja, one feels extremely hungry because some reason or other cooking gets delayed. Then when the meal is served, it tastes heavenly.
hahha loved the post! I remember making maggiee in the forest!
This post of yours reminded me of the many bonfire cooking which we used to do as children. In winters my parents always arranged bonfires in the huge lawn of the house. That day they would ensure that all the food is cooked outside and that everyone should pitch in.
The have fun part is the best tip, Shilpa! And putting everyone to work, absolutely yes. During my childhood we had many outdoor meals and it used to wonderful to watch the large scale cooking and then eating together. Loved this post!
Oh! I love it Shilpa, the food cooked in open fire or ‘chulah’ is zilions times delicious than any other method of cooking. I have not tried outdoor cooking yet, due to space crunch but have seen family ladies cooking well on chulha on special demands of chulhe waali roti or non=veg items.
Too right on all of those tips. I love the taste of food cooked out on the grill…
Great post
Now you have enticed me enough for planning an outdoor cooking soon. I particularly loved your practice ideas like not running behind perfection.
Wonderful tips for cooking outdoors. The Plan B idea was really good,
Once we went out for a family picnic and the elders wanted Daal-Baati-Choorma to be cooked outdoors. It was cooked, the but quanitiy got miscalculated an we lamost ran a risk of keeping atleast half the inmates hungry. As a back up plan, aaloo ki sabzi was made and everyone who were extremey hungry by now, cherished it as exquisite cuisine.
In the UK we never plan outside eating far in advance thanks to our unpredictable weather! Great fun when we do though.
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How true! We do bonfires and barbeques during winters! Hygiene and safety are extremely important.
Oh wow! I have never experienced outdoor cooking till now! The few picnics I’ve been to, we took prepared stuff from home or packed food. But yeah, I definitely would like to try it some day. Some really useful tips here.
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