Outdoor Cooking & Eating Yard, Garden & Outdoor Living

Some camp sites will have their own charcoal grill available for you to use. In that case, all you need to bring is the food and your barbecue utensils. If not, you can choose to bring your own portable charcoal grill or a gas stove. Camp stoves use propane, kerosene, or butane to heat up the burner. Be sure you have adequate ventilation whenever you use a gas stove. Never use it inside a tent or near a major source of heat like a campfire. For a natural taste, you can cook outdoors over the burning wood of the campfire. Choose a pleasant tasting wood like mesquite to boost the flavor.

There are a few adjustments to make when cooking outdoors. Always use a meat thermometer to make sure the meat is fully cooked on the inside. Outdoor heat sources cook more unevenly than the oven or stove in your kitchen, so you may not be able to tell by sight. If you are cooking chicken outdoors, give more time to the dark meat. Chicken breasts will cook faster, as will boneless pieces compared to bone-in parts. Do not cook at extremely high temperatures and keep the stove covered as long as possible to hold in the heat and evenly cook your food.