Learn practical outdoor food and cooking skills, including campfire cooking, food hygiene, food storage, meal planning, foraging awareness and outdoor cooking.
Cooking outdoors doesn’t always require a metal pot, a camping stove or a kettle over a fire. One traditional technique, known as stone boiling, uses heated stones to warm water in a separate container. It takes patience and careful preparation, but it’s a fascinating way to explore how people could heat water and prepare food…
A handful of fresh greens can turn a basic pot of soup into something worth making again. Nettles have a mild, earthy flavour once cooked, wild garlic brings a gentle savoury sharpness, and sorrel adds a fresh, lemony taste. Each works well in a simple soup, whether you’re cooking at home or preparing a meal…
There is a big difference between recognising a plant or fungus and knowing that it is safe to eat. When you’re learning to forage, the safest habit you can develop is being comfortable leaving something alone when you cannot identify it with certainty. Some poisonous species are surprisingly common, and some can look very similar…
Foraging can be a great way to learn more about the plants around you, but the most important skill is not knowing how many wild foods you can eat. It is knowing when you have identified something confidently enough to eat it — and when you haven’t. There are edible plants growing in many familiar…
Keeping food cold while camping can be surprisingly difficult. At home, you can simply put everything in the fridge. At camp, you may have a cool box, ice packs, frozen food and a warm day to deal with. The key is to start with cold food, keep it insulated and avoid letting warm air into…
Activity Overview Difficulty: IntermediateTime: 30–45 minutesLocation: Suitable outdoor equipment or cooking areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Equipment care, stove maintenance, fault checking, camp cooking, safety awareness Regular stove maintenance keeps camping stoves working reliably and helps identify problems before they become dangerous. Maintenance should include cleaning the stove, checking the burner and supports, inspecting fuel…
Activity Overview Difficulty: BeginnerTime: 30–45 minutesLocation: Suitable outdoor cooking areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Stove safety, fuel handling, camp cooking, fire safety, risk awareness Camp stoves provide a controlled way to cook outdoors, but they still involve flames, hot surfaces and potentially hazardous fuels. Safe stove use starts before the stove is lit and includes…
Activity Overview Difficulty: IntermediateTime: 1–2 hoursLocation: Suitable campfire or outdoor cooking areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Camp cooking, fire management, heat control, food preparation, pioneering Campfire reflector cooking uses a reflective surface positioned beside a campfire to direct radiant heat towards food. It can be used for baking bread, bannock, potatoes and other foods without…
Activity Overview Difficulty: BeginnerTime: 30–60 minutesLocation: Suitable campfire or outdoor cooking areaBest for: Cubs, Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Camp cooking, fire safety, food hygiene, heat control, teamwork Campfire roasting is a simple outdoor cooking method where food is held over the heat of a campfire using a suitable skewer, roasting fork or other approved equipment. It…
Activity Overview Difficulty: IntermediateTime: 1–2 hoursLocation: Suitable campfire or outdoor cooking areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Camp cooking, fire management, food preparation, heat control, teamwork Campfire baking is the process of baking food using the heat from a campfire rather than a conventional oven. It can be used to make bread, bannock, damper, scones, cakes…
