Learn practical outdoor food and cooking skills, including campfire cooking, food hygiene, food storage, meal planning, foraging awareness and outdoor cooking.
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…
Activity Overview Difficulty: IntermediateTime: 1–2 hoursLocation: Suitable campfire or outdoor cooking areaBest for: Scouts and ExplorersSkills: Fire lighting, camp cooking, food preparation, fire safety, teamwork Ember cooking is the process of cooking food over the steady heat produced by hot, glowing embers rather than directly over flames. A well-established bed of embers provides more even…
Activity Overview Difficulty: ModerateTime: 30–45 minutesLocation: Campsites, expedition bases and suitable outdoor planning areasBest for: Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders and adult leadersSkills: Meal planning, nutrition, estimation, expedition planning and food management Calorie planning means making sure your food provides enough energy for the activity without unnecessarily increasing the weight you have to carry. For Scouts,…
Activity Overview Difficulty: ModerateTime: 30–60 minutesLocation: Campsites, expedition bases and suitable outdoor planning areasBest for: Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders and experienced Cubs with supervisionSkills: Meal planning, nutrition, portion control, budgeting, packing and expedition planning Food ration planning means working out what food is needed, how much is required and how it will be stored, carried…
Activity Overview Difficulty: ModerateTime: 45–90 minutesLocation: Woodlands, hedgerows, fields and other suitable countryside areasBest for: Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders and experienced Cubs with close supervisionSkills: Plant identification, responsible countryside access, conservation, observation and sustainable foraging Ethical foraging means taking only what you can positively identify, what you are permitted to collect and what the environment…
Activity Overview Difficulty: Easy–ModerateTime: 30–60 minutesLocation: Woodlands, fields, parks and other suitable outdoor areasBest for: Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders and adult leadersSkills: Observation, identification, outdoor awareness, responsible countryside access and risk management The safest rule for Scouts is never eat a wild mushroom unless it has been positively identified as safe by someone suitably…
Activity Overview Difficulty: Easy–ModerateTime: 30–60 minutesLocation: Woodlands, fields, hedgerows and other suitable outdoor areasBest for: Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders and adult leadersSkills: Observation, plant identification, outdoor awareness, responsible countryside access and risk management Wild plants can be useful and interesting to learn about, but never eat, touch or use an unfamiliar plant simply because…
Activity Overview Difficulty: ModerateTime: 15–30 minutes to set up; maintained throughout campLocation: Scout campsites and outdoor campsBest for: Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders and adult leadersSkills: Food hygiene, campcraft, outdoor cooking, organisation and teamwork Good camp kitchen hygiene means keeping hands, food, equipment and preparation areas clean and preventing food from becoming contaminated. Outdoor cooking…
Activity Overview Difficulty: ModerateTime: 30–60 minutesLocation: Scout campsites and outdoor campsBest for: Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders and adult leadersSkills: Campcraft, food hygiene, outdoor cooking, organisation and teamwork A good camp kitchen should have separate areas for food preparation, cooking, eating, washing up and waste, with enough space to work safely. Set the kitchen up on…
Activity Overview Difficulty: EasyTime: 30–90 minutes depending on equipmentLocation: Home, garage, garden or suitable outdoor cleaning areaBest for: Cubs, Scouts, Explorers, Patrol Leaders, campers and outdoor enthusiastsSkills: Equipment care, cleaning, maintenance, drying, storage and outdoor preparation Cleaning camping equipment means removing dirt, mud, food and moisture from your kit and making sure it is properly…
