There is nothing quite like being out in the open air by your tent having some lovely hot food after being outside all day. Camping is all about getting back to our roots and being in tune with nature, whether you are camping in the hills, the woods or at plush campsite with all the bells and whistles like shower block and social club with a television.

One of the great things is cooking out in the open whether that is by means of a barbecue or a camping stove. But one of the issues us campers come across is how do we keep the food warm? It is not like at home where you can turn the oven down or reheat your stew in the microwave. At camp you either have to eat it one sitting or eat it cold. Or do you? Here are my top five tips on keeping your camping food hot;

1. Insulate With Cloth And Newspaper. To keep your pans of food hot by placing the pan or saucepan with newspaper or throwing a tea-towel over it will keep it hot for a good extra twenty minutes.
2. Add Sauce. When you serve your food, boiled vegetables can go cold in a flash; try serving them in a hot sauce. This will add flavour but also keep them hot for a lot longer.
3. Make a ‘Hot’ box. You don’t have to use your cool box just to keep items cold. You can use it as a hot box. Fill your cool box with some hot air from a kettle then put your pan or saucepan inside, then seal the box. This can keep your food hot even for hours.
4. Flasks. You don’t have to use a flask just to keep your tea and coffee warm. If you need a sauce hot while you cook your other food and ingredients, pour your sauce into a flask, then seal.
5. Round up the campers.By getting everyone seated just before dinner is served, this will avoid anyone getting a cold meal. In my experience with a family someone generally ends up with a cold meal of you do not adopt this approach.

It can always be a challenge to keep your food hot when camping especially if you go camping out of season. If you are barbecuing food and if you know that it won’t all get used, it is good to wrap those items of food in foil and store them in your larder. This will help keep the food that much warmer for longer.

Source by Max Webster-Dowsing