Tips & Tricks
- Thread starter JohnVee
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- Thread starter
- #42
Stop buying and using Ground Black Pepper. Even the cheapest pepper mill or grinder, along with black peppercorns, will be a major improvement. I'm amazed how many people that should know about this are still using the pre-ground stuff in the red & white tin.
Tried out this trick I saw on Drive Ins diners and dives, freeze cabbage leaves overnight instead of blanching them when you make cabbage rolls. Works great they are pliable but hold up better than when you blanch them.
Dryer lint for starting fires. Lint starts immediately and you can store a pocket full in a very limited space with almost zero weight.
I am going to try this if it ever gets cool enough to fire the wood stove again this season.
My wife loves the Bounce, I may want to hide those before I use it on the grill though.
My wife loves the Bounce, I may want to hide those before I use it on the grill though.
There are a couple of videos on Youtube that show how Vaseline cotton balls are better than dryer lint.
One really good spark extender is inner tube, I keep a couple of sections of bicycle inner tube wrapped around a magnesium bar in my 10 essential tin. Once you get inner tube burning it's almost impossible to put out, and it's inherently waterproof.
One really good spark extender is inner tube, I keep a couple of sections of bicycle inner tube wrapped around a magnesium bar in my 10 essential tin. Once you get inner tube burning it's almost impossible to put out, and it's inherently waterproof.
I will take dryer lint and pack it into a old toilet paper tube and dip the ends in leftover scrap wax. One will start my charcoal chimney for the BBQ. The wax helps start the cardboard and it takes over from there.
I use waxed cardboard produce boxes to pack firewood. The waxed cardboard makes a great fire starter, it would probably work equally well for starting charcoal.
If you use a Dutch oven with charcoal bricketts, a drip pan from an auto parts store provides a stable surface and prevents hassles about 'open' fires where required.
A quick shot of olive oil Pam will allow spices to stick to your meat or fish prior to cooking and keeps it from sticking to your grill.
If you are using prepared food like mountain house freeze dried, carefull packing of additional spices may improve your meal.
If camping at high altitude in the summer, snow banks covered with pine needles make a great refidgerator/ freezer.
Flat metal skewers are great for cooking meat over an open fire. Remember that the wood flavors the meat. Unless you are a lover of retsina don't cook over pine.
Use igneous rocks to line your campfire. Wet metamorphic rocks will explode under high heat. If you are in an area where bamboo is common, make sure all of the sections are split. Closed sections will explode sending boiling sap everywhere.
Keep an eye out for native plants. For example; Wild currents are great with duck, pheasant, or rabbit. Strawberry leaves kill your thirst while hiking. If you only have pemmican bars, green currents kick it up. I won't recommend mushrooms because if you are wrong it will kill you , but you get the idea. Wild grapes are often somewhat bitter but provide sugar and kill your thirst. I could go on and on.
Whole milk with a small amount lo lemon juice left in the cruiser while doing spirited wheeling will make cheese. Heavy cream by itself will make butter.
The area under the hood of a landcruiser gets pretty hot. You can cook under there with heavy duty aluminum foil or in cans. If in cans, be sure to provide a vent hole so they don't explode.
Perfect rice every time:
measure rice into pot
rinse three or four times until the water is mostly clear <very important, this will give you fluffy rice because it removes the extra starch that makes the rice stick together.>
add the same measure of water to the pot <optional to add salt at this point>
let stand 10 - 15 minutes
heat to a full boil
immediately remove from the heat and put the pot in a warm spot on the back of the stove or next to the camp fire
15 minutes later you will have perfect fluffy rice and the pot will wipe clean.
I have tested this recipe on various stoves, different pots, different kinds of rice, etc. it always works.
measure rice into pot
rinse three or four times until the water is mostly clear <very important, this will give you fluffy rice because it removes the extra starch that makes the rice stick together.>
add the same measure of water to the pot <optional to add salt at this point>
let stand 10 - 15 minutes
heat to a full boil
immediately remove from the heat and put the pot in a warm spot on the back of the stove or next to the camp fire
15 minutes later you will have perfect fluffy rice and the pot will wipe clean.
I have tested this recipe on various stoves, different pots, different kinds of rice, etc. it always works.