Intro to Camp Cooking

Camp Cooking at Avid 4 Adventure

Learning to cook outdoors is an empowering way for campers to gain hands-on experience using common camping tools, techniques and ingredients.

Similar to any other Avid 4 Adventure program, we strive to provide campers with authentic, high-quality gear and experiences. Campers will use camp stoves and outdoor cooking tools to learn basic cooking techniques and cook fun, simple, tasty recipes to fuel their active bodies.

Below you will find some basic safety and instructional information. Please read all information thoroughly before leading your first camp cooking session.

Food Safety Considerations

All participants must wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds before cooking, after using the restroom, after touching their face or mouth, and any time hands become soiled or dirty. Proper handwashing with soap and water is the most effective way to prevent the spread of foodborne illness and other germs. Teaching campers to keep their hands clean is part of learning to cook, and sets the foundation for a lifetime of healthy cooking and eating!

Gloves: Instructors should wear foodservice gloves whenever handling ready-to-eat food (anything that is either cooked and ready to eat, OR any fresh produce that will be eaten without cooking).

Fresh/uncooked foods: Whenever using an ingredient that will be eaten without cooking, each camper should touch and eat ONLY their own portion. For example, each camper can be given a small amount of dried fruit which they may chop and then place into their own bowl to be eaten or used as a garnish. Fresh (un-cooked) ingredients should NOT be combined into a common bowl and then re-distributed. Instructors, please keep this in mind for all recipes!

Food storage: most ingredients are shelf stable and not prone to spoilage (for example, we use powdered milk rather than liquid, and dried fruit rather than fresh). However, we do occasionally use fresh produce or dairy items. These items must be refrigerated or kept in a cooler with ice at 40 degrees or below until ready for use.

Clean as you go: Set your group up for success by cleaning up WHILE you cook. Don't leave all of your scraps, trash, and dishes in a pile until the end of the session! Campers can help keep your outdoor kitchen area neat, organized and clean at all points during the session.

Trust your common sense: We all know that keeping a clean and organized cooking space is the most effective way to become a good cook! It will also help keep our cooking program clean, safe and fun for all participants. Please ‘clean as you go’ and take the extra time to wipe up any spills, have kids wash hands if they sneeze or lick their fingers, and get in the habit of keeping your outdoor kitchen and your camper-chefs as clean as possible at all times. It is 100% possible to maintain a clean, healthy and safe cooking environment even in the outdoors!

Basic Cooking Skills & Guidelines:

Cooking Environmental Briefing:

Just like any other Avid 4 Adventure program, EVERY camp cooking session should start with an environmental briefing. Repetition is key! Ask questions and draw input from your camper chefs. If you feel yourself reciting a list of rules, STOP! Instead, ask your campers: “What could happen? How can we stay safe?”

Ask for help-with anything hot, sharp, heavy or messy

Be careful with anything hot or sharp.

What types of kitchen tools have a blade? Knives, peelers, graters, can openers,

What gets hot in the kitchen? Stove, oven, pans, cooking food/liquids

What could happen? How can we stay safe??

Clean hands & tools We don’t want to share germs. How can we stay healthy?

Use clean tools, Wash hands with soap for at least 20 seconds before cooking, after touching our face/mouth

Avoid sharing dishes or utensils.

Avoid cross-contamination (keep containers of ingredients clean, wear gloves when serving, only touch your own portion of food)

Do it as a team: it’s more fun when we take turns and share.

Eat it all up! We will have family meal time at the end of each day. Your mouth and your tummy belong to you, so YOU are in charge of what and how much you want to eat (or not eat).

*Note: The directions for each recipe will be divided into a few main categories: chop, mix & measure, and cook or bake. Instructors, look for the notes that tell you when to light the stove, and which tasks should be done by you.

Prep work: Chop, Mix and Measure as needed for today’s recipe. Divide ingredients so that each camper chef gets to chop, mix or measure most (if not all) ingredients. Use the knife skills, measuring skills and mixing skills below as needed for the day’s recipe. You will never cover all of these in one recipe; however, by the end of the week each camper should get a feel for the basics.

Helpful hints to share the measuring: for dry ingredients or larger amounts, you can pre-measure the full amount into a small bowl or container. Then, let each child use a measuring spoon to add a small scoop of the ingredient to the main mixing bowl. This way, kids can practice their measuring and leveling, and you know that all of their scoops will add up to the correct amount.

If you only need a small amount: for ingredients like spices, you may only need a tiny amount. In this case, let everyone pass around and smell the ingredient, and then ask the final camper to add a shake, pinch or spoonfull.

Knife Skills

Planks: cut any round pieces in half to create a flat side so they don’t roll around.

The Claw: when holding something to be chopped, grab it with The Claw (curl your fingertips back) so they stay out of the way

Get a good grip: hold your knife close to the blade. You can grip the handle, use your pointer on the spine of the blade, or grab the base of the blade with your thumb/pointer for more control.

Chop/Slice/Dice/Mince: always do your best to cut pieces that are similar sizes. Chopping makes big pieces, slicing makes thin pieces, Dicing makes small pieces, and mincing makes tiny pieces.

Leaves & Greens: Herbs and leafy greens are tricky to cut, but easy to tear with your fingers!

Rock n Roll: your chef’s knife has a slightly rounded edge, which makes dicing and mincing super-fun and easy! Keep the tip in place and ‘rock’ the blade back and forth to chop small pieces quickly. Use a flat hand on the spine of the blade to keep things safe and tidy.

Measuring Skills & Tools:

Make mountains, not valleys: when measuring dry ingredients, make sure your scoop has a ‘mountain’ on top, then level off with a flat hand or spoon handle. Let all campers practice measuring (they can practice scooping and leveling any dry ingredient(s), even once all of an ingredient has been added to the bowl.

Simple Fractions: cooking is a great time to learn how ½ and ¼ measurements add up to a whole. Quiz your campers on how to use different size spoons or cups to get the same measurements.

Liquid vs. dry measuring cups: all liquid ingredients should be measured in a liquid measuring cup to avoid spills. Dry measuring cups are used because they can be leveled to the very tip-top.

Measuring spoons: used for tiny amounts so we can get exactly enough (but not too much)!

Mixing Skills & Tools:

Stirring means to mix around and around. Always start gently to avoid spills and splatters, and hold the bowl securely (or have a buddy hold it for you). Some recipes tell you how long or how many times to stir.

Whisks are helpful for blending dry ingredients or thin/watery wet ingredients. They also help whip lots of tiny air bubbles into liquids. We don’t want to use them for thick or sticky recipes, because our ingredients will get stuck inside their balloon! You can hold a whisk like a spoon and stir, OR roll the handle between 2 flat hands to go super fast!

Spoonulas can help scrape the bowl to mix dry and wet ingredients together. Ours are made of slippery silicone so food doesn’t stick to them.

Kneading means to use your hands to mix and mash dough. Dust your hands with flour to help keep dough from sticking.

Meal Time & Cooking Debrief

Campers clean up & set up for meal time. Part of being a chef is cleaning up! After the recipe is finished, camper chefs will help collect dirty dishes, clean their cooking area and set the table for meal time.

Time to eat!

Enjoy eating everything (if you want to). We will NEVER force campers to eat or taste anything. Simply participating in the cooking process empowers kids to engage with new foods in a variety of ways. Even if a camper doesn't eat a single bite,

Meal Time Debrief: meal time is a time when families can spend time talking together. We are a camp family this week, so let’s give everyone a chance to answer our table talk questions. Use questions below, or create your own:

What did we make today? Who remembers what this recipe is called?

Do you like this recipe? If so, what makes it good to you? If not, how would you change it to make it delicious for you?

Can you remember ALL the ingredients in this recipe?

Did you try any new foods today?

What type of fuel does this food provide for our bodies?

Why is it important to think about the food we eat while we’re in the outdoors?

If a camper is hesitant to eat something you can encourage them to: touch, smell, lick, bite, and/or spit it out instead. The end goal is never to have a clean plate; the goal is simply for campers to engage with and learn about new foods!

A word about food-related power struggles: challenge by choice is key! Eating and meal time can often become a power struggle between kids and adults. In some cases, this struggle for control can develop into unhealthy or even harmful (disordered) eating habits as kids get older. With this in mind, we will NEVER force a child to eat anything. We will also NEVER shame a child for their eating choices. Remind your campers that their mouth and their stomach belong to them, and encourage them to listen to their own hunger cues to decide when they feel hungry or full.