Cooking Inside While Ice Camping

[wyogator]

I just bought an Eskimo Outbreak 850 for ice camping and was wondering how most of you cook meals.  I have done some ice camping in the past, but mostly ate cold pizza or maybe Ramen or Mountain House cooked on a backpack stove just inside the door with the door wide open for ventilation, or brats and burgers on a charcoal grill outside well away from the shack.  I also just re-read the loooooong thread on ice camping by lowaccord.  I have read and contributed to this thread in the past.  It took me a couple of evenings to get through, but is well worth the read.  FGSteve has valuable info if you are into ice camping.  From what I have gathered, including YouTube videos, people fry fish, eggs, bacon, venison, pheasant, you name it, inside often on a two burner Coleman stove.  Not only does frying anything in hot oil inside a hub sound like a recipe for burning all of your expensive gear to the ground (I mean ice), it also seems like a good way to get carbon monoxide poisoning.  Also, hot oil and fish seems like it could splatter all over the hub, leaving grease spots and odors.  I am not knocking anyone who does this.  These are just my assumptions which may be incorrect.  So, for those of you who camp on the ice, how and what do you cook?  Do you cook inside?  What kind of equipment do you use?  Does anyone bring a separate shelter for cooking?  Thanks in advance for your responses.

[ran7ger]

All I can say is don't cook onions in the tent!

[Jack978]

I'm from the other end of the country but Ice fishing is alive and well here in Maine and cooking on ice varies a lot.  Some people have semi-permanent shacks that they put out and leave in one place for the season.  These are usually equipped with wood burning stoves or propene heating and people cook in them.  I use a hub shelter and have a one burner propane stove.   Since I am not a chef, I usually cook something simple and favor soups and stews.  Of course, red hotdogs are an absolute must, but they aren't complicated and don't take hours.  Probably they don't have those where you are, but they are a tradition around here.   I have a camping kit that has two pans and a frying pan that takes almost no space but can do all the basics.

I've seen people use popup shade shelters as a cooking station outside their main shelter and some have a propane grill.  You can buy side screens to cut the wind. It's kind of is a matter of personal preference and how much weight you want to deal with.   The most well-heeled have purpose built towable shelters that have what would pass for a full-service kitchen.

If smells and neatness are a high priority in your life fishing is probably not going to be pleasing.  Outdoor gear is for use and hard use at that, fish are slimy and stink, bait is messy, and blood is going to be involved at some point.  Some from the fish and some from you.  It's all a matter of perspective and what you want.  Hopefully you find that and enjoy it.

[fish-N-forage]

I cooked an Indian curry in my popup once...it smelled like an Indian restaurant the next 4 fishing trips

[wyogator]

I am pretty hard on equipment, but take good care of it when I get home and at the end of season, especially augers.  I don’t mind fishy smells, deer blood or dried up nightcrawler goo on the boat carpet.  But fried bacon grease and fish oil on the walls of a $500 shanty is a different matter, not to mention bacon grease on everything inside. I sure don’t want to become grizz bait with a bacon smelling sleeping bag in the elk woods. 

[RapShack]

Take one of those thermal emergency blankets and a two clothespins and make a backsplash to put up along the wall where your stove is. 

[wyogator]

Thanks RapShack, but my concern is also carbon monoxide.  I think I’ll just stick to simple stuff like Dinty Moore and frozen home made chili on the backpack stove.  I just wanted to see what other people do and see if anyone has any good ideas.  Another option I saw on YouTube is Hot Pockets on the Buddy heater.

[ice4066]

I cook hot dogs on buddy heater also put cheese between bread butter outside of bread wrap in tinfoil at home and make grilled cheese on buddy heater also

[muskyon46]

I cook almost anything you can wrap in foil and flip it back and forth. Used to eat a lot out of pop top cans but that got old after a few years Now I'm usually eating brats, cheese steak sandwiches, pre cooked ribs(beef or pork) , hot pockets, tamales, toquitos, burritos,  meat loaf, marinated chicken(breast, legs, thighs) ect... I'll spend a little time walking thru the freezer section  and meat department at my local grocery store asking myself could I cook that wrapped in foil. This is all done on a buddy heater. I use the metal paint roller grids you can get at most hardware stores. One gallon one fits the small buddy five gallon one fits the big buddy. Started messing around with the heat operated fans this last weekend and found if the outside temp stay above 15deg I don't need to run a battery operated fan to keep the X200 tent a toasty 65-70degs thru the night on big buddies low setting





I may just have to give that grill cheese a try ice4066, thx for the idea.  Always looking for something new to wrap up in foil for the weekend out ice camping

I highly recommend the thicker heavier foil

[Finnt]

Do it all the time in the shacks I use a Coleman grill/ one burner camping propane stove . Brats porkchops hamburgers even pancakes .the stove is like a small suitcase and light too . I even got a little percolator coffee pot I travels with me in the boat too I spend alot of time outdoors away from home alot it gets used alot .it's all packed in a plastic tote with every thing to cook  what you want pan for frying  pot for soups and roasts tongs flipper forks and spoons. And aluminum foil. It's my traveling cook kitchen. I car camp. boat camp alot on rivers I set up a cot tent on boat and stay all night. Kids go with me on boat they love cat fishing all night and waking up when the clickers go off. I dont worry about smells in my shack I wash them in the yard after ice out and let air out in the garage for about a week. I also got 7 of the one pounder flame king refilled also

[wyogator]

These are all good ideas, thanks guys!  I can’t wait to try some foil burritos and grilled cheese on the Buddy heater.

[Sylvanboat]

Check out Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness . BWCA.com. These are guys and gals are hard core winter outdoor enthusiasts. Camping out in 40 below is their idea of fun. They can give you all the info you need. They sponsor a weekend winter camping symposium toward the end of each year. 

[Uppervalley Kid]

A little grate over a buddy heater

[sra61]

We use the Lakco grate on the buddy heater. It only takes maybe 10-15 Minutes to heat up a couple of burritos or hot pockets with it on low. We used a little grill in a buddy's hub a few yeas ago and it still smells like a BBQ years later
!

[mugsy]

Thanks RapShack, but my concern is also carbon monoxide.  I think I’ll just stick to simple stuff like Dinty Moore and frozen home made chili on the backpack stove.  I just wanted to see what other people do and see if anyone has any good ideas.  Another option I saw on YouTube is Hot Pockets on the Buddy heater.

battery powered CO detector

[wyogator]

I have the co detector.  I heard it takes like an hour to detect anything over 70ppm.

[mugsy]

check out low level CO detectors.......much mote sensitive

[jigmaster5]

So, for those of you who camp on the ice, how and what do you cook?  Do you cook inside?  What kind of equipment do you use?  Does anyone bring a separate shelter for cooking?  Thanks in advance for your responses.

If you're concerned about it CO, you can get a low CO detector (like others have said above).  You can also just crack a window or door - some air flow will go a long way.  Doesn't even have to be alot.

I think CO is more of a concern if you're going to be sleeping o/n w/ a heater going all night (vs. just cooking a meal).  It's not like a portable stove generates alot more CO than a Buddy heater.  They're both burning propane.

When I've eaten on the ice, we always had the grill outside - partly b/c it was easier to cook + clean up.  Some of the best meals that I've eaten have been outdoors (wild game, too)....not sure if it was b/c I was hungry or not....but man was it tasty!

Some other options...
- MREs or camping meals....some of these have little heater pouches or require boiling water.  All kinds of options if you look on some camping sites.  Oatmeal for breakfast, boil-in-a-bag rice, pre-made curry, ramen, etc, etc.  You can go pretty far with just boiling water.
- Soup in a thermos.  The new thermos bottles work well + keep stuff warm for a long time.  You could go crazy + bring a couple different thermos bottles.
- You could bring some cold stuff + just eat that if you're only going to be staying o/n.
- I've seen people order pizza delivered to a boat ramp.  I'm sure you could order other stuff - all you really need is an address + money.

[mugsy]

foodsaver bags can be boiled
chili, stew, pasta/sauce and a whole $#/+load of other stuff
can be heated up.
single or bulk servings with easy cleanup,  singles you can eat right from bag.
the possibilites are endless.......hollanda ise sauce pouch, canadian bacon pouch, a silicone egg poacher, english muffins " buddy toasted " 
add pot of boiling water and voila benedict on ice
mason jars work too and you can stir contents

[wyogator]

Jigmaster, those are good suggestions.  That has been my backpacking staple for years.  I have also cooked those while camping on ice before.  I may just stick with simple to make it easier and allow me to concentrate on fishing.

[primepin65]

I've always been a fan of leftovers reheated in mini tin foil loaf pans. Whale-mart sells a 5-pack for $1.25. Easy enough to reheat on top of a buddy heater while you're jigging or watching tip-ups. I also have a Jet Boil stove that I will take out to make coffee, if it's going to be an all day trip. Folgers sells tea-bag style coffee bags, making it super easy to make average coffee on the ice.

[wyogator]

I used to use the Folgers tea bags when backpacking.  Now, I have this little porcelain enamel coffee pot I found at Sportsman’s Warehouse that I use to make cowboy coffee.  It works well and tastes better than you think once you get the technique down.

[jethro]

I hate to admit this but when I'm ice camping I opt for freeze dried meals like Mountain House and the like. Some of them are pretty good.

[primepin65]

I hate to admit this but when I'm ice camping I opt for freeze dried meals like Mountain House and the like. Some of them are pretty good.

Nobody can blame you for that. Boiling water is easy to take car of while still fishing. I'm sure lots of guys on here are probably watching their salt intake though, which is gonna be hard with the freeze-dried meals.

[badger132]

I second what Mugsy said- we used to put almost anything in food saver bags, and plop them in boiling water. It was fast, safe, and you ended up with a pot of clean hot water for whatever you need. We were not on the ice, but in wall tents back county hunting. We could cook, but the time savings were worth it, plus not all the guides were capable in the kitchen. We used a chamber vacuum sealer, which is more expensive, but the bags are near free, and you can seal almost anything, including liquids.

[slickrockhounds]

We don't cook in any towables that we sleep in. It's asking for trouble here.