A few choice pieces of gear can make or break the camp kitchen. Whether you’re hiking or just camping out, these items can make camp cooking a breeze.

 

Do you just sit and ponder over which camping equipment to invest in? Let’s be honest, this gear isn’t the cheapest stuff to buy. Our camp kitchen is a pretty big thing for us (check out our recipes!) so we bit the bullet and went for a separate cooking setup for hiking and car camping.

With summer ahead of us, we’re stoked to be packing our bags and heading out to explore more of Australia. We thought we’d share our favourite and most useful items for camp cooking so you can prepare a feast next time you head outdoors.

Note: These are general setups we tend to go for, however they can slightly change depending on what type of adventure you plan to do. There are many Sea to Summit items as I work for them and have direct experience using them on trips!

Also Read: Which Hiking Stove Should I Get?

 

Gear For Cooking While Hiking

JetBoil MiniMo

This regulated 1L hiking stove is the perfect size for one person, though we make it work for two people. We mainly use it to boil water for coffees and meals, although it comes in handy if we’re making a curry or stew. The design is very efficient and compact, making it great for hiking.

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JetBoil Pot Support

You’ll only need this pot support if you’re carrying a JetBoil stove. It allows you to use any kind of pot on your JetBoil, so you can have the best of both worlds. The support is super tiny itself, so we stash it away in the JetBoil once we’re done with it.

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Sea to Summit Collapsible Bowl

This bowl is a great little piece as it doesn’t take up much space or weight in your bag. Plus, Sea to Summit carries several different sizes to suit your needs and even make one that works as a pot!

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Sea to Summit Collapsible Mug

No different to the bowls, these mugs are smaller and designed to hold your hot drinks, soups, and keep your hands nice and warm. They stash inside the collapsible bowls (we love a good system).

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Sea to Summit Sink 10L

Really, a sink for hiking? Just trust us. Sea to Summit has so many sinks to choose from, from ultralight options to heavy duty ones. We chose one in the middle, which is the Sea to Summit 10L sink. 

It’s versatile and can be used as a sink as well as a bucket to carry water for cooking or washing clothes (it can hold hot water and STS wilderness wash). An awesome feature is that the top of the sink has a solid frame so it holds its shape when filled with water. Definitely a small and compact piece that we recommend.  

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Alpha cutlery set 3pc

This durable, lightweight, and multipurpose cutlery set will not disappoint. At only 37 grams and lighter than titanium, it’s like carrying nothing at all (while still being able to eat the civilised way at camp).

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Nalgene Wide Mouth 1L Bottle

This super tough bottle stores water and liquids safely, but the wide mouth also means we can store small and fragile items in our backpacks without worry. We’ve used our bottle to hammer tent pegs into the ground, as a hot water bottle, shower and rubbish bin. There’s a reason they’re the so popular with outdoorsy people.

Hot tip: All Nalgene bottles come with a lifetime warranty, (but maybe go gentle on the pegs)

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Yeti 12oz Hot Shot Bottle with Hotcap

This is our go to for hot drinks! We were told by one of our friends that these were the bomb, we forked out the money and haven’t looked back. Double wall insulated, leakproof and break proof (so far haha), these bottles keep our drinks hot for approximately 6-8 hours. Weighing in at 450g, it isn’t the lightest bottle out there, but it’s over-engineered to cope with the demands of the trail (and keep us full of coffee, tea, and soup!).

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Gear For Cooking While Car Camping

Soto Windmaster Stove

The name says it all. If we’re camping on the cliff or beachside, this stove is perfect as it performs excellent in windy conditions, saving us plenty of fuel and time. Speaking of, the boil time for 1 litre is only around 4 minutes. We also have to mention that the Soto Windmaster includes a 4flex (4-prong pot support) which is quite wide, meaning your pots and pans will be nice and stable.

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BioLite Campstove 2

When it comes to cooking delicious camping meals, you can’t beat a wood burning stove. Long road trips means easy access to wood and therefore we can skip the hassle of buying gas canisters. 

Another pro to the BioLite Campstove 2 is being able to have a nice intimate campfire while toasting marshmallows and chowing down on a smore! For bigger cookups a firepit like this or your classic two burner are great, but we generally pack light.

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Read more: Why I Car Camp With Hiking Gear

 

Sea to Summit Sigma Pot 1.9L

The thing we love most about this pot is being able to chuck it over a fire (being careful not to get the handle near the flame). The Sea to Summit Sigma pot is made with premium grade stainless steel and has a textured base for stability when put on camp stoves. 

The pivot-lock ensures the handle is secured while in use, when not in use it can be folded away. We cook with this piece, lots and lots of curry, noodle soups (lid has a strainer), heating up packets of rice and pre-made meals, steaming clams, boiling vegetables and more.

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Sea to Summit Alpha Pan 8” 

The Sea to Summit Alpha Pan is non-stick and easy to clean… one of the main reasons we bought it. Previous pans have scarred us when they weren’t non-stick. Making scrambled eggs should be easy at 6am in the morning, wherever you are. 

Things have changed so much since we got the Alpha pan; searing steaks, reducing sauces, tossing stir-fries, crisping up bacon, making pancakes, and toasting nuts all couldn’t be easier. Like the Sigma pot, the Alpha pan also has a pivot-lock system too for easy storage.

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Sea to Summit Delta Spork and Camp Set

The Delta Spork is a great utensil to have at camp, it’s lightweight and easy to clean. It’s also cheap, so you can grab a bunch and make sure everyone’s sorted. If you need a whole fitout, the Delta Camp Set comes with a plate, cup, bowl and utensils.

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Dometic CFX3 95DZ Fridge

A fridge is an expensive but worthwhile investment for bigger trips. Travelling for six weeks from Sydney to Perth in summer with a cheap cooler had its moments, and let’s just say we learned a lot from this experience. Food got warm fast, ice melted over the cold food and it was hard to stock up on fresh food in rural areas. 

We now have a dual zone unit that allows us to keep food and drinks cool as well as the option to freeze. We went the pricier route with the lithium battery for this fridge as we wanted something reliable and longer lasting. On a regular day the battery would last us approximately 24 hours (with both zones on fridge mode).

If you’re going on shorter trips, a quality cooler makes a big difference over the really cheap ones, Dometic make those too.

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Collapsible Bucket

These can be found at most camping stores and even supermarket chains like Bunnings, K-MART, Big-W and BCF. They’re super hany to wash kitchen equipment, clothes, and even small puppies who’ve been digging in the dirt.

 

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