14 Camp Food Hacks You Should Master

Camp breakfast recipes are often hearty and filling, just the thing you need to fuel your day of outdoor adventuring. Many times, camp breakfasts include egg scrambles made in the cast iron pan over the fire, plus your favorite breakfast meats and maybe even some pancakes. But if there's one thing you don't want to throw into your backpack and carry to your campsite, it's likely a carton of eggs.

One easy way to get your eggs from home to the campsite — no matter if you're backcountry camping or just kicking it in your RV — is to ditch the shells ahead of time. That's right: You should crack your eggs before you leave home and then carry the cracked eggs in a more suitable, convenient container. Tru Camper says you can crack your eggs into a bottle for easy carrying, but cautions that this hack is only suitable for short weekend camping trips, during which you're sure you'll consume the eggs quickly. Pre-cracked eggs only last for about two to four days and require constant refrigeration (via Egg Farmers of Canada). If you can make that happen, though, you'll find that your breakfast is a lot easier to make — and potentially mess-free, too.

Who wants to eat a meal with no spices? Even salt and pepper alone aren't quite enough to make a meal palatable. You need cumin, paprika, chili powder, rosemary, basil, or whatever your favorite herbs and spices may be. However, throwing a plastic container of spices into your camp bag takes up an unnecessary amount of space — and it's not even like you need the entire container anyway. Additionally, what if that plastic container happens to break open in your bag during transit? Then you (or at least your stuff) will be left smelling like turmeric for the rest of the trip.

To save space and mess, store your spices creatively ahead of your camping trip. One popular way to do this is by storing spices in reused Tic Tac containers (via Seattle Sundries). Just clean the containers and fill them with your favorite spices, using a label maker to identify each one (because even if you think you won't mix them up, you will). 

But even if that takes up too much space or leaves you with too much leftover spice, you can go even smaller by storing your spices in drinking straws (via Sierra). Just tape one end of a drinking straw closed and then (carefully) pour your spice of choice into the other end, then tape that end securely closed as well.

One not-so-fun part of cooking at your campsite? Cleaning up afterward, especially if you're not camping in a motorhome equipped with running water. While many campgrounds are outfitted with dish-washing stations, there's still the issue of lugging all your dishes to the station, washing them, and then carrying them back to your campsite. And once you have your dishes back at your campsite, what do you do with them? You don't want to pack away wet dishes, and you don't want to spend valuable camping time drying everything by hand.

That's exactly where this hack comes in. As recommended by users on the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness forums, all you need to do to easily dry your dishes is pack a lightweight, mesh laundry bag and then throw all your recently-washed dishes inside. Hang the bag from a clothes line or branch to air-dry the dishes. You can even leave them there for convenient storage throughout your camping trip.

S'mores are a quintessential part of camping: You just can't camp without s'mores. Unfortunately, s'mores can be a bit messy. While that's part of the fun, it's not that desirable if you're primitive camping or otherwise don't have easy access to a sink where you can wash your sticky, marshmallow goo-covered hands.

To make a mess-free (or, at least, less messy) s'more, The Pioneer Woman recommends throwing all your s'mores ingredients into a waffle or sugar cone. Miniature marshmallows and chocolate chips are the basics, but you can also get creative by adding other things to your s'mores, such as your favorite candies or anything else that might go well with chocolate and marshmallows. Once the ice cream cone is filled, wrap it in aluminum foil. (And if you do all of this at home before your trip, you'll save yourself even more mess.) The foil-wrapped cones can be placed over the fire until melty, at which point you'll have a more convenient, less-messy version of a s'more.

You can make your camp meals as simple or complex as you like, but to save time (and dirty dishes) at the campsite, consider doing all your chopping, dicing, and other prep work before you leave home. Cooking up an omelet or stir-fry is significantly easier when the onions and peppers are already diced — especially if you make it to the campground only to realize that you left your trusty knife or cutting board at home.

Yellowstone National Park Trips recommends not only slicing and dicing any produce ahead of time, but doing the same with any protein that needs to be cut as well. While you're at it, if needed, portion out your prepped ingredients into various cooler-safe bags or other storage, so you're not worried about using half your container of diced tomatoes in one meal and saving the rest for another. You can simply throw in the entire pre-measured portions with ease.

If you're only going to take one piece of cooking gear camping with you (and why wouldn't you want to take just one piece of cooking gear? It's less to carry), opt for cast iron. Whether you go with a skillet, dutch oven, or griddle, cast iron is easy to use right on the hot coals or, if your campsite has one, a fire ring's grill grates. You can cook just about anything on cast iron, too, and you never need to worry about it breaking.

If you do take cast iron cookware with you, you'll want to take caution with how you clean it. This is one piece of cookware that you won't want to just merely rinse with water and then let air dry. Instead, as Campfires and Cast Iron explains, scrape off any residue first using a spoon or spatula that won't scratch the cast iron. Then, wash the cast iron with mild soap and a gentle sponge, but don't use cold water, as it can crack the metal. Then, dry the cast iron immediately and thoroughly, setting it on the campfire heat to evaporate any extra water. After the pan is slightly heated, rub it over with a thin layer of oil before storing the pan, which you can easily do by wrapping it in an old towel and packing it away wherever makes most sense for your camping setup. When you get home, properly season the cast iron if needed.

Okay, so there's really no reason not to bring a good can opener on your camping trip, unless you're specifically trying to save space. However, regardless of whether you chose not to bring your can opener or you just forgot it, if you're in the woods without one, you can still open that can of beans with ease.

Just follow the Stamford Advocate's advice for opening a can without the opener. Using a knife or really any sharp and pointy tool, just place your weapon of choice on the can's top, next to the rim, and then use a rock to tap the tool's handle. Keep doing this until you've pierced the can, and then move the knife along the can's top until it's open enough to retrieve the food inside. No knife? You can use just the rock, similarly to how you'd use a file. Rub the bottom of the can against the rock, quickly, over and over again, pushing downward, until you begin to see moisture around the can's edges. That's a sign your can is ready to be opened, and you can squeeze the sides of the can to pop the lid free.