What stove do I take for Guide camp?

I was supposed to be camping (by myself; not with my girls) this weekend but I’ve just had my first ever positive covid test, so guess I’m pitching the tent in the garden. So let’s talk about camp.

When you go to Guide camp, you’ll be doing your own outdoor cooking. Nothing wrong with using the campsite’s catering facilities if they have them, especially if you’re a beginner to all this, but cooking on a stove or fire is part of the fun of camping.

Gas stoves

Gas stoves are my preference. Gas is easy and reliable. When I’m camping alone I use a stove that screws into the top of a gas canister the size of a big fat baked bean tin. But a single burner isn’t going to go far when you’re trying to feed an entire unit.

My Guides have two double-burners and I think at least one of them has a grill slot underneath. They connect to refillable gas canisters that reach up to about my thigh. They also have a church-hall-style gas-powered tea urn although it’s so full of limescale it’s used more for washing-up water than for hot drinks. Pop the stoves on a folding table and you’ve got a full-on miniature camp kitchen.

My Rangers have two single-burners, the kind that go into a black carry case that looks like a briefcase. They use gas canisters about the shape of an oversized deodorant can. Those are quite easy to replace and plenty of campsites will keep some in stock to sell you in case you run out. It’s not a bad idea to keep a couple of spares in your camp kit though – you can’t just run out of gas and be unable to cook for half your camp.

Alcohol stoves

The Guides also have some Trangias. They’re nests of aluminium pots and pans which make a simple bundle to carry with a little brass spirit burner in the middle. You fill it up with meths – that purple alcohol mix you’re more likely to find in B&Q than camping shops these days – light it and pop your pans on top.

Downsides: you can’t adjust the heat. If you’re careful, you can drop the lid onto it and snuff out the flame if you pour out too much alcohol but it has a rubber seal inside and you don’t want to burn or melt that thing. The best thing to do is be stingy with the fuel and refill regularly or wait until it burns itself out. The flame isn’t all that visible so you do have to be careful with that.

We hand out one Trangia per patrol and they can cook themselves one meal per camp. That’s generally enough for kids that age. It’s usually a fried breakfast but we’ve also done pancakes and a kind of Spanish omelette over them before. Actually, now I come to think of it, we made jelly overnight on my DofE expedition. That made a great breakfast but I think if I was doing it today, I’d have some kind of cover for the pot if I was leaving it outside to set.

Cooking over a fire

I’m not a big fan of cooking over a fire. The most we’ve ever cooked on Guide camp is marshmallows and I once cooked vacuum-packed sausages over one in Finland once.

Campfires cook best when the flames have died down and the wood is glowing yellow or white. If you cook over flames, you’re risking burns and you’re also going to burn the outside while leaving the inside uncooked. So leave it until it’s just glowing.

You can wrap the food in foil and nestle it among the embers – that works well for campfire pizzas or jacket potatoes or a fish dish thing. You can place a grill rack over it and cook like a barbecue, which should also be used when it’s died down to glowing embers. Or you can get a tripod and suspend your rack or dixie over it. Campfire cooking is more traditional for Guide camp