I get it, talking about solar setups, rad builds, and posting your pudding is fun, but what about the bare necessities and making the basics easy? I’m curious to hear about how you folks wash your cookware at camp without creating annoying waste or dumpin that grease in the wild.
For context, I’m cooking on the cast iron/ two burner propane stove above (she cute, I know), and since I’m still 25% dirtbag in my 30’s, I’m looking for quick, easy, and compact setups that work.
Thanks in advance for helping me out with this important topic.
Following! I had a friend dump some liquid from a meal onto the sand on the white rim trail and had coyotes hanging out all night because of it. Want to hear everyone’s suggestions for dealing with that cleanup in the best way possible.
I’m the dishwasher at home and when we’re camping. If I have grease I let it solidify and scrape it into our groover bucket. As for washing the dishes I picked up 3 of these collapsible wash basins from Amazon (looks like they are unavailable ATM).
I have space on the drawer system I built where I line them up side by side: Soap/Rinse/Sanitize (bit of Starsan). I’ll heat the water with the jetboil and add water to cool it from a boil. Something I could use is a simple collapsible drying rack.
My mid-30s Dirtbag Protip: I always line my plate or bowl with a tortilla and eat off that. Then I just eat the tortilla. Fewer dishes to wash afterwards and no food scraps left behind.
Also, if you prep meals in plastic bags, you can just boil some water and heat everything up in the bag as long as the bag is rated for that. Then the hot water turns into dishwashing water.
Any food scraps that are left behind should be disposed of the same way/place you go to the bathroom: a 6-9 inch deep hole so the bacteria that lives in that part of the soil can break it down. (This assumes there aren’t any outhouses or pit toilets around. Don’t put food in those.) Also don’t bury these things near water sources.
Or just pack it all out in a 5 gal bucket from the hardware store. Just don’t scatter it around your prime camping spot because the critters will become an issue.
Thayne, first…where did ya get the drawers sticker? love it!! Having spent 30+ days in the remote wilds of BC, I have a pretty solid respect for grease and food waste and animals. Like SLCRex, I cool my grease as much as possible and scrape it off my cast iron. I use a Joolca for hot water for cleaning up the rest. It is amazing! Hot showers, hot water for dishes… excellent.
Every one of these suggestions is about to make my life even easier, and a Joolca sounds real nice.
Have you, @SLCRex, or @globemaster ever tried burning-off the grease in the campfire once solidified or post cleanup with a paper towel? I try not to use too many disposable items, but it seems like a unique way to start my next fire if I ziplock things for the next rip… might smell nice too.
As for the sticker, it’s from TruckVault, but it looks like they no longer sell it. I’m a stickerhead, so I’m down to make these and share to recoup the cost, haha.
Paper plates so I don’t need to wash dishes. For pans, I spray it with Dawn Powerwash. Let it sit a minute then wipe with a paper towel. Usually this takes care of most of the grease (if you have something super greasy, scrape into trash receptacle or wipe out with paper towel)
@Thayne Years ago when I was a “bit” less responsible the fire was where nearly everything went. Now we pack everything out. With the dispersed style camping we do I don’t often make fire rings and if I do then I pull them apart and bury the ashes. Here in the west we often have burn restrictions so we made the switch to a propane fire pit. I suppose if you had a hot enough fire there wouldn’t be any grease residue left behind? Not sure though.
I’ll usually just wipe out any grease/food scraps with a paper towel and pack it out. I’m usually solo so I don’t often build a fire. I’ll toast some marshmallows over my camp stove if I’m craving s’mores. I’d think greasy paper towels would be very helpful starting a fire though.
Depends on the situation for me. If it’s a weekend trip and just me or just me and a friend, I usually just set aside a garbage bag or container for dirty dishes, and take everything home with me and wash there. I keep my gear in plastic bins, so even if I’m heading out by myself, I just grab the bins. The bins have multiples of things in them, like 4 plates, a couple sets of utensils, a couple cups.
If it’s a larger group, longer trip, I bring a collapsible bucket that I use as a wash basin and wash the dishes that way. For cast iron, if it’s greasy, I’ll usually let it solidify and wipe off the grease that way, or, I’ll fill the pan with water and let it boil, then wipe off and re-season after everything is hot/easier to wipe off.
Not sure washing dishes is fun (haha) but my method works for me.
When I was a kid we would do long canoe trips and cary a coffee can of grease to cook with. The last night we would put the can on the fire and then dump water on it. We called it a lars bomb and it was pretty exciting when you were 10 or so. Noise, mushroom cloud, flames. That was in the North Woods, I don’t think it would be a popular thing in dry states.
We have had good success with campsuds biodegradable soap - usually heat water in jetboil, put it into some dish that needs cleaning and go from there. This stuff does well on grease etc and you can use it for many uses (clothing hands face ….hair)
Ill add another vote for Campsuds soap for dishes and basically anything else too.
Pressurized water also helps a ton. Both for the pressure and conserving water versus just dumping it out of a spout. I built mine out of a 13gallon tank from Ironman 4x4 with a 12v pump, 3/8’" garden hose and nozzle.
I also came across the Scrub Daddy at the grocery store for like $3 while buying stuff for my last camping trip and decided to throw it in the cart. The thing is f*cking amazing. Keep meaning to buy one for my house lol
Next on my list to get is a camp kitchen towel to cut down on the amount of paper towels that get used.
