Cooking + cooking equipment

[Guess Who]

Me and the gf don't fancy eating the festival food a couple of times a day for 5 days and fancied doing some cooking ourselves, so we were wondering what sort of food is good to take (quick,cheap,easy) and what cooking equipment is also good to take?

Thanks

[darth haggis]

For the past 2 years, I have taken one of these with me: http://www.outdoorworld.co.uk/gelert-solid-fuel-stove-and-fuel

They are absolutely ace:

1)Really small and portable

2)Amazingly cheap!

3)Come with more than enough (24) of the round circular fuel blocks (important as you are not allowed gas stoves!)

4)Only takes 2 of the blocks to cook a can of beans/spaghetti hoops/noodles etc. / boil water

5)Combine with a cheap mess tin and you can cook all sorts!

The only slight niggle with it is lighting the thing without burning your hand, but with a decent lighter, you should be fine!

Hope this helps

[mrtourette]

POP TARTS!

[Ashl]

For the past 2 years, I have taken one of these with me: http://www.outdoorworld.co.uk/gelert-solid-fuel-stove-and-fuel

They are absolutely ace:

1)Really small and portable

2)Amazingly cheap!

3)Come with more than enough (24) of the round circular fuel blocks (important as you are not allowed gas stoves!)

4)Only takes 2 of the blocks to cook a can of beans/spaghetti hoops/noodles etc. / boil water

5)Combine with a cheap mess tin and you can cook all sorts!

The only slight niggle with it is lighting the thing without burning your hand, but with a decent lighter, you should be fine!

Hope this helps

[darth haggis]

That sounds like a good idea, anything that can get me something hot to eat sounds good, how long due the blocks remain lit for amazon comments seems to indicate 5 minutes or so?

[priya]

Thanks for your information its really help to me..

Thank u so much...

Cooking Equipment

[Mega Ross]

Hexy stoves are bollocks. To be honest theres not much decent food to cook back at camp, a bbq is fine, tinned food/ noodles is bad times. Ration packs cost just as much as the food on site.

And the best you're really gonna get is some disgusting premade jarred sauce with dried pasta, without proper stove facilities real cooking isn't possible.

Festival food is tasty man, and better than anything you could prepare on a hexy stove, get some of it.

If you want to go cheap have fruit/ cereal bars for breakfast (I prefer something fried and greasy myself), maybe grab something in the arena and a bbq when you get back to camp. Probably cheaper than buying all your meals on site.

If you really must have a stove, google beer can stove. They work so much better than a hexy stove, and they're cheaper, bit of methylated spirit and you're good to get cooking.

Edited July 9, 2011 by Mega Ross

[headshrinker1979]

Hexi stoves have always worked out good for me. when i cook a curry or chilli at home i make a bit extra and freeze it so i can take it to heat up for the first nights food. doesn't take long to warm through on a stove, so there are plenty of options if you don't want to pay for food in the arena. Had beans on toast every morning at glasto, filling cheap and takes no time at all!

Edited July 9, 2011 by headshrinker1979

[Mega Ross]

Every time I've tried a hexi stove I've used about 8 blocks to make a cup of tea, they're crap.

[headshrinker1979]

Every time I've tried a hexi stove I've used about 8 blocks to make a cup of tea, they're crap.

[jordanuk90]

The main problem with hexi stove I found was getting them to actually boil water but for heating up canned stuff like hotdogs, soup, curries etc they work just fine.

[kevinboyle82]

Are you allowed a throwaway BBQ?

[dirtymookie]

Are you allowed a throwaway BBQ?

[Mega Ross]

If you get decent cured bacon you don't even need to keep it in the fridge, infact a lot of countries don't even cook it.

Crispy bacon rolls man.

Personally I'm not at all careful with meat, bit of dirt is good for you, keeps the immune system in check. Our grandparents didn't use loads of antibacterial sprays, different chopping boards, defrost in the fridge or any of that new age rubbish.

But I do tend to buy the meat on site just for convinience. It's not too expensive and it's the same sort of average quality you'd get in tescos.

Edited July 11, 2011 by Mega Ross

[Messi30]

If you get decent cured bacon you don't even need to keep it in the fridge, infact a lot of countries don't even cook it.

Crispy bacon rolls man.

Personally I'm not at all careful with meat, bit of dirt is good for you, keeps the immune system in check. Our grandparents didn't use loads of antibacterial sprays, different chopping boards, defrost in the fridge or any of that new age rubbish.

But I do tend to buy the meat on site just for convinience. It's not too expensive and it's the same sort of average quality you'd get in tescos.

[dirtymookie]

Or just take the walk into town to an actual tescos

[Messi30]

ah yeah fair point

[Mega Ross]

Or just take the walk into town to an actual tescos

Edited July 11, 2011 by Mega Ross

[geebus]

There's some butchers along Oxford Road (which is the other side of Tescos). Not sure if they're any good or exactly how far - but have seen them when riding/driving down that road enough times; as moved away from Reading this year after living their for 10 or so.

If you're trying to keep meat cold, a decent cool box and some bottles of frozen water is apparently the way to go.

When I did live in Reading I obviously didn't find it a big problem - but then I'm happy enough with Tescos burgers (especially if they've got 'finest' ones on offer - definitely better than most of the rat-burgers offered up at stalls.)

Given the choice, I'd take a proper folding BBQ rather than disposable and a big bag of charcoal.

I've made these before at Reading for general cooking, because I'm too much of a cheap-skate to buy a trangia:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Can-Stove/

The meths is also useful for getting/keeping the fire going and setting fire to your hand and the meths bottle when doing so late at night .

Anyway, the stoves I've made have done the job fine and been loaned out to others, etc. I took some tin foil to make a little wind-protector. If you've got a BBQ, you could put it in side the BBQ which will also then hold your pan too.

Edited July 12, 2011 by geebus

[Haydn]

will i be ok bringing my gas oven/grill from home, its full size, weighs around 500kg and i would run an extention lead from a power source in my car threw to the camp site, im guessing this would all be cool right ?

[Mega Ross]

Why would you run a power cord for a gas oven?

I'm 99 percent sure it says nothing on the site about not being allowed to bring large white goods though.

Or building houses come to think of it, I wonder if they'd mind me concreting a flag pole in...

[Haydn]

because youre not aloud gas equipment on site so i'd be disguising it as an electrical cooker you see.... im one step ahead.

[Messi30]

Shame the idiots got gas cannisters banned. I've taken a gas stove most years, now I just eat offsite or bbq. Never buy their food unless it's donuts

[geebus]

Or building houses come to think of it, I wonder if they'd mind me concreting a flag pole in...

[ar1]

I think that they'd probably decided that you scaffolding poles were offesive weapons and stop, shame though I like the sound of holding amn afternnon BBQ 20ft above the campsite