10-minute Sports Makeover
She’s the only female in her family of five, but 48-year-old science educator Kristi Dahl doesn’t mind playing camp cook for her husband, 16-year-old son, and 12-year-old twins. Especially when her kitchen overlooks the Rocky Mountains, Utah’s Canyonlands National Park, or the Crystal River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula—just a few of the places she and her family will be base-camping this summer. “Eighty percent of our overnights will be out of the car this year,” she says. “But the boys are becoming real outdoorsmen, so we’ll fit in some backpacking this summer, too.” Most of the time, there’s no limit to the amount of kit they can carry, so Kristi’s setup includes everything but the kitchen sink. We took her to REI, where product expert Alison Lasure helped us update Kristi’s equipment to bring comfort and versatility to her car-based kitchen and add a few key pieces that will transfer easily to the trail.
Before:
- Double burners do double duty for big base-camp groups, but this stand-by stove limits you to using heavy pots and pans.
- One-by-one cups of coffee? You’ll need help to keep up with the kids and this lightweight filter is better suited to the trail.
- Kristi stole from her home kitchen for this trip. Her can opener is full-size (i.e., easy to find), but borrowing from home is a tried-and-true way to lose cooking tools for good.
- Adding flavor is important, but this cardboard pepper shaker isn’t air tight and will absorb rain and humidity if left out overnight or a surprise storm hits.
- Cast iron conducts heat and is hard to beat for fried eggs, but this 20-pound pot nearly doubles the weight of Kristi’s kitchen, and she’ll need a hot pad to handle it.
- Don’t drag your favorite mug to camp—ceramic doesn’t stand up well to outdoor abuse.
- Ditch the dish soap, which is a big pollutant if you accidentally spill it and requires more water to rinse off hands and dishes.
- Hard plastic tubs are handy but hard to stow.
After:
- A table, cold-cube storage, pockets, and even a portable wash pit: REI’s Mini Camp Kitchen folds everything up into a luggage-size cube.
- Keep options open with a burner and grill built into one. Century’s Matchless Grill and Stove boils water but works for burgers, too.
- Brew big, bold flavor. REI’s insulated Campware Stainless-Steel Java Press brews 33 ounces and is double walled to keep your caffeine hot for hours.
- Light and bright, Black Diamond’s Apollo Lantern shines brighter and has a hanging loop, which means you can take it inside the tent, too.
- GSI Outdoor’s Gourmet Backpack Kitchen Kit’s accessories are camp-ready cooking tools in backpack-ready proportions.
- Add funky fun to family meals and ease cleanup. Try Fozzils’ fold-up bowls, Guyot Designs’ squishy bowl set, and sporks from Light My Fire.
- Two full-size pots, a frying pan, liquid-straining lids, and even a cutting board all stuff into one sack. GSI’s Bugaboo Base Camper Cookset fits enough to feed Kristi’s clan in camp, but it’s light enough to take on the trail.
Photography: Ben Fullerton
