Kitchen Gear

Kitchen Gear

Every river trip is going to need a kitchen set-up. This includes plates, bowels, silverware, and mugs. It must also include cooking pots and pans, a skillet and maybe a Dutch Oven or two, and knives, stirring spoons and serving spoons, spatulas and ladles as well. Then there's the stove and it's care and gear, tables, and the dishwashing setup. Here's a list to get you started.

• Lanterns (Most trips bring at least two. Some folks will make up a small ammo can with the following: 8" crescent wrench, adaptor to go from the propane tank to the lantern, lighter, mantles, and lantern)
• Propane Tank 2.5 Gallon (Small, for lanterns, 1 or 2)
• Propane Tank 5 Gallon (Large (3 summer, 4 or more in the winter))
• Stove (with repair kit including extra o-rings and jet wrench)
• Wind screen for the stove
• Tables (Some trips will bring one for the stove, one for prep-work and serving, and one for doing dishes on, and this table may be set up down by the river.)
• Table Legs if not an integral part of the table
• Coffee Pot and Tea Pot (Some trips will bring both, depending on how many coffee and how many tea drinkers there are. Typical size is 3 to 4 quart.)
• Metal dishwashing buckets (4, and the bottom of the bucket should be big enough to accomodate a plate.)
• Dishwashing Gear (Liquid dishwashing soap, sponges, scrubbies, rubber gloves for those who want them, liquid Clorox and a NPS required mesh food strainer for straining your dirty dishwater when it goes back in the river.)
• Kitchen Tarp (8ft X 8ft or bigger, this is an NPS recommendation and goes on the ground in the kitchen to catch food scraps.)
• Utensil box (This box should include 3 or 4 long stem lighters, a couple of can openers, a small cheese grater, a good quality potato peeler and enough knives, forks, and spoons for everyone and a few extra sets of silverware as well, food scissors, cork screw.)
• Plates/cups or mugs/bowls (with enough for everyone and a few sets left over)
• At least one large and two medium pots and at least one large cast iron skillet (12 in.), two pans, a 14" or 16" Dutch oven and large griddle, mixing bowl, salad bowl, two large cutting boards.
• Kitchen knives, spatulas, spoons (serving and slotted), and channel locks for hot Dutch Oven lids.
• Juice Pitcher
• Kitchen staples box (cooking oils like corn and olive in plastic bottles, paper towel, vinegar, steak sauce, ketchup, pot holders and oven mitt, one role of tin foil, a measuring cup, a dish drying hammock, and a bag of zip-lock type bags.)
• Spice box (salt, pepper, garlic salt, garlic powder and fresh garlic cloves, crushed red pepper, powdered cinnamon, dehydrated jalapeno powder, basil, Italian Spice, lemon pepper, and paprika should get you started)
• Large Kitchen Tarp (This tarp is to be set up OVER the cooking area in bad weather. Bring enough rope to secure the corners of this tarp. 200 square feet minimum)

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