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Outdoor Cooking Badge

(Discover the Outdoors)
By Kerry Cordy

 

Disclaimer: Cooking outside can be dangerous. Make sure to learn all safety rules before beginning this badge and have an experienced adult supervising. 

 

Preschool:  Do three requirements including the two starred.

_____ 1.* Help plan, prepare, and serve an outdoor meal. Help do at least one of the following: plan the menu, make shopping and equipment lists, shop and pack, take care of food at the site, prepare and serve food, or clean up.

_____ 2.* Earn the Fire Safety badge at your level and learn the safety rules for outdoor cooking, including:

  • When roasting marshmallows, or other items on a stick or skewer, always move slowly.  Never put the food directly in the flames or it will catch fire.  Cook it over the coals.  If your food catches fire, bring it up slowly and blow it out or have an adult do it.  Never try to fling off burning food as it may hit someone and burn them.  If you cannot blow out the flame, have an adult help you scrape the food into the fire using an extra stick or skewer.
  • When cooking with foil packets, steam can build up inside the packet.  Make sure an adult removes the packet from the grill (carefully so that the packet does
    not break and spill hot liquid or food on someone) using tongs or oven mitts.  Poke holes in the foil with a fork to allow steam to escape and let stand for 5 minutes.  Open the packet slowly, keeping your hands and face away from the opening to avoid any excess steam that escapes.
  • When taking the lid off a hot pot, keep your hands and face away to ensure you are not burned by escaping steam.
  • Preschoolers should not use sharp knives.  Older members should follow knife safety and make sure that their knives are always sharp and that they always cut away from themselves.  Never use sharp knives without permission from an adult.
  • Always have a first aid in on hand. Earning the First Aid badge is always a good idea.
  • Make sure to keep hot food hot, and cold food cold to avoid food poisoning.
  • Wash your hands before preparing a meal and make sure your food preparation area is clean.
  • Keep cold foods cold using a cooler and ice.  Keep it cold with fresh ice when necessary.
  • Never keep food in your tent, car, or backpacks where wildlife may be able to get to it.
  • Store food either in a designated food closet, or hang between two trees at least 10’ off the ground.
  • Precook all meats.  Coolers do not keep things at a constant temperature and raw meats can spoil quickly.

 

Level 1:  Do four requirements including the two starred.

_____ 1.*  Do Preschool requirements 1 & 2.  Cook at least two meal outdoors.

_____ 2.*  Demonstrate proper clean up after outdoor cooking including:

  • Put out a fire and remove the ashes, or extinguish the camp stove.
  • Wash, sanitize, and store the dishes.
  • Dispose of the trash and dish water without endangering or damaging the environment

 

Level 2:  Do five requirements including the two starred.

_____ 1.* Do Level 1 requirements 1 & 2.  Cook at least three meals outdoors.

_____ 2.* Make at least two of the following outdoors:

  • Foil packet meals
  • One pot meals
  • Dessert
  • MRE (meals ready to eat)
  • No cook meal

 

Level 3:  Do six requirements including the two starred.

_____ 1.* Do Level 2 requirements 1 & 2.  Cook at least four meals outdoors.

_____ 2.* Learn about drinking water safety and purification when participating in outdoor activities.  Purify some water for drinking using one of the following methods:

  • Portable water purification filters:  Pump water through the system and the filter removes all protozoa and bacteria.
  • Chemical Tablets:  Tablets are the easiest and quickest way to purify your water, but they have a limited shelf life, so make sure they are still good when you bring them.  Some protozoa may not be killed by chemical tablets, and they can take longer to work if the water is especially cold or dirty.  Chemical tablets can also affect the taste of the water.
  • Boiling Water:  Bring water to a rolling boil for at least 10 minutes and then let cool before drinking.

 

Level 4:  Do seven requirements including the two starred.

_____ 1.* Do  Level 3 requirements 1 & 2.  Cook at least five meals outdoors.

_____ 2.* Demonstrate  how to safely use at least two different cooking methods from the list below:

  • Propane stove
  • Butane stove
  • Gas stove
  • Charcoal
  • Canned
  • Heat
  • Solar energy
  • Campfire

 

Level 5:  Do nine requirements including the two starred.

_____ 1.*  Do Level 4 requirements 1 & 2. Cook at least six meals outdoors.

_____ 2.*  Teach someone how to do a skill from this badge or teach some knowledge about this badge to someone. You can teach kids, your spouse, seniors, anyone, just as long as you are sharing your new found knowledge. If for some reason you cannot teach what you have learned to someone else, you may choose an additional 2 optional requirements instead.

 

Optional Requirements:

_____ 3. Demonstrate your ability to maintain a cooking fire in windy or wet weather.

_____ 4.  Earn the Fire Building badge.

_____ 5.  Prepare an easy-to-pack, lightweight, high-energy dinner for hot weather or emergency use that requires no cooking or refrigeration.

_____ 6.  Make at least three different trail mixes to take on camping trips or hikes.

_____ 7.  Earn the Pocket Knife Safety badge and use your pocket knife to help prepare an outdoor meal.

_____ 8.  Visit a camping store or look through a catalog to earn about different outdoor cooking tools such as:

  • Pie iron
  • Dutch oven
  • Roasting stick or fork
  • Broiler basket
  • Griddle
  • Hot dog
  • Cooker
  • Campfire popcorn popper
  • Tea kettle

_____  9.  Learn to make and use a box oven.

_____ 10.  Learn to make and use a solar cooker.

_____ 11.  Learn to make and use a tin can stove.

_____ 12. Learn how to use the sun to dry out foods for making things like dried fruit.

_____ 13.  Learn how to cook with a Dutch oven.

_____ 14. Go to a Dutch oven or BBQ cook-off.

 

Recipes:

Biscuit on a Stick – Wrap biscuit dough around a stick or marshmallow skewer and roast over the fire.  Don’t layer the dough too thick, or you will burn it on the outside and the inside will still be raw.  For a special treat roll the finished biscuits in butter and cinnamon with sugar.  You can make “garlic bread” by rolling the biscuit in butter and sprinkling it with garlic powder or garlic salt.

Pudding Catch –Put instant pudding and milk into Ziploc bags, following the directions on the box for quantity.  Double bag to ensure your pudding does not leak.  Then play catch with a friend for about 5 minutes to set the pudding.  When it is all mixed, cut a corner off the bag, squeeze it out and eat!

S’mores – Top a graham cracker square with ½ of a chocolate bar. Roast a marshmallow over the fire, and place it on top of the chocolate.  Put another graham cracker square on top to create a sandwich.  If you don’t have a wood fire, or roasting sticks, you can grill your s’more by placing a marshmallow and chocolate between two
graham cracker halves and then wrapping it loosely in foil.  Do not wrap it too tight as you want the air to circulate.  Place it on a medium/hot grill for 4-5 minutes or until the marshmallow has melted.

Banana Boats – On a large sheet of foil place a banana that has been slit lengthwise.  Inside, place marshmallows, and chocolate chips.  Wrap securely with the foil, leaving room for air circulation and place on the grill or medium coals for 10- 15 minutes or until the chocolate and marshmallows have melted.

Sizzling Apples – Roast an apple over the fire until the skin splits and the flesh sizzles.  Have an adult help carefully peel away the skin and then roll the apple in cinnamon and sugar.

Chili in a Bag – You will need an individual sized bag of Frito Corn Chips for each person. Heat your chili in a pot over the fire or on the stove. Spoon chili directly into the bags of corn chips and serve.  Be careful not to get your chili too hot or you will not be able to hold onto your bags.

Foil Packets – In a large sheet of foil, combine the meat of your choice (precooked), chopped vegetables, seasoning, and a pat of butter.  Wrap your packet securely, but make sure to leave room for air to circulate. Place your packet on the grill or over medium coals until heated through, about 25-45 minutes..  This recipe works great with the kids since each person gets to put in only the items they like.  Many clubs have each kids bring their own meat and then one vegetable to share.

Taco Packet – On a large sheet of foil, place 1 flour tortilla. Top it with a little meat, cheese and salsa. Bring up the foil on the sides and double fold the top and ends, leaving room for air to circulate.  Place it on the grill or over medium coals until heated through.  Check after 15 minutes.  Open and top with lettuce, sour cream, or other toppings.

Dogs and Beans Packet – On a large sheet of foil place ½ cup of baked beans and one sliced hot dog.  Top with BBQ sauce if you like.  Wrap your packet securely, leaving room for air circulation and place on the grill or medium coals until heated through for about 15-30 minutes.  Open and top with cheese if you wish, or serve with tortilla chips.

Hobo Soup – Have each kid bring one can of soup to the campout.  It doesn’t matter what kind.  Cook all the soup together in a large pot and serve.  This recipe never turns out the same twice, but always somehow turns up tasting quite good.

Pigs in a Blanket – Place a hot dog on a long stick or marshmallow skewer.  Wrap it securely with biscuit dough and roast over the fire until the dough is cooked through.

French Toast – Spray the inside of a pie iron with non-stick cooking spray.  Dip a piece of toast in a mixture of egg, milk, a little cinnamon, and sugar.  Place it in the pie iron and roast over the fire until done.

Pie Iron Sandwich – Butter two slices of bread and place buttered side down on each side of the pie iron.  Fill with your favorite sandwich meat, cheese, and veggies such as sliced onions or peppers. Close and cook over the fire.

Ice Cream in a Bag — Place 2 tablespoons sugar, 1 cup half and half, and ½  teaspoon vanilla extract in  a pint size Ziploc bag (double bagging will help prevent any salt from accidentally getting into your ice cream).  In a gallon size bag place ½ cup rock salt and enough ice cubes to fill the bag half full.  Place the small Ziploc bag with your ice cream mixture inside the larger bag an seal. Shake the bag, or play catch with a friend until your ice cream hardens (about 5-10 minutes depending on the weather).  Each bag makes one serving.

 

Third Party Resources:

Outdoor Cook: Cook Anything Outdoors!

 

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