Use common sense for safer, faster camp cooking
By Tresa Erickson

You'll be taking your family camping soon, but this year, you're going to use a camp stove rather than cook over an open fire. You have far too many little kids going with you to take a chance on building a campfire. A camp stove will make the trip, and the cooking, much safer. As with building a campfire, though, you will have to be careful to use your camp stove properly.

Whether over an open fire or on a camp stove, cooking outdoors can be risky. You should keep this fact in mind always and use your camp stove with care. If this is your first time cooking with a camp stove, read the owner's manual and do a trial run at home beforehand. That way, you'll be more familiar with how the stove works and be more comfortable using it once at the campsite.

Make sure you bring all of the supplies you'll need to cook with the camp stove. If your stove does not have a stand, you will need a small table or wooden blocks to set it on at the campsite. You will also need some pots and pans, oven mitts, wooden matches, safety equipment, a first aid kit, some extra fuel and a funnel for refilling, if using a gas camp stove. Stock the extra fuel in high-quality, airtight, metal containers and mark them so that anyone who comes into contact with them will not mistake them for something else.

Once you arrive at the campsite, set up your camp stove in a safe, level spot outdoors away from areas of activity. Do not set up your camp stove indoors-the stove will release carbon monoxide. Clear all debris away from the area around the stove and put up a windscreen to break the wind. Finally, store the extra fuel in a cool, dry place far away from the cooking area.

Before you start cooking on the camp stove, make sure it is full of fuel. You don't want to run out of fuel in the middle of cooking and have to wait for the stove to cool off before you can refill it. Tie back your hair, slip on some tight-fitting clothing and light the stove according to the operating directions, holding the match so that the flame burns upward. Adjust the flame for cooking, keeping in mind that the blue flame is the hottest, and set the pots and pans on the appropriate burners.

When cooking on your camp stove, keep youngsters away and don't reach over the camp stove. The intense heat could burn you. Instead, pick up the pots and pans using an oven mitt, stir the contents quickly and put them back onto the burners. Should you need to leave the cooking area, find an adult to watch over the stove until you return. Do not leave it unattended.

When you have finished cooking, turn off the camp stove and let it cool completely before cleaning it. At the end of your camping trip, give the camp stove one final cleaning and make sure the gas valves are turned off tightly before packing it away.

Cooking with a camp stove is not only safer, but faster and more convenient than open fires. For trips with several young kids, these three factors alone may make it a viable option for many.