Camp Kitchen Hacks

Is there anything better than camp breakfast? Maybe it's the fresh air or the fact that you'll eat anything, but something happens out on the trail that elevates simple bacon and eggs into the feast of the century. Ok, maybe we're hyperbolizing, but there's an art to camp cooking that, when done correctly, will change the way you camp forever. Take it from us, your compadres will love you when you say, "No instant oatmeal here," and whip up the meanest breakfast west (or east) of the Mississippi. So don't bring home the bacon. Eat it. Eat it all. Here are our tips for creating the ultimate camp kitchen:

• Keep your cooler cold by freezing gallon water jugs and leaving them in there. Bonus: You can drink them or wash up with them later.

• Use tic-tac boxes as spice dispensers. We suggest adding garlic salt or cajun seasoning to just about anything.

• Store charcoal briquettes in a cardboard egg crate, then light the crate to start a fire.

• Got those extra eggs? Crack them into a plastic water bottle. No need to bring a bowl or a whisk!

• Degrease your camp stove with half a lemon and salt (you'll thank yourself later)

• Make single serve coffee by putting coffee in a filter, tie it up with dental floss or string, then drop it in hot water and let steep like a tea bag.

• You can cook anything in a cupcake tin directly over a fire - eggs in bacon, rolls, muffins, quiche, cinnamon buns - anything.

• Make pancake batter ahead of time and put into gallon zip-lock bags. Freeze them, and when you're ready to use take them out, cut a corner of the bag and squeeze into perfect circular pancakes.

• Bring peanut butter. Just because.