Camps that cook?

[TristanX]

Last year (2006) was my first year at BM and I choose a camp that didnt really do much "together". I've heard of some camps where you actually pay money ($100 or so) and you help out like 1 day and they cook for the camp, etc. (i think golden eagle was like that??) (perhaps deep end also ??)

Does anyone know of more camps like this ? Last year I really blew my budget and rented an RV. (which was nice for a 1st time but man was it expensive) .... and this year I'd like to go the cheaper route and bring a tent. (i know, one extreme to the other). The only thing I appreciated about the RV was the ability to cook easily. I ended up staying in tents most of the time I was at BM actually !! (dont ask) ... so I'm not afraid of a tent, but I would like to be able to eat w/o much trouble.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[undeclared]

im bringing dehydrated food for most my meals, fruits and jerky, there are camps that cook, like the pancake one. i highly recommend dehydrated food, eat out of the bag so there isnt much cleanup, space and time saver as well!!!

[diane o'thirst]

I think the Tuna Guys are still in circulation, yes?

[StevenGoodman]

There are various levels of "camps" and what they provide. I even know of one camp that was basically an excuse, and had catering; but it was not cheap. If you want a week of catering on the playa it is not cheap!

Many camps have "camp fees"; this may include some amount of meals. It might be meals, it might be camp infrastructure, it might be booze for the masses!

[Ron]

For the past few years my camp has had a kitchen for everyone to use, and everyone to clean. It's an organizational issue, to be sure, but when it works it's a cool thing. Not least because it becomes a social area as well....

Ron

[Lassen Forge]

Last year (2006) was my first year at BM and I choose a camp that didnt really do much "together". I've heard of some camps where you actually pay money ($100 or so) and you help out like 1 day and they cook for the camp, etc. (i think golden eagle was like that??) (perhaps deep end also ??)

Does anyone know of more camps like this ? ...

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Part of the thing about getting into a theme camp is this is usually part of what the camp does. Not always. But usually.

The way ours works (kitchen wise) is this. We each pay in a base amount (wreched camp taxes) to cover the basics, bring food for the common camp (prolly about a days worth x everyone there) and munchies, and everyone also brings up part of the kitchen and extra $$ for things like ice, mid-week food runs, etc. There are bugs to be worked out but it's worked pretty well so far. We do things like big pots of pasta, goulashes, etc.

That's not counting the rest of the camp, but if I told you that I'd have to disembowl someone... >grins<

bb

[gaminwench]

our camp, OBOP, has 80ish folks. If you choose to participate in the communal kitchen(most do) you sign up for one meal with 4-6 other people. The Kitchen Master then assigns each team a meal and a menu (he pre-plans purchase amounts,etc.). Your team divvies up the grocery list, then prepares and cleans up after its meal. Voila! two hot meals a day, with only one 'cooking/cleaning' experience per person. Love It!

[pbmaniac2000]

[quote="Ron"]For the past few years my camp has had a kitchen for everyone to use, and everyone to clean. It's an organizational issue, to be sure, but when it works it's a cool thing. Not least because it becomes a social area as well....

Ron[/quote]

Thats what our camp does. Last year it was great. We had an actual stove out there. We had an oven and everything. We also had a communal bar. Pretty much whatever alcohol you brought (minus beer, we had too much) you just set on a table in our kitchen. You then could make whatever drink you wanted. We had it tucked away in our kitchen, so it was not open to the general public. We had a different bar for that.

A few people in our camp were generous too make a few community meals. They were first come, first serve though. We had 80+ people in our camp so it was hard to make a meal that big. We also got VERY creative with food. Whole bunch of people would just pitch in food, and we would make a meal out of it. We had some fun meals with that.

[diane o'thirst]

Last year we had a deal where one person in the camp cooked one dinner and, if they wished, one breakfast for everyone else. 'Course, we only had four people, so it's just cooking for the family-scale.

That didn't work out as well as we thought. Everyone had their own agenda and schedule and it's not too much fun ripping yourself away from an experience because it's your night and you gotta cook for everyone.

So we decided that for this year, we're just going to cook whatever, and eat/share whatever we cook together, potluck-style. We're going to have multiple kitchens and one dining table.

Having done several different strategies, I have to say that potluck-style is easily the best, the least stressful and it gets everyone together at least once a day. If you have, say, more than 3 people in your camp, cooking a meal for everyone is a pitched frenzy. Do yourself a favour and have everyone cook whatever they like, for themselves, and a little extra to share.

[MikeVDS]

You'll find all sorts. Some groups like to be very organized, some work as a commune others let one or two people call the shots. Sounds like this year you should look around for people you get along with that look like they'd be fun to camp with. The way you describe it, you basically want a camp that plans out all the meals but does it on the cheap, but more important than that might be if you get along with these people and enjoy their company etc. Our camp is Chaos, do whatever you want. We make meals for each other but don't plan them. If we cook our meal that night and you're around, dig in, if not, you're on your own. Our friends have a separate camp but camp right next to us, just because they do things more organized. They plan out all their stuff, so we basically stay together but play by different rules. The easiest way to get something done the way you want is to plan it yourself. Get your friends together and decide to cook meals. Delegate out certain meals to certain people. If you want a centralized shopper see if someone wants the job otherwise you might end up doing it yourself. Plan out means and figure out how much it'll cost per person etc.

[diane o'thirst]

Another tip: convince your group kitchen to do their shopping at the Reno Winco. At the 2001 Burn, we fed 85 people for a week, two meals a day plus midday snacks, on about $5 per person by shopping there, and they swore they ate better in camp than they did at home. If you shop wisely and go for the bulks, you can load up a basket on about $50.

Designate a Kitchen God who coordinates everything and doles out the food shopping budget. KG should be a centred, trustworthy, take-charge type.

[mdmf007]

FYI -Elks club in Tacoma WA has one of them automated pancake making machines they are known for for sale.

650 bucks - looks like a nightmare to keep clean playaside though.

these are the machines that you drop in batter, hook up the gas and flip on the power, once it is warmed up it makes pancakes automatically at the rate of like one every 6-7 seconds. Would that not kick ass on the playa?

especially at sunrise when your all oontzed out?

later all

[allthatburns06]

Our camp had about 30+ people and we had two group meals a day...we had a kitchen cleaning crew that was selected by lottery drawing and some volunteers. There were some camp food fees (I think it was about $100 each), but the result was some fantastic meals and some very satisfied burners. We are going to go pot-luck style this year and see how it works out. Basically, everyone is to bring one dish for an early dinner per day. Any snacks and things will have to be provided by the individual...

[Isotopia]

Would that not kick ass on the playa?

A cool post-rave breakfast indeed - especially if you mixed the batter with your camp's grey water.

[Steven bradford]

There are other ways to do it??!

[MrMullen]

The group I camped with in 2006 had a full blown professional kitchen (No, joke. Professional oven and all). We cooked for about 150 people or so every morning and evening. They also had several smokers and grills (I think 6 in all).

The camp fees were $150 and are rumored to be $200 this year. But I tell you what, it is worth every penny. I spend about $100 in food anyways and having access to a big kitchen and having someone else cook for most of the week is nice.

[EvilDustBooger]

We had 7 people in our group last time. We each were in charge of cooking 1 evening meal for 7. (the breakfast & lunches were our own responsibility.) Everyone brought their own stuff for the evening meal they were responsible for.... and we had to plan and scramble by the end of the week to cook things in the order that they were thawing/deteriorating.
It worked out really well with the exception of a Super-Methane generating recipe of Swedish Meatballs cooked with grape jelly that someone we hadn`t camped with before concocted, and served one night. It was delicious, but we could have powered a couple generators with the sustained gas gusts coming from our camp that night.

Jesus!

... it really pays to know and trust the cooking styles of your camp chef...

im bringing dehydrated food for most my meals...

This may also reduce your exposure to the putrid JOTS because you`ll be too constipated to poop for the entire week.

[pinemom]

Our camp too does most of it cooking on your own, well it was assumed that way before we got there, most mornings we all brought our bounty to the kitchen and we ALL cooked together,BACON! eggs..etc... then we did however have 3 nights that we set up prior to arrival, that so and so would cook a teriyaki chicken, co-cook cooked a couscos, ran by so and so the "kitchen BITCH" to make sure the cooks came to cook and the dishes all got cleaned and the kitchen was left clean for the morning!
We did a scedule prior to going camp, and it worked out ,marvelous.
So as far as our camp goes, we will probly stick with what worked last time.
Mind you, not everyone was in on the camp cooking...just those who wanted too.

[Mr. Mellow]

Do what they did in the old west, find a cook without a camp and recruit him. Trust me, those of us who can make culinary magic from nothing in the playa go everywhere. 8)

[falk]

our camp, OBOP, has 80ish folks. If you choose to participate in the communal kitchen(most do) you sign up for one meal with 4-6 other people. The Kitchen Master then assigns each team a meal and a menu (he pre-plans purchase amounts,etc.). Your team divvies up the grocery list, then prepares and cleans up after its meal. Voila! two hot meals a day, with only one 'cooking/cleaning' experience per person. Love It!

My camp was next to OBOP (and we shared some infrastructure). Their kitchen was awesome. I've also seen some excellent kitchens in AEZ (Alternative Energey Zone).

My own camp was closer to 150 people, but we were divided into subcamps, each of which was responsible for its own kitchen. AEZ took the same approach. The year before, we had 350 people and a giant communal kitchen, but I don't recommend it.

A few notes about running a kitchen. Try to avoid food that leaves leftovers, such turkey; otherwise you'll have to store the carcasses in the hot sun and then in the back of someone's van to take back with you to be disposed of. Avoid food that needs refrigeration. I cooked pancakes every morning and there was zero waste. Someone else brought sausages. Pasta packed in burnable containers is good. Same with oatmeal, rice, etc. You can really cook up a feast without needing refrigeration or having a moop problem afterwards with just a little planning.

Camp fees can run from $20 to $200 depending on a large number of factors. Some camps want its participants to contribute to the cost of the art projects they bring. Others may need to build infrastructure, etc.

[brc-fun]

My friends from North Carolina camped with "The Q" last year.
I think that it's short for BBQ (so it wouldn't work if you're a veggi).

http://www.playaq.com/

I think they paid $100 or $150, and got one big meal per day for them and a guest.

They also worked, and got other eatting oppertunities like:

They're naked bodies were used as serving trays.
They played music/instruments during a dinner.
They helped cook and clean.

I'm not sure if they were able to just use the kitchen, but I didn't ask.
Supposedly, Q had some "big name" chefs.
I can tell you that their camp smelled Oh So Good...

[SHAMUS]

You must be with Playa-Q?

[quote="MrMullen"]The group I camped with in 2006 had a full blown professional kitchen (No, joke. Professional oven and all). We cooked for about 150 people or so every morning and evening. They also had several smokers and grills (I think 6 in all).

The camp fees were $150 and are rumored to be $200 this year. But I tell you what, it is worth every penny. I spend about $100 in food anyways and having access to a big kitchen and having someone else cook for most of the week is nice.[/quote]

[MrMullen]

You must be with Playa-Q?

You got it! And so were you!

[Strata]

If you have power, a rice cooker is your friend. I made several meals (potluck) for our camp and folks enjoyed the bounty. I like to be inspired, so I brought the raw materials and combined them on-site. This year I might make up baggies of 'ready to go, just dump in' rice cooker ingredients, though.

My goal for Greening Man is to make and learn to use a solar cooker as a rice cooker.

Good combinations:

brown rice, yellow split peas, dried apricots, whole or slivered almonds, canned or frozen chopped tomatoes, paprika, whole yellow mustard seed, marjoram

brown rice, tiny green lentils, dried figs, olive oil, pine nuts, frozen chopped spinach, thyme, savory, tarragon

quinoa, red lentils, dried mango, pumpkin seeds (no shell), frozen chunks of squash, sage, paprika, dash cinnamon


I also made Sun Tea last year in a big restaurant container I got from a restaurant supply store. Tall rectangular clear bin with a snap-on lid. I make it strong, then dilute it down, and keep a ladle near it and a bin of plastic chinese teacups.

I get dried herbs in bulk and use them for a big batch of sun tea. Then I take them out and use them for a 2nd batch of weaker tea, either for drinking or for foot-soaking & skin care, depending on the type. I can't recall all of what I made, it's kind of an art thing for me, doing the blends.

Hibiscus, cinnamon, dried orange peel

Lemon balm, spearmint

Chamomile, touch of lemongrass (excellent soak for playa-foot)

Rosebud, spearmint (ah, N'awlins!)

BTW, I tried lining my coolers with mylar space blanket, making sure there was some to fold over the top. I still had frozen-solid stuff on the 3rd day of keeping my cooler in the cab of my truck, under some towels. Yow!

[Notanai]

Dehydrated meals are great. Costco is selling dehydrated vegetarian meals in a bucket that will feed 1 person for a month. It is 100$ that will feed 4 people for a week. They taste good too.

[MikeVDS]

In a bucket? What exactly is in said bucket?

[Notanai]

Packets like oatmeal except they are dehydrated veggies and rice etc.

[RINGMASTER]

Playa Q is the way to go if you want to be taken care of with food. I had friends in the camp and they were allowed to invite a guest to each meal so we were fortunate to share the experience.

[MrMullen]

Playa Q is the way to go if you want to be taken care of with food. I had friends in the camp and they were allowed to invite a guest to each meal so we were fortunate to share the experience.

But honestly, getting into PlayaQ is not a matter of just showing up. There is a vetting process to make sure that members will be part of the whole "team" (Lack of a better word).

I have been part of other camps where members were all talk and when they got to the Playa, they disappeared and did no work.

PlayaQ is awesome though.

[Finnegan]

In my experience, it was easier for a small camp to play by the "Cook for yourself; make extra" rule, and it works great. So there's no pressure to be anywhere at any particular time, etc. When you're hungry, fix something and share it.

That really doesn't work as well in a larger camp, unless there is a huge kitchen, or many. I think the small teams of cook/cleaners each doing one night is a fine way to go.

Oh, and we have taken to cooking some pretty yummy meals at home, freezing them, and using the dinners for some of our ice. Nothing quite like homemade lasagne out there.