Buckaroo Coffee

Stephen Neal Saqui

Buckaroo coffee: Heat water over a Coleman stove. Do not let the water boil, bring it up until it is rolling but not boiling then take it off the heat and spoon two spoons of medium ground coffee (of your choice as long as it's not decaffeinated). Put the cap back on the pot and let it sit. Forget all the lies about salt or eggshell, just let it sit. Go about fixing things to eat with it if you're hungry. When the grounds have settled to the bottom, pour a cup and drink. That's Buckaroo coffee. I have a hand grinder and prefer to grind good roasted beans. Harry Rogan liked Folgers and would scoff at my way but he would drink my coffee and I his. Now there's another thing about Buckaroo coffee...in the Nevada Mountains one might be out prospecting or walking (some call it hiking) and when returning to camp one ALWAYS makes a pot of Buckaroo coffee. That's how it's done. You noticed I didn't say what size spoon? Pick one.

Creating Space

We keep a lot of old OSB and scrap lumber around to tinker with rigging our camping gear each year.

An empty pickup bed is a lot like an artist's blank palette--it's just waiting for YOU to apply your talents to find new and unique ways to pack all your camping stuff.  Instead of creating a painting with your blank palette--you're creating space!

For each year's camping season, we always reinvent our wheel.  We always create new space.  We always come up with a different way to use the same blank palette.  It's been that way for 50+ years and there's every reason to believe it will be that way until we pass on to the Great Campground in The Sky.

This year we wanted to solve a vexing problem with the way we packed our 1984 Nissan short bed last season.  As everyone who camps knows, you get done with certain things last.  It would help if the last things you use in the morning go into the truck last instead of first!

This year, we think we finally got it right.  Of course, we say that EVERY year but, really, we might have it right this year.

As everyone knows, plastic tubs are the mainstay of our camp rigging.  These tubs sell at Wal-Mart for $5 or less.  There are four sizes.  Really small, small, large and really large.  We don't use the really large ones, only the first three sizes.

Anyway, the tubs are tapered so that they can stack easily.  This means they are MUCH wider at the top than they are at the bottom.  If you put a spacer under a tub to elevate it, you can often make the tubs fit nicer in your blank palette.  Generally, we've always used a piece of OSB on top of a 2x2 for a spacer.

POOF, Creating Space!

This year, we finally got decided to actually create space by combining the "Spacer Concept" with a brand new way to rig the back of the truck.

Lo and behold, we created some really fun space.  We can actually place three .30 caliber ammo cans in our newly created space, PLUS our Bug Box.  In addition, four of the small tubs fit perfectly in a space they simply wouldn't fit before. Meanwhile, there's now space for the tarp, groundsheet and trash to go in last.

This is huge because, prior to creating space today, the back of the pickup bed really didn't work all that well.  Now it works like a Swiss watch.

The moral of this story is to look at whatever blank palette you have with "fresh eyes."  Try to see new, unique and different possibilities.  Think in three dimensions.  Don't be afraid to shake it up and reinvent how you store your stuff.  There's almost always a better way of creating space.

 Not only do four small tubs now fit between the cooler and the stove, we have space for 3 ammo cans.

The portable CB radio finally gets stored in a quickly accessible spot.  The fire tools fit on one side and the hiking sticks fit on the other.  A 50 caliber can will go on top of the CB.  The groundsheet will fit in the big space on the right and trash in the middle on top of the Bug Box.  The tarp lays down on top of the two boxes on the right.

So what are in the four tubs?  The two tubs in the middle are Kitchen Stuff.  One is pots and pans and coffee stuff.  The other is food that doesn't need to be in a cooler.  The two tubs at right are our own personal clothing boxes, one for each of us.

All the overnight stuff (tent, sleeping bags, pillows, foam pads, etc.) goes up front on top of the safety gear.

Corn cakes

YUM!  Agave syrup, butter, yogurt and chopped walnuts on top of a corn cake.

Four years ago, we were smitten with being able to bake stuff while camping.  We did a pretty good job figuring out how to bake while tent camping--and NOT using dutch ovens.

One of the things campers always bake is cornbread.  Cornbread is a very reliable Ol' Camping Sidekick that probably dates back 200 or more years.

But what if you don't want to bake?  What if you want to have a "corn fix" without baking?  Well, Corn Cakes can ride to the rescue.

A local grocery put corn muffin premix on sale this week for 33 cents each in a 6.5 ounce package.  We became curious and Googled "can you make corn cakes out of corn muffin mix."  Sure enough, we found a recipe.  This morning we tested it out.  It was a home run ball.  We both loved the corn cakes.  So, now we have a new way to have a "corn fix" without baking.  The corn cakes taste a lot like corn muffins or corn bread only they are better.  Plus, corn cakes can be whipped up in practically no time at all.  That means no preheating of a dutch oven or camp oven.  And no waiting while the concoction bakes for upwards of 20 minutes.  Nope, it's almost instant gratification with corn cakes.  We love 'em and already want more of 'em.

The recipe is really simple.  Here is the link to it.  In case the link stops working, we've also put up a screen shot of the recipe below the link.  Enjoy!

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/corn-muffin-pancakes/

When Bigger Is Better

Each and every year we concoct a different Kitchen Rig.  Each and every year since 2010, the Kitchen Rig has been centered around a Coleman 425F stove.  The 425F is the small two burner, lightweight model.

We started out yesterday thinking that the 425F was once again going to be the foundation of our Kitchen Rig.  Some strange twists and turns took place yesterday and, as of May 5, we've completely upended redesigned and restocked our Kitchen Rig.

It all started when we decided to get rid of our Coleman 426D 3-burner stove.  We list it on eBay and also our local Craigs List and spent most of the day lamenting no one bid on the 1978 behemoth.  We have about 18 photos in this blog post and the story is best told with captions beneath each picture.

Here's the Coleman 426D that we fully intended to sell on May 4th.  We bought it perhaps 3-4 years ago and it's just been sitting in the Cook Shack taking up space and getting in the way.  Yes, it needs a good cleanup but we figured we'd price it low and just get it OUTTA HERE!

Later in the evening May 4th, we decided to take a good close look at our Coleman stove inventory.  The stove at left is the 425F.  The 462D is in the foreground and the 413D is at right.

Here's our venerable, yeoman 425F.  The large burner measures 60 millimeters in diameter.  The 413D's burner measures 62.5 millimeters but burns MUCH hotter than the 425F.  The 426D's main burner is also 60 mm and the two side burners are smaller.

Here's what really tipped the scales to a new Kitchen Rig this season--our discovery that the 426D 3-burner would fit perfectly in the back right rear area of Marvie--our camping truck.  The 426D fist so well there it's incredible.  It snaps into place and I can drive around town without the stove flying all over the back of the truck bed.

As you can see, this is how we stowed the 425F last season.  It takes up "most" of the same space but unfortunately, there's really nothing much we can do with the remaining space.  When we realized the 426D would make maximum, optimal usage of that space, we were hooked.  We immediately ran in the house and ended our eBay auction and deleted the Craigs List ad.

We also knew right away that we'd finally have some elbow room in the 426D.  Above is how cramped it has been packing the 425F.  It's always a "trick" to make everything fit.  Also, the spare fuel canister has to be stowed in a place that's difficult to access.

This morning we were very happy to see hoe much room we had in the 426D.  TONS of space!

So much space we can now carry two of our favorite spatulas.  Our normal "UTES" box for kitchen utensils is a 30 caliber ammo can.  No way can a decent spatula fit in a 30 caliber ammo can.

Not only that, but we also immediately realized we can once again start carrying a griddle that will fit the 426D perfectly and still ahve room to use another burner.

And not only that but the griddle fits INSIDE the stove!  YEA!

Our "go to" bacon cooking rig just won't fit well on the 425F and doesn't fit all that well on the 413D either.  However, it fits GREAT on the 426D.

Both the griddle and the big Lodge cast iron skillet look like a match made in Heaven on this stove.

We swapped out our small coffee pot for a much larger version.

The surface area of the 426D is so large the possibilities seem endless.

Here's a small wok, a stainless skillet and a griddle, too.

We began to see endless permutations and combinations of various cookware that we had never considered possible or practical before.  We're still working on which pots, pans and skillets we intend to pack for this season's Kitchen Rig.  We will post up a final inventory once we know what it is.