We have become used to canister stoves and campfires for steak night 1 and a fish fry. A canister stove will not work for this. I have an old white gas Apex 1 I am guessing that will work for fish. Giving up on the steak. What does everyone else do for fish?

I used to do fish fries over the fire but have switched to the canister stoves with better results. The key is to use 2 stoves on one pan to keep the oil hot enough. We use primus classic trail but I’m sure they would all work.

Steaks can be seared and brought to at least medium rare with a stove as well.

Good luck!

We base camp and fry our walleye on a 2 burner Coleman stove. Nothing worse than hot oil fry pan full of fish and a tippy stove.

I recommend changing up your menu and trying something different.

I cut up fresh caught fish into small chunks to fit the pan. I'd likely do the same if I had a steak with me.

bwcamjh: "I cut up fresh caught fish into small chunks to fit the pan. I'd likely do the same if I had a steak with me."

Exactly the same thing I do.

Look at the fire ban not as a restriction, but as an excuse to try new recipes, techniques, and building an appreciation for having varied knowledge.

For instance, here are 4 ways to cook trout while backpacking. Probably can be modified for any fish of course. I personally have tried the Trout with Mustard Sauce on pike in the BWCA and I recommend it.
Fish Recipes for the Trail

My buddy and I both have the same stove, the primus classic trail stove as mentioned. Because they are the same height they work great on flat ground with a large non stick or other griddle. Could do steaks, work great for fish, pancakes, eggs, etc. as well. We always bring the second stove anyways as a backup so all we add in to the pack is the griddle.

BTW those stoves are awesome, reliable, sturdy with decent flame control. Great price too. Somewhat of a legend.

Affordable great camp stove

We changed our traditional first night steaks menu due to the previous fire ban. My wife pre-made beef tips with mushrooms, onions and peppers in a great red wine sauce, which we took in frozen. Had it over egg noodles. Repeated the meal last year without a fire ban. Will do steaks again in the future but enjoyed the first night just as much both years.

Thank you all, we are going with a slight change in menu and the double stove for fish. That does seem like it could be pretty stable.


Thanks again for the responses.

We usually fry fish over the fire but if the fire ban is still on when we go it'll be a Coleman stove. Does anyone know how long these fire bans last? We have six weeks until our trip.

KungPowKing: "We usually fry fish over the fire but if the fire ban is still on when we go it'll be a Coleman stove. Does anyone know how long these fire bans last? We have six weeks until our trip."

Nature decides. I’ll say it always pays to have a Plan B. When there was an entire BWCA closure recently, we switched to Sylvania wilderness as our Plan B destination.

KungPowKing: "We usually fry fish over the fire but if the fire ban is still on when we go it'll be a Coleman stove. Does anyone know how long these fire bans last? We have six weeks until our trip."

All summee if it stays dry

I'm planning on using my soto windmaster and a frybake deep alpine pan for fish. I will just have to cook in smaller batches.

Just really have to pay attention when using a canister stove for frying. I had an old Coleman peak 1 in Quetico years ago when I was a kid that I let get the oil too hot.

We were on this little island we nicknamed 'Diaper Island' because a previous inhabitant had stuffed a dirty diaper under a rock that we were now obligated to pack out for them. But...my oil got too hot and when I panicked and tried to remove the pan from the heat quickly, the oil spilled a little catching fire on the ground and in my pot. The soil up there was flammable!

I nearly burned the whole island down. I threw the flaming pot in the lake, with predicable results, so I could put the ground fire out.

I used to cook steaks on day 1 as well but back in 2020 when the price of beef went nuts, I switched over to hamburgers (still beef but way cheaper) and I haven't looked back since. Less to clean up, easier to eat and equally satisfying to me in the bush. Also I always seemed to burn one steak from flare ups and hated doing that to a $10-15 piece of meat.

Pan frying a hamburger would taste great!

Fish fry on a stove is no issue, I just hate the mess it makes compared to cooking it on the fire.

Fifteen years ago we brought steaks, and all fresh foods. Had sausage and gravy with baked biscuits for breakfast, steaks/potatoes, veggies for dinner. Even pizzas. Then I looked at the time it took to cook all that stuff, the packs needed to haul it, etc. and asked the group if they would consider freeze dried meals if it meant more time fishing. . . and more fish to eat. 100% concensus to move to freeze dried.

I bring a two burner stove (jet boil base camp) and a deep pan that spans both burners to cook fish. I have also moved many years to using olive oil spray and cooking the fish on that. I bring blackening and other seasonings to use for the fish some years and no oil at all.

The problem with oil when there is no camp fire is disposing of the oil. It has to be poured back in the bottles and hauled out. If we don't have fires this year, I will switch all fish cooking to sprays and seasonings.

I have always cooked over a fire as I have been lucky in not going during a ban. I actually have to go buy a stove for my upcoming trip and decided just to do plain jane food like oatmeal, sandwiches, rice/noodles... basically anything that only requires water. For fish... I have boiled it before and then seasoned afterwards or I might try to cook over the stove... have someone hold the pan so it doesn't tip the whole time?

mags459: "We have become used to canister stoves and campfires for steak night 1 and a fish fry. A canister stove will not work for this. I have an old white gas Apex 1 I am guessing that will work for fish. Giving up on the steak. What does everyone else do for fish?
"

Must have missed something but why can't you cook steak or fish using a canister stove?
Canister and liquid fuel stoves are permitted during a fire ban.

butthead

mags459: "We have become used to canister stoves and campfires for steak night 1 and a fish fry. A canister stove will not work for this. I have an old white gas Apex 1 I am guessing that will work for fish. Giving up on the steak. What does everyone else do for fish?
"

Why does camping stoves not work for steaks? Lots of people cook steaks on a Blackstone griddle anymore. You can do the same thing on a camping stove. Just need to get a two burner type that can handle a griddle. Two burner stove. . .and cast iron griddle. . .and you have a Blackstone!