My first trip to BW was a group of 4 and we had everything outfitted, even though we probably didn't need to (we do a fair amount of backpacking), it just felt easier to not have to worry about anything.

Later this month, I'm taking a group of 8 of there (6 days) and only renting canoes from the outfitter.

The gear I'm not too worried about, its the food. I have a BWJ foodpack and am renting a bear barrel so I'm not concerned about the space but the actual process of cooking it all. I'm starting to feel like it'll need to be done in batches or rounds in order to effectively cook everything.
Due to bringing the BWJ food pack, we are planning for fresh food the first few days.

I guess I'm just looking for advice or words of encouragement to handle meals/food for a group this big.

You don't say how you're cooking. Fire? Two burner stove? You don't describe your meal plans. One-pot main dish with sides that only need quick warm-up or none at all? Three things for each meal that require cooking? Finally, you don't describe the group. Will you have help with food prep and cooking, or is the entire process being dumped on you? I've worked with Scout groups of 8 or 9 where I had meal plans and group help that made the process easy and enjoyable, and I've had a couple groups that expected me to do all the work. Sounds like you've got a couple weeks to ensure you're NOT expected to the the only cook/bottle washer! Hope it's a great trip!

TZ

Yeah, didn't want my first post to be too long.

My group is 8 guys about 30 years old. All willing to help cook/clean with the meals.

Cooking plan is a majority over fire, bringing a couple small backpacking stoves in case we aren't able to. The 2 burner stove isn't a bad idea...haven't thought about that.
Meal Plans - essentially cooking over fire for breakfast & dinner. Lunch is more of a heavier snack option and does not require cooking. A few one pot dishes and some that will be multiple pot/pans. Rough idea below - albeit not too detailed.

Breakfasts (fresh) - bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, breakfast sandwiches
Breakfasts (dehydrated) - omelette scrambles, pancake mix, precooked bacon, Crapola, lots of coffee
Lunches - mainly combinations of meats/cheeses, pb&j, hummus/pit
Dinner (fresh) - steaks, potatoes, veggie, chicken fajitas w/ spanish rice, spaghetti with meatballs
Dinner (dehydrated) - chili, mac n cheese
Various desserts/snacks as well.

Sounds great, bnics! With the entire group helping with food prep & clean-up, you should have no issues. Bringing a dining fly or other rain shelter for cooking is a good idea, but as backpackers you know that already. If the crew is already bringing a couple backpacking stoves, I wouldn't consider a heavy two-burner, but if you're base camping and fishing a lot, the two-burner would be nice. And I'm sure you're aware of this year's change in food storage requirements.

We also started as backpackers, and have been hitting Canoe Country since 1979. We now dehydrate our own food and trip for distance, typically 100+ miles over 10 days. We converted to instant coffee a couple trips back to lower weight and mess, but suggesting that to a crew of 30-somethings would probably start a mutiny.

Have a great trip!

TZ

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It will work out as long as everyone has a job. I’ve taken my students on trips and I’ve outlined what everyone will do. We all trade off chores. Who’s prepping, who’s cooking, and who’s cleaning. Nobody gets a free ride. Be direct in what you want from everyone and all will go well!

I have led several groups in the BWCA, and what I typically recommend is cooking in groups of two. Any more than that and there tends to be a waiting line of hungry people. I typically bring lightweight, backpacking stove, and fuel, and this seems to work without any issues.

I would bring a white gas stove to making cooking more simple. More weight in fuel but the convenience is nice. Maybe use the fire and stove in conjuction.

I will talk on the process part you asked about. Just a suggestion from someone who has been on many large groups up there. If you are planning on cooking over the fire as your main source, you will also need a few other things. You will definitely need a good saw, leather work gloves, an axe or hatchet to process your firewood. For pots and pans you will want bigger cooking pots than you probably usually take. Go to a goodwill store and buy a couple of bigger camp pots. For fry pans I would most definitely recommend a cast iron fry pan, also a Goodwill buy. There is nothing better than a cast iron pan over a fire. It is a proven method going back hundreds of years. You will be bending down and reaching as you cook so think about your utensils. You want longer utensils like when you grill. Then you will want to bring an oven glove to move your pans around the grate. As far as cleanup, I would suggest one of those stainless steel scrub pads, biodegrade soap, and a big collapsible wash bucket. Put all your pans, pots, together in a stuff sack to prevent you gear from getting full campfire soot.

Savage Voyageur: "I will talk on the process part you asked about. Just a suggestion from someone who has been on many large groups up there. If you are planning on cooking over the fire as your main source, you will also need a few other things. You will definitely need a good saw, leather work gloves, an axe or hatchet to process your firewood. For pots and pans you will want bigger cooking pots than you probably usually take. Go to a goodwill store and buy a couple of bigger camp pots. For fry pans I would most definitely recommend a cast iron fry pan, also a Goodwill buy. There is nothing better than a cast iron pan over a fire. It is a proven method going back hundreds of years. You will be bending down and reaching as you cook so think about your utensils. You want longer utensils like when you grill. Then you will want to bring an oven glove to move your pans around the grate. As far as cleanup, I would suggest one of those stainless steel scrub pads, biodegrade soap, and a big collapsible wash bucket. Put all your pans, pots, together in a stuff sack to prevent you gear from getting full campfire soot. "

Very good points here...thank you!

And thanks to everyone else's comments. Feeling much better overall. I think it is just the anxiety of going from "everything is taken care of for us" to "this is all on us". Again, helps that majority of the group is experienced and all willing to help. At the same time, I reflect back on my first backpacking trips which felt similar. Now when I pack for a few days on a trail, I am surprised at how easy it is.

Again- thanks to everyone that has commented. Very appreciative of this community

CanoeViking's comment "a waiting line of hungry people" hit me hard and had me thinking of my days in scouts. I remember once seeing 6 scouts standing around on a rainy day watching 3 small pancakes being cooked at a time in a frying pan - not a good situation. My suggestion is to think through and amp up your cooking capacity to avoid this line of hungry people. I like S.Voyaguers recommendation for a cast iron pan, and I'll add make sure it's at least 12 inches and even consider two. Lodge makes great ones and they don't cost much even new. Another thought is a Coughlin's camp griddle (or two). You can cook a lot more pancakes on a griddle than in a pan, and they don't weigh as much (2 lbs vs 7). Whatever foods you end up bringing, you will want to cook/prep as much of it at once as you can to avoid that "line of hungry people". It's good to get everyone eating at the same time.

I'll also suggest you measure and take notes of what all you bring both for food and cooking equipment. After the trip get your gang together to quickly go over what worked well and what did not go so well. TAKE NOTES. You will think you will remember, but you won't. I've got over 30 trips, and I still take detailed notes and am constantly trying to refine my setup. To me, this constant refinement is a big part of the joy of camping.

Jaywalker: " I like S.Voyaguers recommendation for a cast iron pan, and I'll add make sure it's at least 12 inches and even consider two. Lodge makes great ones and they don't cost much even new. "

On the 2 fishing trips where we had 8 guys we had a 10” and a 12” cast iron fry pan. One for potatoes and one for fish. We also a reflector oven those trips too.

I'm frankly amazed that there's so much support for cast iron without wondering if this is a basecamping trip or not!

I've cooked for groups of 6-8 lots without bringing cast iron- there are good aluminum griddles out there that will let you do pancakes for a group, biscuits to go with your pot of chili or soup, hashbrowns, etc.

I'd bring a big kettle for one pot meals: soups, pasta dishes, burrito fillings, etc. Another coffee pot style kettle for hot water for coffee/cocoa/tea. A griddle for pancakes and associated things. If ya wanna get fancy you can bring a couple jello mold ovens. Sometimes another smaller pot that nests inside the big one while traveling for heating dishwater.

We handle things differently.

Breakfast: On your own, whatever you want. I did an oatmeal concoction each day.

Lunch: Usually on the trail, but again, on your own.

Dinner: Fish with a side and also dehydrated taters. However, if no fish, then whatever you brought and usually a Camp Chow or Mountain House.

I personally would LOVE be eating your meals, but it's more work than we want to do. The fish meals we do the fish, rice or something, and taters. We used to take camping (not canoe) trips and make our meals similar to yours, but we backed off of that and our group enjoyed it (the trip) more. If the food is a big part of your trip, then keep it up, and I hope to stumble across you someday and join in!

Wondermonkey: that would be fun!

I don't do those kind of trips very often, usually I'm solo or with my son, and we do freezedried dinners, oatmeal or pancakes for breakfast, and bars/jerky/trail mix for lunch.

Pizza is a great meal for a big group I take an aluminum skillet and place it on the fire grate. I open a squeeze bottle of pizza sauce, a packet or two of shelf stable pepperonis and a bag full of string cheese which also lasts quite awhile in the heat of the summer. Folks can grab a tortilla, put desired toppings on and plop it on the skillet. Only takes a minute or tow to cook and they can all eat relatively quick. Almost zero dishes with this method as well.
I normally do all the cooking in my groups, of which the largest was 5, and the deal is everyone else collects and processes firewood and does dishes. I find it's a great trade off!

You'll be fine!
There's lots of great info on this thread. Here are a few additional meal planning and prep approaches from our group in case helpful:
-- We're probably not alone in that we usually plan most of the calories around boiling starches -- pasta, beans, rice, grits, oatmeal. Warm bfast and dinner, cold lunch.
-- We use MSR backpacking stove/s to boil water and the campfire to simmer / keep food warm. An oz of white gas per person per warm meal is a good rule of thumb
-- We start the meal prep by lighting a campfire and boiling water on the MSRs. A quart (32 oz) of boiling water per person and hot meal.
-- Pour 8-12 oz hot drinks off the top of the pot/s (Mount Hagen, bfast tea, Rooibos, hot cocoa) to warm everyone up, before adding the starch to the pot/s.
-- Lunch is peanut butter sandwiches and/or sports bars and cold water with a Nuun tablet. Unless we're base camping and then we might do a pot of soup w/bread
-- We look for a big cedar that has been down for a few years as our preferred firewood. Best ones are horizontal 1-4 feet off the ground. Show up as clearings in OnX, never not been able to find one. We usually take a couple 6 foot logs and the non-pinned 4-5" diameter branches too, drag all back to camp and process as we go. Splits and burns so well.
-- We've started leaving the skillet at home. Instead we bring along a length of foil for fish, hamburgers, toast, anything that would easily fall through the fireplace grate or burn. We put the used foil in the fire to burn off the food remnants before packing it out. Cleanup is so much easier now.

Skip the breakfast sandwich and opt for breakfast burrito. I find that extra step of getting the sourdough/ English muffin. etc., grilled just right is too big of an effort. This is coming from a guy that brings in a loaf of sourdough since I love doing grilled cheese for my kids in the backcountry. Tortillas also make a good mid day snack with PB&J. Very durable in a pack. Need a dessert? Bring nutella and pecans and do tortilla wraps.

Look up pot coozies ? On youtube. Made out of insulation like you might use for your windshield on hot days. Simple and affordable. Nice for big multi part meals.

pswith5: "Look up pot coozies ? On youtube. Made out of insulation like you might use for your windshield on hot days. Simple and affordable. Nice for big multi part meals. "

Reflectix is the type I used. For reference here is a link from Lowe's on it. I used the tape for it and that worked really well.

Lowes Reflectix

Didn't expect to get as much attention as I did. Thanks again for all the responses. Lot of great suggestions overall! Just to address a few things mentioned..

I am bringing an aluminum cast pan and a pot/pan set that I have (not sure metal tbh, but lighter than cast). Love cooking on cast iron @ home but since I'm already accepting extra weight with fresh food, I didn't want the couple extra pounds. Personal choice I guess that at point.

Yeah, I'm willing to do the extra work for some "nicer" meals. Cooking & eating at camp might be some of my favorite camping memories. A group of friends even makes that more enjoyable.
On the flipside when I backpack, its all dehydrated meals.

Pizza is a good idea I thought about! But having never done it cooking before, I'd rather try it car camping then out in the backcountry. I have cooked a few Papa Murphy's pizzas over a fire car camping, turned out awesome
Breakfast burrito is also a good idea, may switch to that over the sandwiches.

Whomever said to debrief with friends afterwords, I couldn't agree more! We do this on every trip and I personally keep a note of things I'm feeling about my gear/food/plan on a trip.

Thank you for all the words of encouragement, responses and insight to what you all do. Very appreciative of this community!

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I suggest polling the group on who wants to do what. I have found that individuals often have a preference for "chores" and are happiest doing their thing. Who wants to gather wood, do dishes, help cook, hang the pack? If everyone has an assigned job things go smoothly.

I'd also suggest- run two 3-person canoes and a double canoe. That drops 45 pounds of canoe which you can replace with whatever food and cooking utensils you want. Or even invite one more guy and run three 3-person canoes. Then there's an extra body for hauling gear.

You didn't indicate if you base camp or are moving every day.

I bring up 15-20 men each fall. This year it is 17 divided into four groups. However in the past we have had 8 in a camp site. We have been doing this for 16 years in the BWCA and 15 years prior to that in the Adirondacks and other areas.

Here is what I would pass on: Assuming you are base camping, bring a "real stove". Most of our camps bring a coleman style two burner stove. I used to bring an Camp Cheff Everest. Now I bring a Jetboil Genesis two burner stove. We also bring some roll up metal slat tables to cook on, and this year all fresh food will go in Lifetime 55 quart bear certified coolers.

I practice cooking my meals at home before I ever try them out in the BWCA. We have a gas kitchen stove so I use that. It has 10,000 btu burners which is the same as the Jetboil. The Camp Chef Everest has 20,000 but burners.

I cooked all meals and tried them out on my wife. It was thumbs up or down.

Here is what my camp kitchen looks like: One 12 inch GSI aluminum dutch oven; Jetboil Genesis basecamp stove (which also comes with a large pot and a frying pan), a Coleman portable single burner grill (for the steaks, burgers and brats). All this along with the utentsils goes in 3 small bags. All food in the cooler.

Again, we are base campers.

I second trying out recipes on your group before you go if you can, even if it’s just a few of your group. This way you can tweak your ingredients & style of cooking before you head out. This preview can also help adjust portioning meals & what you are bringing.

You seem to have a good grasp at what you want & have received a lot of good advice. Your menu sounds delicious & ambitious. Check out the other part of the forum BWCA Food & recipes, lots of good info there too. Loaves of bread v.s. Tortillas kind of thing, plenty of tips & tricks & links. I’ve gone from car camping to backpacking to canoe camping & dehydrating my own meals…just back from car camping.

Here is one meal we love & how I did it: Over the fire I used my old cast iron pan to sauté a bunch of mixed fresh veggies (zucchini, onion, tomatoes) in olive oil. Set aside & keep warm. I boiled water on my stove & made tortellini (dry type) then drained & added to veggies. Added a bunch of garlicky spices, more olive oil, cheese, s&p.

We ate it like this as it was plenty hearty for us without meat… we have added pre-grilled chicken strips, pre cooked meatballs cut in half, pesto in a tube, mozzarella sticks cut up, fresh grated Parmesan. The use of olive oil eliminates the need for red sauce & I bring it for other uses. I feel like I mix my car camping & canoe camp style of cooking together depending on what we want to bring & how heavy we want to go. I always try for lighter is better, 2 uses instead of 1, this can be made on a jet boil as well as a campfire or stove. You’re probably going to be using it all & you’ll hopefully have a lot of help. If you have lots of bacon to fry, make sure you have a plan for grease after. Good luck & have fun!

BWCA Food & Recipes

P.S. Dogwood girl is Queen of the Jello Mold Oven recipes. :)

bnics -

Sounds like you've got a handle on things! That's a big group for someone your age to be organizing, you should be proud of that.

For your anxiety: Don't stress it too much, everyone needs a good 'everything went wrong' camping trip story. Also, 30 year old's are typically very durable.

I agree with what Jaywalker said about eating dinner in shifts unless you have big cookware. How big are the pots and pans you mentioned? Unless you're moving every day (on a strict schedule), I feel that breakfast, however, is best done on your own or in small groups. There's always someone that wants to go fishing at dawn and someone else that wants to sleep in. I'm a big fan of backpacking stoves and boiled water for this, it's coffee and oatmeal or mountainhouse biscuits & gravy for me.

Z4K: "bnics -


Sounds like you've got a handle on things! That's a big group for someone your age to be organizing, you should be proud of that.


For your anxiety: Don't stress it too much, everyone needs a good 'everything went wrong' camping trip story. Also, 30 year old's are typically very durable.


I agree with what Jaywalker said about eating dinner in shifts unless you have big cookware. How big are the pots and pans you mentioned? Unless you're moving every day (on a strict schedule), I feel that breakfast, however, is best done on your own or in small groups. There's always someone that wants to go fishing at dawn and someone else that wants to sleep in. I'm a big fan of backpacking stoves and boiled water for this, it's coffee and oatmeal or mountainhouse biscuits & gravy for me."

Appreciate the words of encouragement! Hoping its not the last one I organize ;)

Don't know the actual sizes but there's going to be multiple of them to allow for batch cooking or in shifts.

For everyone else- I am not base camping. But if needed, we could stay at a night for 2 nights on the route.

Cheers!

bnics: "

Savage Voyageur: "I will talk on the process part you asked about. Just a suggestion from someone who has been on many large groups up there. If you are planning on cooking over the fire as your main source, you will also need a few other things. You will definitely need a good saw, leather work gloves, an axe or hatchet to process your firewood. For pots and pans you will want bigger cooking pots than you probably usually take. Go to a goodwill store and buy a couple of bigger camp pots. For fry pans I would most definitely recommend a cast iron fry pan, also a Goodwill buy. There is nothing better than a cast iron pan over a fire. It is a proven method going back hundreds of years. You will be bending down and reaching as you cook so think about your utensils. You want longer utensils like when you grill. Then you will want to bring an oven glove to move your pans around the grate. As far as cleanup, I would suggest one of those stainless steel scrub pads, biodegrade soap, and a big collapsible wash bucket. Put all your pans, pots, together in a stuff sack to prevent you gear from getting full campfire soot. "

Very good points here...thank you!


And thanks to everyone else's comments. Feeling much better overall. I think it is just the anxiety of going from "everything is taken care of for us" to "this is all on us". Again, helps that majority of the group is experienced and all willing to help. At the same time, I reflect back on my first backpacking trips which felt similar. Now when I pack for a few days on a trail, I am surprised at how easy it is.


Again- thanks to everyone that has commented. Very appreciative of this community"

Welcome to the world of "CAWgistics!" It's a big part of the trip if you self-outfit!

montanapaddler: "
Welcome to the world of "CAWgistics!" It's a big part of the trip if you self-outfit!"

caw - noun: the harsh cry of a crow or similar bird.

Create a Wrestler?

I enjoyed reading this thread. I have a similar issue thinking about a trip with 7, most I've ever been with is 4... Some great ideas in here. Thanks all.

TBL