Tactical Cooking Tips. Keep eating. Under training, and certainly under 
wartime conditions, you will reach a level of exhaustion where eating 
becomes a difficult chore. You must try anyway or you will very rapidly 
become a casualty. Be prepared to eat on the move. Break your rations 
down into various meals and stow them in your BDU (Battle Dress Uniform) 
pockets or rucksack where you or your buddy can get to them without 
taking off your gear. Never cook for one. Use the buddy system so only 
one set of cooking gear needs to be unpacked and used. Take only what 
you immediately need out of your rucksack and put it away promptly in 
case you need to leave the area in a hurry. No cooking should be allowed 
while on an ambush or while in an LP (listening post) or OP (observation 
post). Cooking in a unit should be staggered. Cook in pairs and those 
cooking should still watch their fields of fire with their weapons close 
at hand. The odor of openly cooked food can give away your position. 
Cooking in unopened cans gives off the least amount of odor of any 
cooking method. To keep your canteen cup clean (important for hygienic 
reasons), to avoid burning your lips and to reduce cooking odors, boil 
water in your canteen cup, remove it from the heat and prepare hot 
beverages in a plastic drinking cup (like a Rubbermaid mug or an extra 
M258 Decontamination Kit container). Spicy foods like curried chicken 
can be detected by the educated nose at 40 to 50 meters. Hexamine solid 
fuel stoves also have a very pungent and distinct odor. A butane stove 
burns hotter than solid fuel (less cooking time) and has less risk of 
compromising your position by smell, but make sure you use is at 
half-power since it can be noisy. Place sentries at the limit of smell 
or noise, whichever is the furthest. If you have to cook at night, 
conceal your stoves so no light is visible, but be aware that hexamine 
gives off noxious fumes and can be a hazard in an enclosed area like a 
bunker. Dig a shallow hole for your stove (a hexamine stove only needs a 
hole about 6 or 8 inches deep) and if you need to put the fire out in a 
hurry you can remove your mess kit or canteen cup and push the dirt back 
in the hole to extinguish the fuel block.


Equipping the Field Kitchen. In a base camp or secure rear area, you can 
make use of a more relaxed group style of cooking that would not be 
possible in a tactical environment. If you are sharing a larger cooking 
pot with 3 or 4 other people, you can use a sturdy plastic bowl to eat 
from; it will be easier to clean and keep food warmer longer than your 
individual mess kit. A butane or multifuel backpacking stove can also be 
shared. You can split up the load of food, stove, fuel and cooking 
equipment between several people, but insure that everybody has some 
ready-to-eat food. A well equipped set of group cooking equipment for a 
few people should include:


One large Teflon or Silverstone coated skillet with a lid and folding 
handle. This can also be used as a dutch oven for baking biscuits; place 
the pan on a bed of hot coals and place coals or build a twig fire on 
the lid.


Two large 2 to 3 quart pots; good for everything from boiling water to 
mixing and preparing stews or one-pot meals. Pot lids conserve heat and 
reduce the amount of fuel required for boiling water and cooking. Some 
lids can also be used for frying foods or as serving plates. A 
lightweight aluminum pressure cooker could substitute for one of the 
pots and greatly decrease fuel usage.


A folding pack grill for cooking over an open fire or hot coals.


A folding reflector oven for use with a fire, or a compact folding 
aluminum reflector oven, like the Outback Oven, which allows baking of 
items like bread, cobblers, casseroles, brownies and even pizza over a 
small backpacking stove.


Cotton gloves and pot grips or pliers, for safely handling pots over a 
fire.


One wooden spoon, a plastic or metal spatula, a small wire whisk (for 
thoroughly mixing powdered ingredients with liquids), a sturdy plastic 
measuring cup and a set of plastic measuring spoons.


A collapsible 2-1/2 gallon water jug or a pair of inflatable GI 5-quart 
canteens often will allow all the water for a meal or for washing 
cookware to be carried in one trip from the water source. If washing 
cookware with suspect, unpurified water, heat your pans over the fire or 
stove afterwards. A 2-1/2 gallon nylon water bag that only weighs 
3-ounces and can fold into a shirt pocket is available through camping 
equipment outlets. Also available is a black plastic collapsible water 
carrier that heats water with solar energy and has a shower attachment; 
perfect for cooking water or for field hygiene purposes.


You may find a few other items of cooking equipment necessary depending 
upon the type of food being carried and your personal cooking style. For 
example, a plastic slotted spoon can be used for mixing baked goods, 
stirring a pot and draining pasta. Some cooks may insist a small flat 
cheese grater is essential. The only limit is the weight and bulk you 
can carry in your rucksack.


In a fixed camp or if you are vehicle mobile (or have pack animals) you 
can add more equipment to your field kitchen for group cooking:


Additional grills for open fire cooking (folding pack type or larger).


Additional cookware, like large stock pots (for cooking or for heating 
water for cleaning dishes) and cast iron skillets or dutch ovens are 
useful. Aluminum cookware is lightweight and relatively inexpensive, but 
is easy to burn food in and loses heat quickly. Although heavy, cast 
iron retains heat well and distributes it evenly. Enameled steel (good 
for stock pots and roasters) and stainless steel offer excellent 
compromises between aluminum and cast iron.


A 3 to 4 quart enameled steel coffee pot can be used for boiling water 
for everyone to use to prepare instant hot beverages, soups or hot 
breakfast cereals. In some units the soldier who makes the first pot of 
coffee before everyone rolls out of their "fart sacks" (sleeping bags) 
is considered to have the most important job of all. Instant coffee 
nowadays is very good (freeze dried crystals will even reconstitute in 
cold water, although it takes longer), but as the name implies, a coffee 
pot can even be used to make coffee. If not using instant coffee, bring 
the water to a rolling boil, dump in the proper measure of coffee, 
remove from heat, cover, set aside for a few minutes, then add a little 
cold water to settle the grounds.


Propane or multifuel two-burner camp stoves. Propane stoves are easier 
to use (some with electric spark ignition don't even require matches). 
About the only part that can wear out is the on/off valve, but the fuel 
is expensive and steel propane cylinders are heavy. Also, if both 
burners feed from the same cylinder, then the second burner doesn't 
receive as much pressure as the one closest to the fuel and will burn 
cooler. Multifuel stoves can burn either white gas (naphtha, Coleman 
fuel or lantern fuel) or unleaded gasoline; either fuel is cheaper than 
propane and easier to find a resupply. Multifuel stoves generally work 
better than propane in extremely cold temperatures, but exercise caution 
when refueling them; sub-zero temperature fuel on your skin can mean
 instant frostbite. New models don't require preheating or priming, have 
self-cleaning generators and some feature electronic ignition. Multifuel 
stoves burn hotter than propane and aren't as good for slow simmering of 
soups or stews. A Teflon coated aluminum griddle that fits over both 
burners is a useful accessory, as is the Outback reflector oven.


Plastic jerry cans for water are handy. In an emergency, a jerry can can 
be strapped to a pack frame if it's necessary to carry water on foot to 
a remote site. Reliance brand 6-gallon (23-liter) jerry cans are sold at 
Wal-Mart and K-mart. A 10-quart galvanized pail is useful for both 
carrying and heating water.


Organizing the Field Kitchen. Organization is the first step to great 
outdoor cooking. Establish a distinct area for food preparation and 
another for cooking. In the food preparation area, keep your utensils in 
order. After you use something, put it back and you won't hear "Where's 
the salt?" or "Has anyone seen the spatula?" It's easy to lose small 
utensils at a campsite; if you don't set them down carefully they are 
likely to disappear. Once they are gone in the field, you can't just run 
out to the corner store for a replacement. Allow yourself 360 degrees of 
uncluttered space around the fire or stove. If your way around is 
blocked, you will be tempted to reach across the fire for a needed 
ingredient or utensil. With a campfire, you will want to move around to 
avoid the smoke as the wind changes. A simple rule is to have a 
five-foot clear area around a fire. In a cooking area you are 
particularly in danger of accidents. You could trip around a fire or 
stove and spill a scalding pot. At the least a meal could be ruined and 
at worst you could damage equipment or seriously burn yourself. A bad 
burn in the field, miles from medical attention, can even be a life 
threatening injury. Wear your boots around the fire and use pot grips or 
cotton gloves for picking up hot pots. Remove a pot from the fire when 
you add a new ingredient. This protects your hands and makes it less 
likely you will spill or waste food. Sparks from a fire can seriously 
damage nylon tents, ponchos, sleeping bags or rucksacks. Make sure such 
equipment is a good distance from your fire. Be careful when drying 
clothing around the fire, and do not dry boots in this fashion. Natural 
fibers like wool or cotton will smolder before igniting, but polyester 
or nylon blends (like the material used in GI field jackets and some 
BDU's) can burst into flame without warning. If a spot near the fire is 
too hot for you to hold your hand there indefinitely, it is too hot for 
any item of clothing. As you set up your field kitchen, remember to 
organize for convenience and safety.

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