Adventist Youth Honors Answer Book/Recreation/Fire Building & Camp Cookery

Requirements annotated with the symbol are from the General Conference edition. Requirements annotated with the symbol are from the North American Division edition. ==1. Lay five different kinds of fires and know their uses.1. Lay five different kinds of fires and know their uses. Two of these fires must be cooking fires.==

3. Show correct techniques for starting a fire.
A fire needs three things in order to burn: fuel, air, and heat. You need to pay attention to all three for building a successful fire.

Fuel
Fuel is categorized into three groups: tinder, kindling, and fuel. Tinder is light, fluffy stuff that is easy to ignite. It may be made of many different types of material, including, dried grass, dead pine needles, fine wood shavings, bird feathers, pocket lint, paper, milkweed seeds etc. The key to tinder is that it should be dry, thin, and wispy. Tinder is laid first, and then it is surrounded with kindling.

Kindling is a bit bigger than tinder. Pencil-sized sticks make excellent kindling, but if all your kindling is that size, you are going to need a lot of it. Sort it by diameter, and stack the smallest stuff over the tinder. You can arrange it in a tipi, log cabin, or even a ridge-pole and rafter arrangement. As you build up the kindling pile, add larger and larger pieces, but do not add anything larger than a 1.5 inches through - any bigger than that, and you are into the next size category. Stacking the kindling is perhaps the most important aspect of building a successful fire. If it is stacked too tightly, the tinder will not ignite it. If you do not have enough of it, it will not ignite the main fuel.

Fuel is the largest stuff you're going to burn, though for camping, it should not be larger than six inches in diameter. Any larger than that, and you will either be up all night tending it, or you'll find yourself dousing it before turning in yourself. It is far better to burn all your fuel completely.

Air
It might seem that you would need to do nothing to make sure that your fire has a good air supply - after all, air is all around us. But a fire needs lots of air, and the way the fuel is stacked can affect this greatly. Do not pack the fuel tightly. Kindling should be stacked such that the spaces between pieces are equal to the width of the pieces (on average). In other words, the kindling pile should be about 50% air and 50% wood by volume. These gaps will allow the flames to get in between and burn all the kindling, thus igniting the larger fuel logs. When you add logs to the fire, make sure there's at least a one-inch gap between each piece. Otherwise, you will cut off the air supply and the fire will die down without burning all the fuel.

Heat
Heat is initially added to the fuel and air with a match, lighter, or other fire lighting device. If using primitive lighting techniques, the tinder is lit first, and then transferred into the kindling pile. Heat is transferred from the match (or spark) to the tinder, and then from the tinder to the kindling, from the kindling to the main fuel, and finally, the heat from the main fuel will be sufficient to maintain the fire, igniting additional fuel (and sometimes drying it out) as it is added. To get a fire to die down, separate the logs so that their heat is spread out. To burn all the fuel, keep pushing the unburnt ends of logs to the center to concentrate the heat (but do maintain some distance between the logs to allow air in).

4. Start a fire with one match and keep it going for at least ten minutes.
Again, the secret to keeping a fire going after it is lit, it to stack the fuel progressively from smallest to largest. Be sure you have enough kindling to ignite the main fuel, and keep the stack loose enough to allow air to circulate. Stack the kindling atop the tinder and have the main fuel ready to go - but do not add it yet. Light the tinder. As soon as you have a good flame, start adding the main fuel to the fire. Add it in an orderly fashion, using one of the techniques detailed in requirement 1 (the council fire works particularly well for this, as it is easy to lay and it the fuel is positioned directly over the kindling).

11. Why is it important to keep your cooking and eating utensils clean?
==12. Showing knowledge of proper nutrition and food groups, make up a complete and balanced menu for six camping meals. Include the following:a. A breakfast, lunch, or supper good for a trail hike where light weight is important. The meal should not need cooking but should be nutritious.b. The remaining five meals may be made up of any type of food: canned, fresh, frozen, or dried. One of the five must be a one-pot meal.==

Proper Nutrition

The food groups are defined by the USDA in the food pyramid. The amount of each food group needed by an individual varies by age, sex, and amount of physical activity. The chart below shows the recommended amount of each group for Pathfinder-aged people who are fairly active (and it is safe to assume they will be fairly active on a campout).

Trail Meal
Sandwiches, trail mix, and fruit are a good combination of foods that do not require cooking. Powdered milk is another option also not requiring cooking, as are any of the weight-loss milkshakes, however you really do want to bring something with a lot of calories. Peanuts and other shelled nuts are also good as they are high in calories (which are needed on a hike).

13. Make up a supply list of items that will be needed to prepare the above six meals.
The most obvious things on this list will be the ingredients for the meals - but don't stop there! Inexperienced campers have been known to bring canned foods, but no can openers. An industrious individual may find a way to open a can without one, but it is so much easier (and safer) to open a can with the proper tool. You will also need proper cookware for these meals. A pot will certainly be required (for the one-pot meal), but you will also need something to stir and serve the food with, as well as a plate or bowl from which to eat. Don't forget flatware. If you're planning to cook over an open fire, you'll need something to light it with as well as the needed fire safety gear (fire extinguisher, or a bucket to fill with water at the camp site). Otherwise, you will need a camp stove and fuel. Other items may include a cutting board and a sharp kitchen knife, a Dutch oven, pot holders, and a skillet. But don't just blindly pack all of these items - think first. If you will not need a Dutch oven, leave it behind. Imagine yourself going through all the steps to cook the food - with as much detail as you can - and note what items you'll need.

Food safety
There are two key elements to handling food safely: cleanliness, and freshness. Wash your hands before and during cooking. Be aware of the "danger zone" for food - fresh food above and below  is in danger of spoiling. Keep it in a cooler, make sure the lid stays on, and make sure it stays cold inside. Use fresh foods early in the camp out, and do not rely on a cooler for more than a day and a half. When all the ice in a cooler has melted, the food inside should no longer be used.

Trash disposal
Try not to make more food than your group will eat. Dispose of any leftover food as required by a campground, or store it in a cooler. Under no circumstances should food be brought into a tent where people intend to sleep. All food needs to be put away as soon as possible and it needs to be kept out of the reach of wild animals. Skunks, raccoons, and bears can be very clever when it comes to getting food. Suspend your food 10 feet above the ground and at least five feet away from a tree trunk.

Wash your gear
As soon as the meal is over, wash all the dishes and kitchen utensils. Wild critters will be happy to drag your spatula from your kitchen and lick it clean for you, but they rarely return such items, nor do they clean them satisfactorily.

It is a good idea to number all the plates, forks, bowls, knives, spoons, and cups your group owns, and then keep like-numbered items in a hosiery bag. Each camper is assigned a number, and each camper is responsible to clean his own eating gear. If you find an abandoned bowl on a picnic table, it is a simple matter to check the number, determine the owner, and convince him to do his part. Once the dishes are washed, they are returned to the hosiery bag and hung on a line to dry. It is also a good idea to number the clothespins with which the hosiery bags are hung, and hang them in order. This is not a much trouble is it sounds, and makes finding your own dish set a snap.

Assign a kitchen crew to for each meal and have that crew cook the food and clean the kitchen gear. Optionally, you can use two crews for this, with one doing the cooking, and the other doing the cleaning.