By: Judson Vail
When it comes to riverside camp cooking I’d consider myself a semi-traditionalist, employing mostly cast iron, wood fire, and a propane burner or two. I was introduced to Dutch oven cooking by a paddling mentor of mine, who on past river trips has concocted such elaborate dishes as barbecue pork ribs and four cheese lasagna, all in the classic cast iron lidded pot. Almost any culinary feat is possible with a 10-inch Dutch oven, a 10-inch cast iron pan, and a good source of heat.
Some of my favorite meals to cook on river trips include red beans and rice with sausage, seasoned beef tacos, and fresh caught fried catfish. Breakfast classics include baked scrambles and homemade camp biscuits. The ingredients of all of these meals are easy to pack, simple to work with, and delicious to enjoy. All you need is a couple of good pieces of cookware and a willingness to relish in longer, slower cooking practices than required of your standard freeze dried dinners.
Great camp meals start with quality vessels to cook them in, so make sure your cast irons are well seasoned and well oiled to handle the harsher environment of the outdoor kitchen. The appeal of cast irons is that they are durable, heat evenly, and have a very wide temperature range. They are also a more or less natural cooking surface, free of harsh chemicals, and even supply a little extra iron to your system. A properly seasoned and lubricated cast iron can cook virtually anything, under any condition.
If using campfire as a heat source, I like to employ the keyhole method, in which you construct a fire pit in the shape of a keyhole, digging out a rectangular or oblong cooking area off of the primary fire ring. This allows you to keep a larger fire going while cooking on a bed of coals adjacent to it, adding wood to the flames and moving the embers over to your pot or pan as needed. The keyhole pit is great for those single pot dutch oven meals, such as the beef tacos and red beans and rice. It’s also perfect for when you want to get a little more advanced and bake in the Dutch oven, covering the pot and placing coals on the lipped lid, quite literally creating an oven. This style of cooking is best for the breakfast casseroles and biscuits, when you need heat sources above as well as below.
My favorite riverside camp meal is fried catfish made from the day’s catch. Set out a few lines and haul in a good sized channel catfish or two and you’re in business. For this scenario I always keep a 48 oz bottle of vegetable oil and a few packets of cornmeal or fish fry in the food box. Fillet the fish with your preferred method, rinse the fillets, slice into strips or nuggets, and then coat with a healthy layer of the breading. Meanwhile, heat the oil. All 48 ounces of the vegetable oil in a 10-inch Dutch oven is a good amount for deep frying.
In this application I use a propane stove, since a prolonged and high, steady heat source is needed to get the oil up to the 350 degrees necessary for frying. Additionally, you won’t have to worry about spilling hot oil when lifting the pot to periodically rake hot coals underneath, as is necessary in keyhole fire cooking. Once heated, you can carefully add your fish to the oil. Let the pieces fry for five or six minutes and then remove and let cool for a minute on a cloth or paper towel. Dress with a little lemon juice and joy as pre-dinner bites, in tacos with slaw, or alongside scrambled eggs in the morning for a camp classic.
Riverside cooking is an ancient practice and modern pleasure. When you can pack heavy on canoe or car camping trips, indulge yourself with a couple pieces of cast iron and a few simple quality cooking ingredients — oil, onion, garlic, lemon, salt. Some of the hardiest, most delicious meals I have ever eaten have been around a campfire and began with these easy-to-pack supplies. While dehydrated stews and protein bars have their important roles in the backcountry, cast iron cooking along the river’s edge is a wonderful rustic indulgence worth the extra effort whenever possible.
Recipe: Camp Fried Catfish
What You’ll Need:
- Fresh fillets from 1–2 channel catfish
- 48 oz vegetable oil or enough to completely submerge the filets
- 1–2 packets of cornmeal or seasoned fish fry mix
- Salt, pepper, garlic powder (optional)
- Lemon wedges for serving
- Paper towels or cloth for draining
Gear:
- 10-inch cast iron Dutch oven
- Propane burner or stable camp stove
- Long tongs or slotted spoon
- Thermometer (optional, but ideal)
Instructions:
-Prep the Fish: Rinse fillets in clean water and pat dry. Slice into strips or nuggets.
- Coat: Dredge generously in cornmeal or fish fry mix. Let sit while oil heats.
- Heat the Oil: Add all 48 oz of oil to the Dutch oven. Heat over propane burner until oil reaches 350°F. (Test with a thermometer or a pinch of breading—if it sizzles, it’s ready.)
- Fry: Carefully add fish in batches. Fry for 5–6 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.
- Drain & Serve: Remove with tongs, drain on cloth or paper towels. Serve with lemon, hot sauce, or pile into a taco with slaw.
Field-tested and fry-approved, this one's been feeding riverside crews for generations.
