If you’ve ever come across those mouth watering outdoor cooking videos like the one from Almazan Kitchen’s channel, you know there’s something really magical about whipping up a nice meal in nature. Preparing food under the peaceful solitude of a verdant canopy with the cheerful whispers of a babbling brook in the background, smelling the cool, crisp forest scent mingling with the delicious aroma of your culinary masterpiece, it’s quite a sensory experience that’s sure to give you a shot of happy hormones. 

As you may have noticed, there are now quite a few Youtubers who have found success doing this kind of schtick. If you wanna get with the trend, or even if you just want to relish delicious food prepared from scratch while steeped in nature, you’ve got to have the right equipment. 

Cowboy Cookware

While you can certainly use some of the kitchen equipment you use at home, it would be better to get ones that are better suited to the rough and tumble nature of the outdoors. What you want are cookware as tough as cast iron pans, those that wear dings and scratches like a badge and won’t make you flinch if they get covered in soot.

Since you’ll be cooking outdoors, what you need are versatile kitchen tools and in most cases, all you need is a good pan, pot, knife, spatula, coffee maker, and heat-resistant gloves. Now if this looks a bit lacking to you, it’s because the whole idea is to challenge yourself to make a good meal with just the bare minimum since when outdoorsing, the fewer stuff you have to carry, the better, right?

Lodge Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Combo Cooker, 2-Piece Set, 10.25"

Now this absolutely screams versatile. You need a pan to be able to fry and sear properly while a pot, which has a larger capacity, is better for making soups, stews and even baking. When baking with a pot or Dutch oven, you typically put hot coals on top of its cast iron cover which disperses and retains heat evenly. If you have carry something as heavy as a cast iron cover, it should serve more than one purpose right? Lodge's Cast Iron Combo Cooker Set takes care of that.  

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Alpha Outpost Multi-Tool Camping Utensil Set, Spatula, Fork, Basting Brush

You can easily use a bowl to get soup from a pot, but flipping sunny side up eggs or a seared salmon will be a challenge without a proper spatula. With Alpha Outpost’s Swiss-Army spatula set, you get a few other essential kitchen tools at almost the same price of a regular spatula. 

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XYJ Full Tang High Carbon Clad Steel Butcher Cleaver with Leather Knife Sheath

When in the wild, you need a knife that can do it all. It should be heavy enough to chop through small bones, light enough for prep work, and wide enough for smashing and scooping up chopped ingredients. Most importantly, it should be made out of steel that won’t lose its edge easily. This mean-looking cleaver from XYJ is all that, plus you get a handsome leather sheath that you proudly attach to your camping backpack.

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Dragon Knuckle Heat Resistant BBQ Gloves

The outdoors is no place for dainty oven mittens. What you need here are gloves that will protect your hands from burning and sharp edges so that you won’t have to cut your time outdoors due to an injury. Use Dragon Knuckle's Heat Resistant Cooking Gloves when handling hot pots and pans so that you won’t accidentally spill the meal you worked so hard on.

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bonVIVO Intenca Stovetop Espresso Maker, 10 oz Moka Pot

A moka pot is the only proper way you’d be able to make a decent cup of joe in the forest. bonVIVO’s Stovetop Espresso Maker may look like it belongs in a fancy kitchen, but with its all-stainless steel construction, a little bit of soot won’t be much of a problem.

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If you’re wondering why this list seems to be missing a barbeque grill, a kettle, or a bunch of other knives and utensils, remember that outdoor camp-cooking is all about making more with less. It’s always easy to prepare something amazing when you have all the kitchen tools, but to do it with the bare minimum is a feat that will impress your viewers and leave you beaming with accomplishment.