Cooking

First off, you need to decide how you want to cook things. You can generally divide your options into three:

• Gas

• Liquid fuel

• Charcoal

• Wood

Gas
Clean and easy, your main problem is in finding somebody to fill your cylinder, unless you use disposable Gaz-type canisters which are available pretty much everywhere. The smallest of the refillable types are bulky, and I'd look at permanently plumbing in your stove - the drawer type arrangements that fit between the wheel arches of a Defender may lend themselves to this sort of set-up. Having to plumb in the stove each time is a pain. Don't fork out for an expensive Gaz refillable canister - they are a tenth of the price in Morocco if you can wait a few days...

Liquid Fuel
There are a bunch of Petrol and spirit stoves about - they can be both expensive and temperamental. Spirit will not be readily available along the way, and petrol stoves can clog, and the fuel mix may blacken your pots. I had an old army petrol stove which was the culinary equivalent of a hand grenade, so I left it behind.

Charcoal
Much underrated - you can get it cheaply anywhere. It's messy to handle and slow to get hot, but you can keep it in a cheaply purchased metal bin along with your Moroccan burner that costs next to nothing. Buying charcoal supports the local economy, it's clean to cook on so washing pots isn't a problem - and you can get quite clever if you get a poikey(?) which allows you to oven-cook.

Wood
Free; assuming you are bush camping away from population centres you will find wood is rarely a problem - but there are exceptions - 'desert absolut', in towns, etc. I fix my grill to the outside of my sand ladders to keep the soot out of the car. Like charcoal - you have to wait for the embers if you don't want to blacken pots, but we used this method of cooking more often than the others - and if you are camping you may be building a fire anyway so why not cook on it too.

Oh, and a kettle
Yes, I have a 12 volt kettle that I use for my morning coffee - it lives next to a big mug and a plastic jar full of coffee, milk powder and sugar mixed together. I can pack up my tent, drive for ten minutes, and then have a coffee without stopping for breakfast until later in the day. Except the kettle element is buggered. Sod.

Kitchenware

Crockery
Plastic is light and durable, but will inevitably get scratched and then breed interesting bacteria. I've moved over to stainless steel plates and cups which are cheap in Africa, and can be washed in sand, though I've kept plastic mugs for coffee

Cutlery
I've gone for Ikea specials - cheap stainless steel, with a couple of kitchen knives, peelers, corkscrews, etc. This lived in a Tupperware box until I bought a custom designed kitchen bag with slots for cutlery

Pots and Pans
If you are cooking on charcoal or wood you will need thicker (and heavier) pots - thin pans are great for gas and fuel stoves. I carry one good thick pot, and a nested set of thin pots which have a sort of grip-on handle - it's a pain in the butt - fixed handles don't store as easily but are far easier to use, and result in less meals that you eat off the sand.

Washing Up
A squarish bowl has many uses - but didn't use it to change the oil with. Mine rattles around loose. It sometimes houses a scourer sponge, washing up brush, and fairly liquid. I also soak stuff in Milton Tablets in it when they get smelly, like my sandals, but I've never bothered using Milton Tablets as part of my normal washing up routine (it's great for big groups as a final rinse though - somebody always has the runs....)

Storage
I try to keep the kitchen stuff all in one box - after SA this means a wolf (or ammo) box with a liner that is divided into compartments for easy storage. I keep a couple of small Gaz burners along with the kitchen stuff for quick brews, or if there's no wood about.

Packing List
This is what I have on board (or would if it was all there...)

• 6 x knives, forks, spoons, tea-spoons (stainless steel)
• 1 x big kitchen knife, 1 x small kitchen knife,
• potato peeler
• bottle opener/corkscrew
• can opener
   
• 4 x stainless steel plates - like sort of shallow soup bowls for stews
• 4 x stainless steel mugs (no handles)
• 4 x plastic mugs
• 4 x deep plastic dessert-type bowls (not used much though)
   
• 1 x heavy steel pot and lid
• 2 x nested thin steel pots with lid and handle (camping set)
   
• plastic measuring jug
• plastic colander - for the pasta!
• plastic chopping board
   
• washing bowl
• washing brush
• washing sponge/scourer
• washing up liquid
   
• 2 x Gaz stoves, with replacement disposable cartridges
• lighter
• grille for open fires
   
• All in a wolf box with a Greenspan camping kitchen liner for easy organisation

Stuff I chucked out

• big, heavy, expensive Gaz refillable cartridge
• big, heavy, exploding ex-army petrol stove
• big, rattling two-burner gas stove
• all my other kitchen knives
• second chopping board
• plastic plates which wore out
• a few heavy pots - 2 is enough
• metal kettle - I use a pot to save space
• wok. What was I thinking?