For canoe cruising a certain amount of food supplies and necessary utensils for cooking should be carried in a single box or chest. If you plan on a long cruise, a large portion of your food supply may be kept in different parts of the canoe. The box should contain enough supplies for at least three meals and can be replenished from the larger storage box when stopping for the night or at a camping place for any length of time. The larger the box your storage area will allow, the greater the your comfort.
Each canoeist must first determine what foods you will carry, and how much of each. Once you know this you can then construct your prep box according to your needs and the amount of room you have for storage in the cockpit of the canoe.
If you chose to make yours out of wood, pine will do. If the box is to be used as a seat, the top and bottom pieces should be heavier than the rest. The cover should be two inches deep while the handle should be a thin, wide, flat strap tacked to the cover.
If the box is not used as a seat but is stowed under the deck it would be advantageous to allow the cover to be removed and articles obtained from the box without taking it from under the deck.
If used as a seat, the cover may be hinged on one side and two hooks fastened at the other end. For the back rest, two pieces of three-quarter inch pine are screwed to the sides, running toward the back, horizontally six or eight inches nearest the stern end of the box. You can insert holes an inch apart and cut opposite each other, inserting a rod for the back rest. As the lower end of the back rest reaches the end of the box near the floor when in use, it may be reclined by changing the brass rod from one set of holes to another.
The box may be made of wood, tin or galvanized iron. Using wood is less expensive, you can even make it yourself, and if properly made and taken care of, it should work quite well. However, a box of either painted tin or galvanized iron will withstand much more without cracking and is preferable if you can afford this option.
Regardless of the type of material your box is made of, it must be water-tight. If it is made of wood the nicest joining and dove-tailing must be done, while varnishing the inside and out with shellac or boat varnish.
To carry the provisions in the box so that they will not mix or spill, several water-tight containers should be used. In the containers you can store coffee, tea (or cocoa), sugar, flour, rice and alcohol. Pepper and salt should be in small spice boxes with two covers, the one underneath being perforated for easy application. Eggs are safest carried in the container with the flour, coffee and rice; bread and bacon are best stored in paper wrapping and put near the top of the chest; the vinegar goes in a whisky flask (mark it to avoid mistakes), while canned goods, condensed milk, baking powder, etc., will go in their own containers.
Here, an experienced canoer describes what kind of box he uses and what things he packs.
The gas stove and utensils necessary to cook a meal should go in the box, such as coffee pot, cup, fork, knife, spoon, frying pan and plates.
The coffee pot should be small, with a handle and spout. Cups or plates should be of tin or granite ware. The fork and knife have their sheaths of leather inside the box cover. The plates should nest in the frying pan, which should have no handle, and is fastened inside the chest cover by two buttons, so that it may be readily released. Next the knife and fork have a sheath for a pair of small blacksmith's pliers. This instrument serves as a handle to the frying pan and a lifter for everything on the fire, and can always be kept cool. A three-quart tin or granite pail is necessary for stews, and two smaller ones may be nested in it, of two-quart and three-pint capacity, respectively.
As it may puzzle some know how much of each article of food to take on a cruise, I give below the exact amount of provisions I carried on a weeklong cruise last autumn. I did not run short of anything at the end of the week, but I did not have enough provisions left for three square meals:
Put the can of condensed milk in the smallest pail. It will be out of the way, and won't make the rest of the things in the chest sticky.
If you carry potatoes, onions or other vegetables, always have enough in the chest for three meals. The surplus supplies of provisions, such as vegetables, extra bread, crackers, flour, meal, pork or bacon, etc., should be carried in waterproof bags, and they can then be stored wherever necessary to properly trim the canoe. These waterproof bags may be used also for clothing and blankets.
Butter, I have found, keeps better in a jar outside of the chest than inside of it. Also kept out of the chest is a small jug of molasses, and a jug of fresh water, if cruising on salt water. Now as to eatables in general, besides what I have already mentioned, condensed milk is a good thing. Self-rising flour is easily made into bread and pancakes. The directions should come with the packages. Canned tomatoes, corn, fruits, beans, soups, salmon, etc., are easy to prepare, and can be stored in the canoe. Dried beef, corned beef, lemons and sardines make good additions to an outfit. Potatoes, onions and other vegetables should be procured en route as needed, if possible.
For some recipe ideas for your camping trip, read this article from some expert campers who give you their three easy camping meals.
A canoeist's portable oven is made of two small basins, one of which has "ears" riveted to its rim, so that when it is placed bottom up on the other the ears will spring over the rim of the second basin, thus making an oven that is not air-tight, allowing gases to escape. The basins should be made of sheet-iron, and, as their interiors can easily be kept clean, they answer very well for soup dishes. Instructions for baking in them will be given later on. These should not go in the provision chest, as they will dirty everything with which they come in contact.
There is no perfect canoe stove. Beware of "folding stoves" to use ashore and burn wood in. They are the greatest possible nuisances—dirty, red-hot and cumbersome. Don't carry an oil stove. But if you really must, put the nasty thing in a large bucket, and only remove it from this receptacle when absolutely necessary. For more tips on camp cooking you can visit this site for tips on dutch oven cooking.
This text is adapted from Soule, H. H. (1885). Canoe and camp cookery: A practical cook book for canoeists, Corinthian sailors, and outers. New York, NY: Forest and Stream.
Available from The Gutenberg Project at Canoe and camp cookery Excerpt.