There is also a shallow version if these are too large for your needs.
Below is a condensed and edited synopsis of the first chapter of Canoe and camp cookery: A practical cook book for canoeists, Corinthian sailors, and outers by H. H. Soulè (1885). Full text is available from The Gutenberg Project.
Going on a canoe cruise can be a great adventure that allows you to reconnect with nature and escape from the busy world for a while. However, a great trip can be easily ruined if you are not fully prepared. Below you will find information on what to take to make sure you have enough food provisions and utensils for you cruise.
Each canoe cruise will require specific amounts of food supplies and cooking utensils to be brought along. The best way to store and transport your supplies is in a single box or chest because it keeps you organized and can be easily carried to and from your canoe if needed. The box should contain at least a day’s worth of food even if you replenish the supply from an additional, larger storage area every night.
The material of your box depends on where you plan to store it and how high functioning you would like it to be, but as long as the box is water-tight, the choice is up to you. The three most common materials used are wood, tin or galvanized iron. The latter two metals cost more than the wood, but they can withstand more knocking around without damaging. However, building your own custom box out of wood is a good, cost efficient option.
Every canoe is different, so the size of your box will vary to fit customly. Also, your design can change if you store the box in the cockpit as opposed to using it as a seat. Here are a few design tips that can help ensure your box functions as best as possible:
To best way to carry your provisions in the box so that they will not mix or spill, is to use several water-tight containers.
The Container Store is a great place to find multiple designs that will fit your needs.
Catering your containers to what they will hold greatly helps with organization:
The alcohol stove and utensils (i.e. cups, cutlery, plates, etc.) necessary to cook a meal should go in the box.
Here is a more detailed list of needed products:
Here is a video by Gil Gilpatrick who has created canoe storage boxes similar to the ones described in this article.
This should help you visualize the type of structure you will be making and how to pack them.
The length of your journey will determine the type and amount of food you will need to pack.
Here is a sample packing list for a week-long journey:
There are a lot of quality brands and easily storable food items at your local grocery stores that you have to choose from.
Here is a few recommended provisions that have been tried and proven.
As mentioned before, enough food for three meals should be kept in your box. The surplus supplies of provisions, such as vegetables, extra bread, crackers, flour, meal, pork or bacon, etc., should be carried in waterproof bags and stowed wherever necessary to properly trim the canoe. These bags can also be used for clothing and blankets.
The bags we recommend are made of unbleached muslin, sewn in a lap seam, with a double row of stitches. When sewn they are dipped in water and slightly shaken to remove the drops, and then while wet a mixture of equal parts of boiled oil, raw oil and turpentine is applied to the outside with a brush. This takes about a week to become thoroughly dry, and then another coat is put on without dampening the cloth, and if a little liquid drier is added to the mixture, this coat will dry in four or five days.
Having prepared several bags, the provisions, clothing, blankets, etc., are put in the bag, and its mouth is inserted in that of another bag of the same size, the latter being drawn on like a stocking as far as it will go. If several bags are used instead of one or two large ones, the canoe can be trimmed and packed to better advantage.
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, making an oven that allows gases to escape.
The basins should be made of sheet-iron because then their interiors can easily be kept clean and are well suited for soup dishes. These should not go in the provision chest, as they will smut everything with which they come in contact.
There is no perfect canoe stove. The “flamme force” is a recognized brand but honestly just as good as any other. It takes up a little more room than the folding “pocket” variety, but it does not give more heat, only burns for a longer time.
For cooking in large utensils, have three of these flamme forcé alcohol lamps. You can light and place them side by side, cooking up to a dozen slapjacks in this manner.
Beware of "folding stoves" to use ashore and burn wood in. They are the greatest possible nuisances—smutty, red-hot and cumbersome. Also, 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.
Now that you have made your box and packed it full of all the food provisions you will need from your journey, it's time to get out there and start cruising!