Delegating Food Responsibilities

You’ve got enough to do, make it easy on yourself and appoint a Food Pharaoh and a Menu Master to be in charge of food on the trip.  Pick a couple of people who have experience running rivers, and love to cook as well.  These people will be able to do a better job if they are informed well before the launch and have time to read the Menu Plan and ask PRO questions as needed.

Food Pharaoh

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The Food Pharaoh

Although the person running a raft is usually responsible for caring for the goods in said vessel, it’s a great idea to have someone in charge of overall quality control…especially for fresh fruits and vegetables.   It is unwise to assume this task will be managed by the group as a whole.  Someone needs to be up to date on whether the melons are ripening fast and need to be used, or if the broccoli is going and should be consumed tonight!  Someone needs to be thinking about pulling out the steaks, so they’ll thaw in time for dinner.  That someone is the Food Pharaoh.

 

The Menu Master

Someone else needs to know the Menu Plan inside out.  They need to know who’s carrying what, whether the fire pan needs to be pulled out tonight, and who is on kitchen crew tomorrow.  The menu master is not meant to be in the kitchen every night – but simply oversee food prep organization.  It’s great if the delegation of this task occurs before your launch – so the MM can review the Menu Plan and ask the PRO advisor any specific questions before you head downstream.

 

Cooking Crews

Cooking crews are essential to guarantee everyone works and everyone plays.  Crews of three or four are great; unless very experienced – two is too few; five and you’ll be tripping over each other in the kitchen.  Typically, one crew is responsible for the meals at one camp – i.e., dinner and breakfast – with lunch being prepared by all.  Basic areas to be covered for dinner are entrée, side dishes, appetizers and/or desserts with dishwashing done by the entire group.  Breakfasts are usually simpler to prepare and may not require the whole crew’s participation.

 

Dishwashing

Each cooking crew should include someone in charge of heating the dishwater so it’s hot and ready to use after the meal.  Your PRO kitchen uses a three chickee-pail (metal buckets packed in one of the kitchen boxes) and one bail bucket wash set-up.

• The first, a chickee pail, is hot with a dollop of soap to get off the “Gook”.

• The second is also a chickee pail with hot water and a dollop of soap to clean the dish.

• The third chickee pail is hot, but without soap, to rinse the dish.

• Finally, the fourth is a white plastic bucket with cold water and less than a capful of liquid bleach to sanitize the dish; leave the dish in the bleach rinse for at least one minute to give the bleach time to do its thing.

 

When the time comes for doing dishes move the General Trash bucket from under the Food Preparation Table down to the Dish Wash Table.  Everyone will start the line by scraping scraps into the gray General Trash bucket (a rubber scraper is great to get a lot of gunk off), and then move down the line – Hot Wash, Hot Wash, Hot Rinse, Cold Bleach Rinse.  The dish hammock, included in your PRO kitchen, should be hung from the serving table – drop dishes in to dry.

 

General Tips

• Get a feel for how much food your group actually eats and avoid overcooking.It’s easier to store uncooked than cooked rice. Cook only what you think you’ll eat.Supplies you don’t need can be saved for future meals.

• Use vegetables and fruits that are ripening first.

• Reschedule meals or side dishes as needed.

• Thaw meats as needed.

• Use thawed ground meats as soon as possible.

• Consolidate coolers as soon as possible, during the cooler and shadier times of day.

• Drain your coolers daily.Ice will last much longer if there is no water to conduct the heat from the side of the cooler to the ice.

• Check your onions every time you open them and dry them when they feel moist.They are packed in drybags, and the veggies create their own moisture, causing them to mold if not properly dried.To dry them, spread the veggies out on a dry clean boat deck in the sunlight and remove any that have rotten spots. Hang the drybag where it can dry out also.