Whether you’re adding a dash to your campfire instant mashed potatoes or sneaking it in as dinner’s secret ingredient, pepper vinegar is a versatile and flavor-packed provision that will bring complex flavor and life to any dish. 

The beauty of pepper vinegar is in its simplicity and versatility. More heat? Super-hots like Carolina reapers pack a punch. Less heat? Habanadas provide the floral notes of habaneros without the spice kick. You’re just stuffing a bottle with things and filling the empty space with vinegar, so there’s plenty of room to play around! 

This recipe focuses on balance and flavor over heat and uses the most commonly found peppers in the grocery store. 

Ingredients: 

• 200 milliliters apple cider or white wine vinegar 
• 2 jalapeños 
• 3 habaneros 
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled & smashed 
• 1 tsp white and/or pink peppercorns 
• 1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns (optional) 
• 1 tsp sugar 
• 1/2 tsp salt 

Directions: 

To provide critical smokiness, fire roast the jalapeños. You can do this directly on top of a gas range or utilizing the broil setting on your oven. Blacken the majority of the pepper skin, then scrape off most of the charred skin with a knife. Cut jalapeños and habaneros and place inside glass bottle with garlic and peppercorns. Mix sugar and salt into vinegar, then bring to a boil. Pour vinegar mixture into a 250 milliliter glass bottle with a cap. Note: Garlic may turn blue after a while. This is normal.

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• Waffle cones and bowls: Edible and charming, they can hold anything from chicken to pudding to oatmeal and still offer a few sweet and crunchy bites when the meal is done.
• Tinned pastries: Tinned biscuits are a great timesaver when camp cooking, but tinned cinnamon rolls and crescent rolls can add even more options to the menu, especially when combined with a stick. Wrap the cinnamon roll dough around the stick and toast over the flames until puffed and browned; drizzle with icing. Mold crescent or biscuit dough over a dowel at the end of a stick, roast until browned, then fill the cup with vanilla pudding and top with chocolate frosting and whipped cream for a campfire éclair.
• Jars and tin cans: Crack your eggs into a jar, shake well to eliminate waste, and create an easy breakfast scramble on site. Pack ready-to-eat layered jar salads, yogurt parfaits, and overnight oats. Line a can with pie dough and fill with apples, sugar, cinnamon and a pinch of salt, and nestle in the fire for individual apple pie cans.
• Breath mint spices: Like breath mints? Save those shakers or tins and fill them with salt, pepper, and spices for your camping trips.
• A loaf of bread: An uncut loaf of bread can be extremely versatile. Dig out the center and fill it with cheese, tomato sauce, and pepperoni for a quick calzone. Cut into strips, drizzle with garlic salted butter and toast at the end of a stick for garlic breadsticks. Cut into chunks, sprinkle with blueberries, almonds, and sugar and then top with shaken eggs. Bake in cast iron for a heavenly breakfast. (S. Michal Bennett)

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Fire

BioLite has a long history of producing innovative and multi-tasking camp stoves, grills, and off-grid energy sources. In 2017 they launched a successful Kickstarter campaign to bring their FirePit to market in 2018. At merely $200, this sleek creation can take wood or charcoal, burns “without any of the smoke” of a campfire, features a hibachi style grill, and can be controlled remotely with a Bluetooth app.

For the environmentally conscious, the CaususGrill is a biodegradable, 100-percent natural, single-use grill that you can take anywhere and use to “cook almost anything.” Made from cardboard lined with lava stone and fitted with a bamboo grill rack, it’s easy to assemble, uses coals to cook, and can be simply disposed of in a campfire after your meal.

Liquid

LifeStraw is more than just a water bottle, and much more of a filter than your Pur pitcher. Its award-winning filter removes the typical odor and chlorine. Then, with its two-stage activated carbon, it also removes 99.9 percent of waterborne bacteria and protozoa. No iodine needed. It’s durable, BPA-free, and one of the most compact water filters of this grade you can find on the market today.

Glass growlers and wine bottles can be bulky to pack and dangerous to transport. PlatyPreserve has crafted a portable, flexible, and unbreakable wine reservoir that can be filled and refilled, and its food-grade lining keeps your wine taste-free and airtight until you are ready to imbibe. For beer drinkers, TrailKeg’s double-walled, vacuum-insulated, pressurized growler “keeps your suds fresh and frosty” for miles.

Lume is a rechargeable portable grinder with a built in camp light for those drinkers that like their coffee as fresh as possible. It is fitted with professional-grade conical ceramic burrs for a more even grind and consistent brew. You can also go basic with Dripkit’s biodegradable pour over packets that feature single origin coffees from specialty roasters.

Wares

GSI Outdoors, based in Spokane Valley, has compiled “every utensil for any gourmet adventure” into one compact and “exquisitely organized” case. The Gourmet Kitchen Set 11 is soft-sided for easy packing and is lightweight, at just over a pound. Upgrade to a Destination Kitchen Set 24 for double the wares, including a cutting board, spice shakers, and more.

Never fear a fireless night again. UCO Gear, based out of Seattle, makes Stormproof Sweetfire matches that are here to save the day. They will relight after being submerged in water and burn for up to seven minutes while you get your fire started. //

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