I’ve been blogging a while, but old habits die hard. I’m sometimes contacted by brands asking if I’d like to choose something to try out and review, I could be cheeky and ask for something nice to wear, something flashy or expensive. But I never do. Mainly, because I still get really uncomfortable asking for things, but mainly because I’m my mother’s daughter and always go for the practical option. So when Simply Hike got in touch, I knew straight away what I wanted. Some women lust after jewellery or handbags, but I’ve been wanting a billy can for ages.

I know what you’re thinking. How have I survived so long without one?! I don’t know either.

I thought I’d take the opportunity to show you a few recipes that are super easy to cook in a billy can while camping. It can be used on a stove or over a fire, whichever you prefer.

Mussels

I’ve mentioned before that a steaming bowl of mussels and crusty bread is one of our camping recipe staples. Super easy to prepare, quick to cook and adds a little luxury to any camping trip. All you need is a pan with a lid and away you go. On our last trip I managed to forget our gas canister so our stove was out of use, however in a stroke of ad libbing genius, I just stuck our billy can on our mini barbecue for a few minutes. As soon as the mussels are all open you’re good to go (remember to throw away any that are open before you cook them).

Our billy can makes the perfect mussel pan

One Pot Wonders

Another reason I was keen to get a billy can, was that I’m a massive fan of one pot cooking. I do it a lot at home, so it makes sense to use my tried and tested recipes while we’re camping as well. This is a great way to cook if you’re catering for a group.

I’ve raided my own recipe book for some of my favourite one pot wonders (with a few tweaks to make extra simple)

Here are a couple of my favourites, super quick and easy and perfect for family camping trips.

Sweet potato dahl one pot camping recipe (serves 2)

Chicken, chorizo & chickpea one pot camping recipe (serves 4)

Baking

One thing that was a revelation to me was finding out that you can bake in a billy can. Cakes at the campsite-what more could you want?!

Ok, this is hardly GBBO standard, but stick with me here. All you need is a packet of cake mix and away you go!

I find that it works best if you wait until the end of the night, when your coals are a little cooler. We generally do it using charcoal briquettes (the larger ones) once we’ve finished cooking on the barbecue. I take off the grill and take out some of the charcoal using a trowel, just leaving a few coals behind. I then put the billy can on top of the charcoal and put a couple of coals on top. You’ve then got your very own Dutch oven.

Just make up your mix according to the instructions and pour in. I find it best to line the bottom of the pan with some foil to stop it sticking-and make cleaning up a bit easier. It doesn’t take long so keep an eye on it. I’ve found that any cake or muffin mix, or even a cookie mix works well. I’ve got a sweet tooth and I love having a sugar hit at the end of the day, especially if we’ve been out walking.

If you have only one piece of equipment in your camping kitchen, it has to be a billy can.

What are your favourite camping recipes?

Disclosure: We were given a billy can free of charge for the purposes of this post. All opinions are my own.