This Camping Hack Utilizes A Gas Station Staple To Organize Spices

One of the best parts of camping is when the tent is up, the fire is roaring, and you're sitting around while something good simmers in a pot. Sometimes, the best food in the world comes from your own hands, burning wood in a fire ring, and a few spices thrown in to bring it all together. However, carrying along your entire spice rack to season that fish you just caught always seems like packing overkill. Instead of accepting bland food or relying on the salt and pepper packets from the fast food place you stopped at on the way, you can portion out the spices you want to bring with you in Tic Tac containers. They're easy enough to get and save, as they sell them at pretty much every gas station you can find. 

You can certainly use one of the best DIY camping hacks, which is prepping and seasoning your food in advance. But you're almost always going to end up needing more. Packing your spices in a Tic Tac container is an easy way to make sure you've got enough cayenne pepper to give your chili a kick, or cinnamon sugar to dust your s'mores (absolutely try that one). Best of all, these DIY spice carriers are easy to stack and pack in a small bag. 

Having extra spices is great if you're using the essential camping cooking technique of using foil pouches to make sure your food gets cooked without falling onto the firewood. The Tic Tac camping hack was mentioned in a thread on Reddit's r/foodhacks, where u/betterthanhex noted, "I like to buy my spices from the bulk bins so they come in little bags." Another contributor, u/TheDarkD00r, suggested an upgrade to the hack: "A little black electrical tape goes a long way with loose lids." The hack was also mentioned in a thread on r/camping about the annoyance of packing spices. After the hack was mentioned, a since-deleted account commented, "Tic tac containers is so smart." 

I've used this hack myself, and I have another tip for you. If you do buy your spices in bulk, or even if you're filling the Tic Tac containers from regular spice jars, make sure you have a stiff piece of thin cardboard or thick paper handy. Fold it sharply at the bottom, and put the folded bit directly inside the Tic Tac container. That way you can pour the spices onto the paper and funnel them directly in with no spillage. Finally, check out our list of five campfire cooking techniques if you don't have foil.