The Grubmaster

Grubmaster: The term used by Troop 801 for the scout in charge of meal planning, food shopping, and meal preparation during a campout.

A Guide for the Grubmaster

Plan the menu with your patrol

As the Grubmaster, you are responsible for purchasing the food and supplies needed for the patrol’s meals during a campout. The process begins with creating a detailed meal plan, often called a "menu," for the duration of the trip, which must account for the number of scouts confirmed to attend the campout in your patrol and a balanced nutrition. After the meal plan is approved, the Grubmaster prepares a shopping list that includes all ingredients.

Get a firm count of how many patrol members are going at the trek/ campout prep meeting and find out what your budget is. Once you know the number going camping, use the menu planner and plan to buy only as much food as your patrol will need.  Buying too much food will cost your patrol extra money and is often wasteful.  Stay within your budget. 

Purchase the food and supplies

With the shopping list in hand, the Grubmaster then goes to the store to purchase items, keeping in mind the budget allocated by the patrol or troop. It's important for the Grubmaster to consider factors like portion sizes, packaging (to minimize waste), and storage needs (such as coolers for perishables) to ensure the patrol has everything required for a successful campout.

Your patrol members are going to be hungry if you don’t buy enough food. And leftover food is often wasted if you buy too much.  A Scout is Thrifty is an important Scout Law to remember.  You must keep track of which patrol members are confirmed for a campout. Knowing your budget, planning your meals, and managing your funds are a big part of being successful in this leadership task.

Save all your receipts and begin work on the Grubmaster Report

Start by printing out and starting to complete the Grubmaster Report. Place the receipts for the food and supplies you you buy in an envelope labeled with "Grubmaster Receipts", your name, the name of your patrol, the number of scouts, and the total cost of the food and supplies that you purchased.  Staple the envelope to the Buying food for the patrol is supposed to be a break-even proposition. As Grubmaster, it is your responsibility to stay within your food budget.  Spending beyond your budget must be approved by your patrol members and Trek leader.  When completed, submit the Grubmaster Report to Troop 801's Treasurer, Jeanne Schnese, in person or by email (if you can take pictures of or otherwise scan the report and the receipts) to: treasurer@troop801coronado.org

Perishable Food Safety

Food safety is critical to avoid getting sick on a trek. Proper handling, packing, and temperature control of perishable food can prevent illnesses caused by bacteria.  Bacteria that can cause foodborne illnesses multiply rapidly in what is known as the "Danger Zone", which is between 40°F and 140°F. To avoid getting sick from bacteria such as Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria, it is important to keep perishable food out of this temperature range.

Packing and Transporting Food

Before You Leave:

1. Pack the food in ways to protect it in the coolers and totes so it can be safely transported to the campsite.  If needed, let the trek leader know you need to borrow a cooler for perishable food. Avoid placing non-perishable or shelf-stable food items like canned goods, dried fruits, and nuts in a cooler that has cold items. 

2. Remove excess wrapping and carton boxes to reduce weight and trash at the campsite. Zip-lock type plastic bags are an excellent choice.  

3. Use insulated coolers: For perishable foods like meats, dairy products, and fresh vegetables, use well-insulated coolers with ice or frozen gel packs. Avoid loose ice that melts in the cooler. There is nothing like melting ice to make your patrol’s food in the cooler all soggy. Use ice packs or fill one or more clean one-gallon jugs three-quarters of the way full of water and freeze several days before departing  (keep the jug’s cap off during the freezing process and put it back on before placing in the cooler.)  By having frozen water jug(s), your patrol will have another source of cold drinking water if needed.

4. Pre-chill your cooler: Use ice packs or frozen water bottles/jugs to cool your cooler for several hours before packing it.

5. Freeze perishables: Freeze meat, poultry, and other perishables that you won't use on the first day. This keeps them colder for longer and reduces the need for extra ice.

6. Separate raw and ready-to-eat foods: Store raw meat and chicken in separate, tightly sealed containers or plastic bags.

7. Prep the meals if possible. At home preparation will make cooking at camp easier and quicker. It is much easier to prepare meals inside in a nice warm kitchen with running water than outside in a barren cold campsite with pouring rain! Examples of what you can prep at home:
   - Scrambled eggs? Scramble the raw eggs at home and placed in a tightly sealed container.
   - Diced cooked meats and veggies (chicken, carrots, celery)?  Wash and dice at home and put in separate zip bags.
   - Bacon, ground burger or sausage?  Pre-cook at home. Works great and eliminates grease to make clean-up easier. 

Patrol leaders: if your Grubmaster will be preparing food at home prior to the campout, be sure to take this effort in consideration when planning the duty roster for the trek.

At Camp:

1. Layering for maximum efficiency: Place heavy items like meats at the bottom of the cooler, then layer lighter perishables and cover everything with ice packs.

2. Avoid opening coolers frequently: Keep coolers closed as much as possible to maintain cold temperatures. Take out food in batches, not one item at a time.

3. Transport coolers in the shade: Keep coolers out of direct sunlight. Cover them with blankets or tarps to keep them insulated.

4. Before leaving camp: The scout who bought the food is responsible for removing all food from the food totes and coolers and disposing of it.  Spoiled or ruined food is thrown out.  Food that is in good condition should be offered to be split among the patrol members.

Safe Food Handling at Camp

1. Cook food thoroughly: Use a food thermometer to ensure that meats reach safe internal temperatures:
   - Chicken: 165°F
   - Ground meat: 160°F
   - Whole cuts of meat: 145°F (with a three-minute rest time)

2. Keep hot food hot: Once food is cooked, keep it at or above 140°F (60°C) if you’re not eating it right away.

3. Cool leftovers quickly: If you have leftovers, cool them quickly by placing them in shallow containers and storing them in the cooler right away.

4. Water and sanitation: Always wash your hands and cooking surfaces with clean water before preparing food to reduce contamination.

5. Use the "Three-bucket" cleaning method. All scouts at camp must use the Three-bucket cleaning method to clean cooking utensils, pots, pans, and their mess kit at camp. The three-bucket cleaning method is a simple and effective way for scouts to clean dishes while minimizing the risk of contamination in an outdoor setting. The first bucket is filled with hot, soapy water for washing off food particles and grease. The second bucket contains clean, hot rinse water to rinse off soap and remaining residue. The third bucket is a sanitizing solution, typically with a mild bleach and water mix, to kill bacteria and sanitize the dishes. After being submerged in the sanitizing solution, dishes are allowed to air dry. The Three-buckets is set up for the entire troop.

Perishable Food Examples and How to Pack Them

• Dairy Products (milk, cheese): Keep these tightly sealed, in the cooler.

• Meats (chicken, beef, pork): Freeze before the trip and store at the bottom of the cooler. Use them in order of perishability, with the most perishable items cooked and eaten first.

• Eggs: Store eggs in the cooler, ideally, in a protective container to prevent cracking.

• Fresh Vegetables and Fruits: Keep these in a cooler if they are perishable, like leafy greens, berries, or cut-up veggies. Harder fruits like apples and oranges can often be stored at room temperature.

Grubmaster Parent's Role

If your scout volunteered or was chosen to be Grubmaster for a trek then read on! Parental advice, input, and transportation are important to a Grubmaster’s success.  The Grubmaster is the scout, not you.  The Grubmaster is expected to plan and purchase a patrol's food and supplies for a trek, maintain and prepare these these during a trek. These are important skills that all scouts need to master for rank advancement. This means that the Grubmaster must go to the store to purchase the items, not just the scout's parent(s).  Parental advice about nutrition and price comparison at the store is important. 

• Let your Scout do the shopping.  While it’s okay to give your Scout a ride to the store (and a little free advice), the Scout needs to choose the food and make the decisions.

• Let your Scout follow the patrol’s plan.  The pre-planning trek meeting is where the patrol is supposed to develop a menu and shopping list for your scout to use.  Our menu planner worksheet helps facilitate the planning process. But please remove Sunny D or similar drinks from the shopping cart if added.

• Make sure your Scout knows how many people to shop for, and verify! Again, our menu planner worksheet should list a firm head-count for the patrol members attending the outing. Help your scout verify if the food is sufficient for the number of scouts that this is being purchased for.

• Shop several days in advance of the trek. Part of the logic behind the five-day-out policy is that it gives you several weeknights on which to shop.  You should not have to shop the day of the campout.

• On the day of departure, you may pack the perishable items in a cooler (your scout may borrow a cooler if needed.)  Dry goods are best packed in a tote or box to avoid items getting damaged during transport to the camp site. See Grubmaster's guide above.

• Avoid Loose Ice. Loose ice ends up making the cooler a soggy mess by the end of the weekend. A frozen gallon water jug works great- fill ¾ full of fresh, clean water and freeze it.  For best results start the freezing process several days prior to the campout.  During really hot months, multiple frozen jugs may be necessary.

• Plan to spend $18 per scout per 3 meal day. For longer or shorter trips, you will be provided a budget adjustment.

• Control costs. A Scout is thrifty. Your Scout can do this by purchasing store brands, avoiding individually-packaged items, and picking raw ingredients over prepared foods. This is a great teachable moment. Show them the differences in cost by comparing similar products based on brands and packaging.

• Make sure your Scout turns in a Grubmaster Report with receipts after the Trek. The sooner we get your your receipts, the sooner we can reimburse you and close out the event budget.

• Don’t worry.  Since the BSA was founded in 1910, there have been no recorded cases of scouts starving to death on a weekend campout.

Helpful Hints:

• At-home preparation will make cooking at camp easier and quicker for your Scout.

• Scrambled eggs? Scramble the raw eggs at home and place them in a tightly sealed container.

• Diced cooked meats and veggies (chicken, carrots, celery)?  Wash and dice at home and put in separate zip bags.

• Bacon, ground burger or sausage?  Buy pre-cooked or pre-cook at home. Works great and eliminates grease to make clean-up easier.