The Grubmaster’s Role
The Grubmaster’s role is to lead the meal planning and purchase food and supplies for a campout or activity.
Managing the food-buying task for your patrol is a very important job! Your patrol members are going to be hungry and unhappy if you don’t buy enough food. 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 going and if they have paid their money. Knowing your budget, planning your meals, and managing your funds are a big part of being successful in this leadership task.
Budget
A weekend campout food budget is $15.00 per Scout attending the event. If all patrol members and their parents agree, the budget can be reasonably increased for a weekend. Some outings, such as ski trips or trips where we do troop-based cooking, may have their cost determined early in the planning process and communicated to the Scouts.
Plan the menu with your patrol
Get a firm count of how many patrol members are going at the campout prep meeting. The patrol members attending the campout will work together to plan out the menu. The first step of this process is to determine any food allergies and major dislikes within the group. The menu must be designed so that everyone will be able to eat a majority of each meal and stay within budget.
Use the Troop Menu Planner and the Meal Planning section of this guide to help with menu planning.
Menu approval
Once the menu is planned, it must be approved by the Senior Patrol Leader and one of the Assistant Scoutmasters. This is to ensure the menu is complete and appropriate for the event.
Prepare a shopping list
Once the menu is planned, prepare a shopping list. Detail all the items needed to make the meal. Keep in mind all the items or ingredients needed for each meal. Things that are often over-looked are oil, butter, condiments, sugar, flour, and spices.
Also include staple items you may need for the trip. Include ice and at least 2 rolls of paper towels on your list and any Ziploc bags you may need. Check your patrol box to see if you need things like soap or sponges.
Prepare an equipment list
Create a list of all equipment and materials needed for the trip. This includes any pots and pans, preparation materials (knifes, whisk, etc), or any other special items needed to make the meal a success.
Buying Food for Your Patrol
The Grubmaster works with their parents to purchase the food. The Grubmaster does the shopping with guidance and help from their parents.
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.
Where to shop is also key to staying within budget. Most likely you will NOT need to shop at Sam’s Club or Costco for a patrol campout.
Local places to shop:
- ALDI – Cheap but can be more limited in choices. This means you get may only get one brand choice of the item you are getting. You can get most, if not all, items for a trip and come in below budget.
- Walmart – Budget friendly, especially if you stay with store brands.
- Shoppers – Budget friendly, especially if you stay with store brands.
- Giant – Pricier unless you can shop sale items and store brands
- Wegmans – Pricier
- Safeway – Pricier unless you can shop sale items and store brands
Portion control is important for staying in budget and not having wasted and extra food. Pay attention to portion sizes of products and what is needed for each meal. Plan proportions based on the size and make-up of the members of the patrol. Younger members will need smaller proportions compared to the older members.
Read labels and looks the size of the items that are being bought. Balance portion size, cost, and potential waste. For example, large bags of fruit for a small patrol usually go mostly uneaten and large bottles of syrup for a single breakfast goes home 2/3 full.
Pay attention to unit prices as well. They can help determine which products are a better value. You also need to consider the total servings per item when comparing prices. Sometimes you may end up picking the more expensive per unit product with less servings if it is cheaper than a similar product with more servings.
Here is a list of other helpful ideas gained over the years:
- Do not buy bottled water unless specifically called out by the Senior Patrol Leader or one of the Assistant Scoutmasters. It is expensive and heavy. Almost all camps we use have potable water.
- Pre-cooked bacon works better than raw. Much less mess and time to prepare.
- Store brands can save money. A hungry patrol is not picky!
- Pancake mix – use store brand or ones that do not take additional eggs.
- Syrup – skip the real maple stuff!
- Orange Juice from concentrate is usually cheaper
Again, because this is often overlooked, portion control and buying to the needs to size of the patrol is important. The goal is to come home with a well feed patrol and no left-overs!
Save all your receipts
Place them in an envelope labeled with your name and Patrol, and the total cost of the food, ice and supplies. 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 or you will be responsible for the extra cost.
Packing the food
Do you like squished bread for sandwiches? Pack the food in ways to protect it in the coolers and while it is transported to the campsite. Remove excess wrappings to reduce weight and trash at the campsite. Zip-lock type plastic bags are an excellent choice.
We possible, at-home preparation of some items will also make cooking at camp easier and quicker. Consider pre-cutting meats and veggies (chicken, carrots, celery). Wash and dice at home and put in separate zip bags. Pre-cooking meats like ground-beef and sausage can make camp cooking easier. Preparing items like taco meat, stew, or soup ahead of time may be helpful if time will be limited.
Cold food also needs to be properly packed with ice or other cooling options to keep food at safe temperatures. If using ice, make sure to protect items from melted ice. Paper egg cartoons turn to mush when wet!
After the campout
The Scout who bought the food is responsible for removing
all food from the patrol boxes and coolers and disposing of it. Spoiled or ruined food is thrown out. Food that is okay should be offered to be
split among patrol members.
The Parent’s role
Parental advice, input, and transportation are important to the Grubmaster’s success. The Grubmaster is the Scout. He is expected to plan and purchase for the outing. This means that the Grubmaster goes to the store also, not just the parent(s).
Parental advice about nutrition and price comparison at the store is important. Serving their Patrol as the Grubmaster is a great learn opportunity for their future.
Parents should take time to understand the
instructions outlined above to help the scout.
Planning Meals
The Goal
The goal for every troop outing is that each patrol is responsible for its food and meals, and that each scout is provided with tasty balanced meals at each appropriate dining time.
Typical meals needed for campouts with a Friday evening departure
Friday
Dinner – eat prior to departure or driver may elect to stop for fast food.
Cracker Barrel – Light snack after camp set-up.
Saturday
Breakfast – Fully cooked from scratch.
Lunch – Suggest a cold buffet type w/ soup or chili.
Dinner – Fully cooked on the campout. Meal should include entree, vegetable, bread.
Cracker Barrel – Evening snack or dessert for campfire.
Sunday
Breakfast – Quick and Easy.
Changes in the trip schedule will alter the meals required for the campout. Meal requirements will be provided to each Patrol during the campout planning session.
Nutritional Concerns
Review your menu to see that it is balanced nutritionally. Represent the four basic food groups at every meal.
Group 1: Breads, cereals, rice, pasta (up to 11 servings per day)
Group 2: Fruits (4-5 servings per day) & vegetables (4-5 servings per day)
Group 3: Milk, yogurt, cheese (2-3 servings per day) & meat, fish, eggs, beans (7 oz per day)
Group 4: Fats, oils, sugars (use small amounts)
Preparation Time
Plan your meals so they can be prepared, eaten and cleaned up within the time constraints of the weekend program. A camp-out with a planned activity schedule will offer a limited specific time for meals (Camporee). Other outings allow more time for meals.
General Meal Guidance
BREAKFAST:
Saturday breakfast should be a full cooked breakfast. This meal is usually the beginning of a long, busy day! The meal should also be well rounded, meaning that pancakes as only components is not enough! Eggs and/or some sort of protein and possibly a fruit or vegetable should be incorporated into the meal.
The campout’s activities and schedule will also factor into the meal planning. On some trips, a quick prep and easier to clean-up meal may be required. Here a variation of breakfast burritos may be a good option.
Sunday morning is busy with packing and preparing for the trip home, so a simple breakfast is best. Consider having bagels and cream cheese, danishes, or dutch oven muffins baked the night before. Something warm is good during the cold months. Have a hot drink (cocoa or tea), fruit and an easy to fix main dish that doesn’t need a lot of clean-up.
LUNCH:
Saturday lunch should be another simple meal. Often there is not a lot of time to prepare, serve and cleanup. Have a build-your own sandwich with some soup and fruit. If the campout schedule allows it, a more extensive lunch can be made. A warm lunch on a cold trip is also a welcome treat!
SNACKS:
Depending on the trip, having a few quick grab snack items may be a welcome treat. This could include fruit, trail mix, cookies, etc.
DINNER:
A full dinner is welcome at the end of an active day. Typically, there is more time to prepare, serve and clean up so a nice meal can be planned. This should include fruit or salad, a main course, some side dishes of vegetables or starch (potatoes, pasta, etc.), and even a dessert.
The main course should be a complete, cooked course. Hot dogs, tacos-in-a-bag, or other similar dishes are not allowed unless specifically approved! Even then, the meals must still be well rounded.
A carefully planned and prepared dinner can really brighten up a weekend.
CRACKER-BARREL:
An evening cracker-barrel is a tradition at camp. This is a light snack later in the evening or at a campfire. Patrols may choose to open their cracker-barrel to share with the other patrols. This gives everyone a chance to come together and break bread as a group!
DRINKS:
Water should be the primary drink for most meals. Potable water is available at most of our campouts. Bottled water should not be used unless specifically allowed for a trip.
A fruit juice may be used at breakfast. Sodas and other high sugar drinks are not
appropriate for campouts.
Portion Planning
Plan your meal portions to feed your crew but minimize waste and gong over budget. Portion planning should start with a product’s serving size. Some portions may need to be adjusted a bit, but should not be too dramatic of a change.
Below are some guidelines based on troop experience. You may have to adjust the portions based on the size, age, and eating habits of the patrol members.
| Sandwiches | 1 to 1 ½ sandwiches per person if using regular bread |
| Sub sandwiches | 1 6” sub per person |
| Lunch meat | 3 – 6 oz per person, depending on type of sandwich. Subs may take a little more. Grilled cheese and ham would be less. |
| Grilled Cheese | 1-2 slices of cheese per sandwich |
| Scrambled eggs | 1 ½ – 2 eggs per person |
| Pancakes | 3 smaller or 2 larger pancakes per person |
| Bacon | 2-3 slices per person |
| Sausage | Approx 3-4 oz per person |
| Fruit | 1 piece per person |
| Chips/Snacks | 1 to 2 servings based on product serving sizes |
| Juice | 8 oz per person |
| Spaghetti | 1 lb of dry pasta will feed 4-6 people depending if a meat sauce and other sides of the meal. |
| Soda | 0 per person |
Adult Leaders and Parents
Adult leaders and parents camp and eat together. They do not camp or eat with the Scout Patrols except of rare exceptions. They intervene only when the safety or health of a Scout is at stake. The Scout Patrol Leader is responsible for seeing that all arrangements for patrol cooking are completed. An adult leader or parent may mentor (demonstrate once) or offer advice (talk to) the Patrol Leader, Grubmaster, or Scouts, but they do not do the cooking or cleanup for the Patrol.