Water Question

[masque13]

Just got my letter for our upcoming Sam's Club event in Bowling Green in May. The letter says that no water will be available at cook sites.

This going to be our first event cooking without water available. This presents a few challenges for us because we are a team that uses tents and portable sinks etc...and a water cooker :clap: lol

we dont have a porch with holding tanks etc.....

im not concerned about the cooker, I can bring plenty of water to take care of that during the cook etc... however, for those of you who have cooked in events without water at your site and no holding tanks, how have you typically handled your washing needs for pans, utensils, knives etc.... and what is a good estimate on how much water to bring?

any other challenges or things we need to try to prepare for?

 

[Ron_L]

They typically have water available at the building, just not at your site. Grab a flatbed cart from the store and take buckets, etc. to the building and fill them up.

 

[Untraceable]

Its strangely fun using shopping carts to haul your chit at Sam's contests.

There will be water on the side of the building with a hose, just not water at your parking space

 

[masque13]

so then they won't have any issue with me filling up five gallon buckets to hold our tents in place or filling up bucket or two for my smoker?

i estimate between my tent anchors, smoker and cleaning needs that we will likely need somewhere between 80-120 gallons of water......any issue with that? reason I ask is that they specifically say that no rv holding tanks can be filled etc.....and I understand that but with what I will need I'm sure they probably dont think I need potentially 100 gallons at my cook site?

 

[bam]

They typically have water available at the building, just not at your site. Grab a flatbed cart from the store and take buckets, etc. to the building and fill them up.

Water at sam comp we did was less an 25 yards away.

 

[Blanton]

we will likely need somewhere between 80-120 gallons of water......any issue with that?

That is a lot of buckets to haul, or one heck of a lot of dishes to wash!

 

[Untraceable]

That is a lot of buckets to haul, or one heck of a lot of dishes to wash!

lol! I was going to say the same thing!

FWIW, it will be a garden hose coming off the building that you are sharing with the entire contest. If you are hauling 25 buckets of water, prepare to get ribbed by everyone there

 

[sfrancis353]

I always have a few collapsible water jugs like these: http://www.walmart.com/ip/21903054?...68722768&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=69410090972&veh=sem

Easy to carry, don't take a lot of space. Also since they have the top with the turn knob they are great for washing hands.

 

[masque13]

That is a lot of buckets to haul, or one heck of a lot of dishes to wash!

well we have three tents that I will be using and that equates to roughly 60 gallons of water.

my smoker will likely need about 10-15 throughout the cook.

so those two items come out to be roughly 75 gallons......and I honestly have no idea how many gallons of water we will use to clean and wash and clean and wash and clean and wash......we usually seem to be running our sink or spraying something at a content....never really thought about how many gallons it would be. but it won't take many gallons to have me pushing near a 100.


as for the ribbing......no problems there, I take it and dish it as well as anyone.,....and I'm actually a good natured guy, I would never try to fill all of that at one time and make folks wait, to me that would be rude as hell. I would space filling my buckets for sure.

 

[Burnt at Both Endz]

You'll be able to get plenty of water.

 

[gpcvg]

We are cooking in Bowling Green as of now. We had a slight accident with our trailer and its in the shop in Georgia getting repaired and might not be done in time. We use 5 gallon buckets to hold our tents down too but if there is no bad weather or winds forecast we will only fill them half way. I use a spare bucket to toss dirty stuff in to bring home and put in the dishwasher. That cuts down on the washing at a contest without water at your cook site. We have gone the way of using disposable as much as possible. That was one of the best suggestions I have got off this site.

 

[masque13]

We are cooking in Bowling Green as of now. We had a slight accident with our trailer and its in the shop in Georgia getting repaired and might not be done in time. We use 5 gallon buckets to hold our tents down too but if there is no bad weather or winds forecast we will only fill them half way. I use a spare bucket to toss dirty stuff in to bring home and put in the dishwasher. That cuts down on the washing at a contest without water at your cook site. We have gone the way of using disposable as much as possible. That was one of the best suggestions I have got off this site.

thanks those are some great ideas.....i use pretty much all disposable pans etc.... but i do try to wash along the way to avoid too much waste...but looks like in this case we will go through a few for this contest!

good luck on getting your trailer fixed!

 

[Blanton]

Buy stock in alum foil, then use lots of it. I frequently line pans, even disposables for quick uses to avoid to much waste

 

[Rub]

For dishes and the like, scrape into the garbage as much food waste out of and off of the item first, follow that with a paper towel wipe out/down, followed by a disinfecting wipe, then a final paper towel wipe. Sounds like a lot but it's not bad at all. Knives just get a paper towel wipe, sanitary wipe, pt wipe. Pretty quick.

 

[masque13]

thanks Rub, I appreciate it!

 

[toymaster]

I have used 1 bucket to hold down 2 canopy legs when they are next to each other. Don't know if you are expecting a mini monsoon but it should lower your water requirement if the weather is ok. I use 6 buckets for 2 canopies next to each other when it's windy.

 

[biggs98]

Use as much disposable stuff as possible

 

[didisea]

Depending on the Sam's Club parking lot, there are cart corrals that are in the parking lot. If you set your tent next to one of those you can tie your tent to the corral. If it is really windy though, the Sam's Club may not let you put up tents anyway if it is really windy. This happens frequently at the Vegas Regional contest. This weekend in fact the teams are not allowed to put up tents.

As far as dishes go, bring a bus tub to do the essential dishes you need to do during the cook, and another bus tub to put the dishes you can take home and run thru the dishwasher. I probably go thru about 5-10 gallons of water at a comp, only doing the dishes I need to re-use and washing hands. The other item you might want to find to borrow is a Coleman Hot Water on Demand, or an Aqua Cube. That way you have a way to make hot water and pump the water out of the bucket/jug.

 

[masque13]

I have used 1 bucket to hold down 2 canopy legs when they are next to each other. Don't know if you are expecting a mini monsoon but it should lower your water requirement if the weather is ok. I use 6 buckets for 2 canopies next to each other when it's windy.

Well honestly I do prepare for the worst. As fate would have it, my partner and I seem to have not the best luck when it comes to comp weather. It has been a mini monsoon on us about 75% of the time. Lol

 

[toymaster]

Well honestly I do prepare for the worst. As fate would have it, my partner and I seem to have not the best luck when it comes to comp weather. It has been a mini monsoon on us about 75% of the time. Lol

I know the feeling. Last year had a contest that bad. I had cinder blocks AND water buckets holding down my canopy. The wind almost ripped the cover off my canopy! Now I know what Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz felt like.