Muskies and heat – it’s a bad combination.
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Archives for July 2020
GEAR | GoSun Go Portable Solar Camping Oven – Review
A solar powered oven, cleverly designed for life on the go and ideal for camping, but how does it perform during a typical British summer and just how practical is it? Read on for our full GoSun Go review.
What is it?
GoSun Go £129.99
Our Rating 
(2.5 / 5)
Stockists
Features
- Bake, roast, steam or boil with no fuel source needed
- EVA frame
- Stainless steel cooking tray
- Glass vacuum tube
- Silicone Cook Pans (4x)
- Universal Action Mount
- 13.5 oz capacity / 1 meal
- Solar-powered but also works under clouds (adjust cooking times)
- Cooking time 20-45 minutes
- Cleaning brush
- Solar dial
- Instruction manual
- Drawstring carry bag
When the GoSun Go arrived we couldn’t wait to use it and patiently had to wait for 3 straight days of rain to clear before we got our first chance.
The first day we tried it out was less than ideal, it rained until late afternoon so we only managed to set it up outside around 4pm. Pretty late in the day and with the strength of the sun waning, and significant intermittent cloud cover, we filled the tube with chopped and seasoned potatoes, convinced nothing would happen.
20 minutes later I went back out to check and was amazed to see steam coming out of one end. 20 minute later and the smell of garlic and rosemary started to waft across the garden to me.
I couldn’t resist a peak and could see very clearly that the potatoes were indeed cooking. I left it another 35 minutes before checking again, to find the potatoes not only fully cooked, but many of them starting to brown and crisp up nicely.
We’ve since cooked king prawns, cake mix, brownies and an omelette and have had mixed results with some successes and a couple of fails, mainly down to overcooking and difficult in judging cooking time on cloudy days.
On a hot but mostly overcast day, some king prawns seasoned with fresh parsley, lemon and garlic took a very silly 2 hours 15 minutes. On another hot but overcast day with the sun peeping through only occasionally, the cookie dough mix we tried took 2 hours before it started to look like it might be cooking, but then the sun came out and 20 minutes later it was very brown and over-done (thought just about edible!).
On a very hot 32° clear sunny day, we tried a 3 egg omelette but the cooking tube wasn’t big enough so we had to leave some of the mixture out.
Placed in direct sunshine, the omelette took 35 minutes to cook but it was light and fluffy with slight browning at the top, just the way I like it – result! Using a spoon to scoop it out of the tube, it came out more cleanly than I was expecting too.
Pros
- Lining it up with the sun is easy to do using the gauge on the front of the cooking tube
- Easy to use once you’ve read the instruction book
- Highly portable – It’s really well packaged and is ideal for camping and days out
- Relatively easy to clean the cooking tube after use
- The inside of the case does get mucky, but is easy to wipe clean too
- We found it didn’t need constant direct sun to cook and operated on sunny days when it was also a little cloudy
- Opens up additional food options when camping
- We found it best to line with foil or baking paper to stop food sticking to the cooking tube
Cons
- The Go is too small to be of truly practical value
- Suitable only for very small amounts of food for 1 person at most – you can just about fit in a large 2 egg omelette
- It does not cook on overcast, fully cloudy days even if it’s a very hot day
- It’s tricky to get cooking times right, especially on days with a lot of cloud cover
The verdict
We love the design of the GoSun Go. It has been very well thought out to make it as light and portable as possible. The padded case feels reassuringly protective and is big enough to fit the silicone cooking trays inside too. As well as the case, there’s also a drawstring carry bag, so it’s clear that it really has been designed for use on the go.
Our scone mix experiment didn’t go particularly well 
A simple rule of thumb is when looking at the cooking gauge, if you don’t see a sunspot glare to line up with the red dot, then it’s too cloudy and won’t cook (or expect it to cook very, very slowly!).
Once we got over our initial glee that it really does cook like an oven under the right conditions, albeit a slow oven, the small size, whilst highly portable, severely restricts the volume of food that can be cooked at any one time which means it’s not massively practical.
The small size limits its usefulness of the GoSun Go. That said, for camping trips when we’re usually limited to food we can cook on a gas stove, it’s good to now have the option of tossing some veggies in the GSun Go, sprinkling with olive oil and garlic and enjoying some roasted veg to go with our camping meals or popping in cookie dough for a freshly baked dessert!
DISCLOSURE | Thank you to GoSun who supplied the featured product to us to test. We were not paid to write this review.
Where to next?
- GLAMPING | We Reconnect With Nature & Ourselves While Glamping at Idyllic Treheli Farm
- CAMPING | Your Guide To Choosing A Portable Camping Toilet
- CAMPING GEAR | 10 Of The Best Passive Camping Cool Boxes
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Your Daily Wisconsin Outdoor News Update – July 30, 2020
11 Best Freshwater Springs for Camping in Florida USA
By Jessica Baker Most travelers who choose Florida as their camping destination presume that it’s all beaches and amusement parks. On the contrary, the sunshine state is actually home to the largest concentration of freshwater springs in the world. Here
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Your Daily Wisconsin Outdoor News Update – July 29, 2020
Sustainable Gear For Good: Teva x Cotopaxi
Featuring limited-edition versions of Teva’s classic sandal, the Original Universal, and Cotopaxi’s signature Teca windbreaker in playful prints and bright neon colors, the all-new Teva x Cotopaxi collection brings together two iconic brands. Even better, the sustainably-crafted styles are made using remnant and recycled materials.
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REVIEW | YFood This Is Food – Meal Drinks That Banish Hunger On The Go
What is it?
YFood This Is Food Complete Meal Taster Pack £17.95
Stockists
Features
- Ready to drink meals with high-quality, healthy ingredients
- Keeps you full for up to 5 hours
- Nutritionally balanced, containing 26 essential vitamins and minerals, complex carbohydrates, protein, fat, fibre
- Lactose-free
- Gluten-free
- Vegetarian
- 6 flavours to choose from
What we thought
YFood This Is Food claims to offer healthy nutrition in every situation, containing 26 essential vitamins and minerals, complex carbohydrates, protein, fat and fibre and we got to try the 5 flavour taster pack which contains Smooth Vanilla, Alpine Chocolate, Fresh Berry, Cold Brew Coffee and Happy Banana.
On a recent camping trip, the morning that we were due to pack down and leave was the ideal time to give these a try. We didn’t want to waste time cooking breakfast and then having to wash up before we could pack down, so I went for alpine chocolate whilst my fiancé chose the cold brew coffee flavour.
They contain 400 calories each and claim to keep you full for up to 5 hours, so really can be regarded as a meal. We found that during the takedown and packing away the tent and camping gear and during our drive home, neither of us felt hungry. In fact, the drinks kept us both going until lunchtime, so they really did work well as a meal replacement.
We both liked the flavours we tried, the chocolate one was lovely, silky smooth and a nice flavour and my fiancé, who has since tried all the other flavours has like them all!
I had almost finished my shake when I looked at the ingredients, and I have to admit that it did slightly put me off reading vegetable and rapeseed oil. I know heaps of products contain various types of oil and it’s no different, but from that point on, all I could visualise was drinking oil… For a naturally skinny person like my fiancé however who doesn’t ever think about the fat content or calories in anything he eats, and in fact adds extra fat and calories to food at every opportunity, this revelation did nothing to put him off and he’s since happily worked his way through the rest of the flavours we were sent to try.
The verdict
The flavours are good and somehow, even when stored inside a tent for several days they remained cool to drink and are just like a milkshake. They were calorific and protein-rich enough to keep us going all morning and really are an effective meal replacement.
We think YFood meal drinks are ideal for days when you are on the go, travelling, out and about and particularly good for when you’re camping or out on a day hike. We also think that for wild camping, when perhaps you don’t need or want to take cooking eqipment with you, these would be ideal.
We really like that they are lactose and gluten-free and that the drinks are nutritionally balanced, but as a low-fat freak, the oil content did put me off a little. Irrational I know, as oils contain essential things like omega-3 which we need!
That said, the flavours are great and we were impressed with their ability to keep us full, and I also really like that YFood are so transparent about the nutritional information and ingredients in their This Is Food range, so they still get a thumbs up from me and an even bigger thumbs up from him!
The taster pack at £17.95 is a great way to give them a try and discover your favourite flavours. Check out the YFood taster pack.
DISCLOSURE | Thank you to YFood who supplied the featured product to us to test. We were not paid to write this review.
Where to next?
- Food On The Go With The Brilliant Valiant Nomad Portable Folding Barbecue
- MadeGood Granola Bars Review – Fuel For Days Out & Hiking
- Underdog Coffee Company Fairtrade Organic Coffee That’s Perfect For Camping!
- Putting The Campingaz Party Grill To The Test – Review
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Your Daily Wisconsin Outdoor News Update – July 28, 2020
In Wisconsin, no sharp-tailed grouse hunt for 2020 season
MADISON, Wis. – In light of scientific data and concerns over population viability, there will be no sharp-tailed grouse hunting season this fall. With no permits available, no applications will be made available or accepted this year.
Each year, the Sharp-tailed Grouse Advisory Committee uses spring mating survey data to recommend permit levels for the sharp-tailed grouse hunting season to the department’s Bureau of Wildlife Management leadership team. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, surveys were unable to be fully completed. Some data were gathered by partner groups, but the dataset for 2020 remains incomplete. The Sharp-tailed Grouse Advisory Committee consists of DNR wildlife biologists and representatives from interested conservation groups.
Without a complete 2020 survey of the sharp-tailed grouse population, the committee made its recommendation based on the spring 2019 survey results, the limited 2020 data that were available and a scientific population model, which showed the potential for a marked decrease in sharp-tailed grouse numbers. Permits were not issued in 2019, though permits were issued in three of the last five years.
Wisconsin has a strong, storied connection to sharp-tailed grouse hunting. Thanks to the passion and commitment of DNR’s partners in conservation, work is ongoing to restore and manage the young forest and barrens habitats that sharp-tailed grouse depend upon for their survival.
As a result of the increased barrens habitat management activities occurring in recent years in northwest Wisconsin, there is great optimism that the population will respond positively to these efforts and Wisconsin will experience an increase in sharp-tailed grouse population data in future years.
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Crochead Mosquito Coil Holder
Check out the Crochead Mosquito Coil Holder here: https://www.snowys.com.au/mosquito-coil-holder We’ve all been there… broken bits of mozzie coil, or frustrating holders that don’t do the job the way we want! Crochead has come to the rescue with the Mosquito Coil Holder. Such a simple design yet so effective, these Stainless Steel coil holders won’t rust and can be placed anywhere on a full coil. No worries over wasting those little broken bits either, just secure the piece between the two nippers at the top of the holder and it’ll burn down to ash. Whether in your backyard, at the campsite or while you’re picnicking with mates, there are no restrictions with how you position the holder with this nifty design allowing a choice of options – standing, lying or hanging. Just make sure there’s nothing or no one at risk of getting burnt from the hot coil tip. Aussie made and Aussie owned, the Mosquito Coil Holder from Crochead is the perfect accessory for deterring those pesky Aussie blood-suckers.
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