Camp Cooking in the wild with a Kelly Kettle

Camp Cooking in the wild with a Kelly Kettle

We have been using our Kelly Kettles on all of our camping trips in recent times and have become huge fans. One of the real advantages of using these environmentally friendly products includes not having to purchase camping fuel when on the road for a short trip. In the kettles chamber you can burn pretty much any flammable natural material, including twigs, leaves, pine cones or whatever else you can find and have boiling water in just a couple of minutes. With the additional cooking accessories you can not only boil water in a couple of minutes you can also cook up your camp grub. Our Kelly Kettles have become permanent features in the back of the Land Rovers.So how long does it take to boil that perfect brew; using natural fuels such as sticks, pine cones, twigs, or even dry grass the kettle will boil water in just 3 – 5 minutes, now that’s pretty good. With never having to worry about running out of fuel you can always have hot boiling water for that essential morning coffee for rehydrating food, washing and of course cooking with the various accessories that come with the kettles. Used all over the world by campers, fishermen, hunters, trekkers, scouts, people who find themselves in emergency situations like power cuts or outdoor workers these iconic camping kettles have a universal appeal.

The Kelly Kettle Founding Fathers’ Padraig Kelly & Frank Ellis (RIP)

This simple concept was not just invented yesterday with brothers and now directors Patrick & Seamus Kelly being the fourth generation of ‘Kelly’s’ to further develop these popular kettles that now come with innovative camping accessories. This is a real family tradition, following in the footsteps of their father Padraic, grandfather Jim & great-grandfather Patrick, the Kelly brothers continue to develop the ‘Kelly Kettle’ Brand and bring you their loyal customers, new and exciting products & accessories. The 1890’s The first kettle dates back to the 1890’s to a small farm on the shores of a famous fishing lake called Lough Conn, in County Mayo, Ireland.

It all started when a young Patrick Kelly (Great grand-father of the current Co. Directors), a small farmer and fisherman, developed his first kettle from tin after a cold winter of tinkering and experimenting in his shed. The kettle initially worked extremely well but soon burned out from regular use while fishing on the lake. After continuing to tweak his innovative tin kettles in his shed he finally developed a kettle made out of copper and this was found to be much more durable. News of his kettle spread among local anglers and it received great reviews from travelling anglers visiting from the U.K. (they all wanted one)This simple concept was not just invented yesterday with brothers and now directors Patrick & Seamus Kelly being the fourth generation of ‘Kelly’s’ to further develop these popular kettles that now come with innovative camping accessories. This is a real family tradition, following in the footsteps of their father Padraic, grandfather Jim & great-grandfather Patrick, the Kelly brothers continue to develop the ‘Kelly Kettle’ Brand and bring you their loyal customers, new and exciting products & accessories. In the 1950’s Patrick’s son, Jim (Grandfather of

Jim Kelly (RIP) seated centre with a group of anglers from Wales and one of the earlier Kelly Kettles in the foreground on the banks of
Lough Conn in the 1960’s

the current Directors of the company) became a famous angler & boatman on Lough Conn in County Mayo. He always had a Kelly Kettle in his fishing boat and when he was out fishing with visiting anglers from around the world they were always astonished with how quickly he could boil water using natural fuels in his unusual looking kettle. The Kelly Kettle was now becoming popular with fishermen in the west of Ireland and word was spreading fast. At this time, the business was still only a ‘hobby’ and there was only one size kettle (what would now be the 1.6 litre ‘Base Camp’ Aluminium Kettle) available and this prototype was made to order. This long tradition of using the kettle as a method of boiling water outdoors goes back to the 1890’s in the West Coast of Ireland and the design has changed little since it was first invented. Lough Conn was, and still is, famous for its free rising brown trout and fresh run Salmon from the River Moy system.

The lake provided (and still provides) ample fuel for use in the kettle, where washed up twigs, sticks and dried grass were easily available. On wet & stormy days, the local angling guides would

keep watch for the small pillar of smoke on the lake shore which indicated that a colleague already had a ‘brew’ on! A hot cup of tea or soup awaited anyone who landed and the kettle would be repeatedly boiled as additional boats laden with anglers arrived. Tradition dictates that both the angling guide and his guests (usually 2 anglers to his boat) together would gather dry tinder for the kettle from the lake shore. Then, the guide would set about boiling up the kettle. The amazed visiting anglers were always very impressed on how the kettle worked particularly in stormy weather. The Anglers were then offered hot tea from the Kelly Kettle and in return the fishing guide usually received lunch or a drop of whiskey from the visiting anglers! The Kelly family still provide a Boat Hire & Ghillie service on Lough Conn today. Visiting anglers are as intrigued today as they were some hundred years ago with the speed at which the water can be boiled and through word of mouth, these anglers have spread word about these kettles all over the world. Today, the Kelly-Kettle can be often be seen as the centrepiece in a campsite and when you see one in use you will understand why!

Camp Cooking in the wild with a Kelly Kettle

Every path has its puddles and big puddles need good wellies.. The Keldun Huntsman Rubber boot.