A person can only exist off of granola bars and charred franks for so long before he or she begins to yearn for more elaborate meals during camping trips.

Open-flame cookery is an undeniable, if not nearly lost, art within itself.

However, most of us are not accustomed to or experienced in cooking with only crackling flames and glowing embers, where temperature, intensity and duration are unregulated.

Few campers ever master open-flame cooking with regularity aside from maybe a sampling of the most basic dishes, because the practice takes a lot of dedication and know-how.

I’ve certainly foiled my fair share of foodstuffs over and among open-flame fires and soon discovered that learning the ropes of open-flame cooking is best done somewhere other than on backwoods trips with a very limited supply of food yet a not-so-limited supply of hungry bellies.

The vast majority of us learned how to cook in electric ovens or atop gas burners that are easily controlled and manipulated to make cooking times and temperatures predictable, and fortunately for us, there are a variety of affordable models suitable for outdoor excursions, which bring the handiness of a home range to our temporary homes on the range.

Food is the heart and soul of camping. Sitting down to participate in preparing and polishing off a hearty meal is my favorite part of spending nights outdoors.

The grub list is the most important element of the trip for my crew, and thanks to a few handy devices, we often gauge excursions not solely by how many fish we caught but also by the types of meals that were arranged and consumed.

Among dozens of other nifty outdoor cooking products, Coleman has two pieces of equipment that are time tested, affordable and easy to operate.

The Coleman dual burner stove is widely considered a “must have” for any outdoor-oriented individual or family who routinely camps.

Self-contained in a metal case, the two-burner Coleman stove comes in models that run either off of small, screw-in propane cylinders or Coleman fuel.

If you can afford to lug a bit of extra weight around you’ll get the convenience of having two burners on hand – the little stove is a practical luxury item.

At a price of around $60, a new or used Coleman stove is probably the second-best investment a camper can make besides securing a decent tent.

To go along with the stove, Coleman also makes an aluminum camping oven that fits neatly over the burners and performs remarkably well.

Best of all, the $35 assembly has a built-in thermometer and when not in use it can be folded flat, taking up scarcely more room than a spiral notebook would.

In situations when only the bare necessities need be considered and weight and space are at a premium, it still is comforting to know at the end of the day that a fire isn’t necessary for a hot meal.

Several manufacturers make ultra-light, one-burner backpacking stoves that can boil water in three minutes and fit in the palm of your hand.

My experience has always been with Brunton models, which run on small canisters filled with a blend of isobutene and propane that heats up whatever is resting in the titanium dish above the hissing flame quite rapidly.

These minute models aren’t meant for cooking four-course shore lunches, mind you, but for a lone hiker it is all he or she would need to at least have one of the comforts of home at hand.

As we edge into terrific camping weather, if you haven’t already, consider adding a handy camp stove to your equipment.

— Geordon T. Howell is the outdoor columnist for the Daily News. He can be reached at highbrasshowell@yahoo.com.