Camp Ovens

Although a cast iron camp oven takes longer to heat up, once it reaches temperature, you can remove it from the heat and it will continue to cook due to the material's excellent heat retention. Spun steel requires a little more care while cooking because it heats up quickly but only on one side, thus it's advisable to tilt the pan towards the heat more frequently for a more even heat. This method is wonderful for simple dishes, but if you use top and bottom heat, you can use it for a far wider variety of cooking styles. If you brought a campfire tripod with you, we highly recommend this method because you won't have to continuously turning the pot and can just put fire underneath and coals on top of the camp oven lid as needed.

A camp oven's biggest feature is its adaptability. A camp oven is typically used to prepare dishes that require low heat to bring out the finest flavour, but with a spinning steel pot, you can turn the lid over onto some hot coals and use it as a searing plate for steaks or vegetables that you'd rather grill than slow roast. When using a gas oven, getting a cast iron skillet hot enough to sear a steak takes around 15 minutes, so if you're seeking to travel light, a camp oven pot might be the way to go. One tip that most people learn the hard way is that dropping a cast iron pot or skillet is quite dangerous. Because their structural integrity is not the same as steel's, they do crack.

What size camp oven?

Camp ovens are available in a variety of sizes, ranging from 2 quarts to 12 quarts. Knowing that 1 quart equals 1.13L is an excellent approach to comprehend the sizing. So, depending on how you like to eat, 2 quarts will likely be enough for 1 supper if you're hiking solo through the bush. Like a general guideline, when cooking stew, leave at least 2-3cm of space between the lid and the broth, exactly as you would at home, to prevent the liquid from boiling over. If you're feeding a family of five, it's better to go big and keep leftovers than to ration.

How to use a camp oven:

The results of anything you cook will vary depending on whether you use cast iron or spun steel camp oven to cook with. Cast iron camp ovens will maintain seasoning much better than spun steel, therefore if you're going to boil liquid, cast iron camp oven will be the preferable choice if you want to avoid the small black elements that are common in spun steel. Cooking with liquids can strip the seasoning from a pot faster in any case, so it's a matter of how often you want to season your pots. If the seal on your camp oven lid is loose, more liquid will burn off, which means you'll have to add extra stock to your stew. If it's too tight, it'll make a louder noise as the compression pulls on the steel, but it'll keep all the steam and liquid in, resulting in quicker cooking times. A camp oven lid with a lip will be able to hold coals on top, so keep an eye out for this when deciding which camp oven is right for you. Cooking with coals on top ensures an equal heat, which is essential for fresh bread, dumplings, and roasts.

Lifting a lid to check on the progress of your food might be harmful if you don't have the correct design or safety gear. When removing the pot off the campfire, a double handle will assist keep it more equally balanced, and a good oven mitt on one side will help steady it and prevent spills.

How to season a camp oven/how to remove rust from camp oven:

Many camp ovens are already seasoned. If yours is looking a bit worse for wear and has started to rust, it's most likely because it was left in the rain or in a wet environment. If cast iron has been properly seasoned, it should not rust, thus there is no necessity to use water and soap on a camp oven. It's fine to scrub it down with soap and water until it appears as it did previously if it's rusted. Because cast iron camp ovens are designed to preserve flavour, if you use a lot of soap, your next dish may have a chemical taste. If at all possible, avoid using soap, but a small amount will suffice for especially rusted pans. After that, make sure the clean pot is absolutely dry before seasoning, as water and oil aren't friends.

When it comes to cleaning, the only difference between spun steel and cast iron is the time required for seasoning once it has been cleaned. In 10 minutes, spun steel will heat up and burn off surplus water over a campfire. When packing up the next day, keep in mind that a cast iron pot will take much longer to burn off the water. The second thing to keep in mind is which oil to use. Because of their low fat content, any low smoke oil such as canola, vegetable, rice bran, avocado, or peanut oil would suffice. Fat is the substance that burns and produces smoke. Olive, cold pressed, or raw oils will burn rather than cover your pot with flavour, and if you've thrown your camp oven in the oven to season it at home, you can wind up smoking it out.

It's fine to apply a tiny layer of oil to every surface with spare cloths or paper towels, wait until it stops smoking, and then apply another layer. To prevent rust and fire damage you the outside of your camp oven, make sure to protect every surface. If bubbles emerge, wipe down the surface and thin out the oil layer; bubbles will create holes in your seasoning, allowing food to stick and burn. Do 2-3 layers of seasoning on the lid and the pot, inside and out, for the best outcomes and flavour. Sticking it in the oven or on the BBQ at the highest temperature possible makes this procedure a lot easier. At higher temperatures, the best seasoning is achieved. If you're doing this in the oven, coat your entire home oven with a low-smoke oil. It will still smoke a lot, so turn on all of your extractor fans and open the windows. To avoid this, use the BBQ outside to keep the smoke out of the house.

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