Camp oven cooking is part of Australian out back history. Over the ages drovers, shearers, and Bushmen have used the Camp Oven on the move and by miners during the days of the gold rush. This type of cooking has definite advantages.

With the advent of the four-wheel drive vehicle becoming so popular, more and more people are becoming aware that their vehicle is able to travel on more than a sealed road, and are taking advantageof this.

With this, a new adventure comes. Until a few years back few people were seen in some of these areas of the Australian out back. The desert areas are now a destination that is not impossible to traverse for bthese new explorers.

All people have to eat, and part of the enjoyment of these trips is to sit around a campfire at night and cook up a nourishing meal, and what better to do it in but a camp oven.

Preparing your new Camp Oven

A camp oven must be seasoned before it is used. Being of cast iron, this material is porous, and the inside of the oven has to be treated so as to seal the surface.

Before you first cook in the camp oven fill with water and slowly heat but do not boil. Wash the new oven and dry. Rub cooking oil (I like to use olive oil) inside and outside of the camp oven with a cloth or paper towel. Repeat this 3 or 4 times over the next 2 days and then place in a hot oven at home and bake it for about an hour applying more oil to the inside of the camp oven and don't forget the lid. The oil will glaze on the surface and give it a protective coating.

Before storing after use always give the camp oven a good wash and then an oiling. This will stop rust forming. If this process of oiling is not done before you use it, food particles penetrate into the cast iron and will go rancid while the camp oven is not in use.

Camp Fire

Too much flame will over heat the camp oven and will usually cause the contents to be burnt. Ideally the cooking should be done on a bed of coals - with some coals spread on the lid to even out the heating. With too much heat, this will cause evaporation of liquids inside the camp oven. When cooking with the camp oven this way it is advisable to use a cake rack in the bottom or if this is not available you could use some short clean tent pegs to stop the food being caught. A layer of alfoil over the pegs or rack is something else to consider.

Another method to use the camp oven is to dig a hole deep enough to put the camp oven in the hole with some room, near to your fire. Place some coals in the bottom of the hole but not to many , you only want to warm the bottom of the oven. Once this is done, place more coals around the sides and on the lid. This method gives a very constant heat and does not burn the bottom. In some places it is impossible to dig a hole, as the ground is too rocky, so the first method has to be used.

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