Everyone who is planning to live on the road will be looking at doing some kind of camp cooking while travelling. There is nothing better than being in the outback around a camp fire talking about the day’s events or where you have been and planning to go with the camp oven to one side slowly cooking your food. This is the origin of happy hour, where you would be cooking your food around the camp fire having a beer or other drink with your neighbours and fellow travellers.

Some old timers will not cook in their van, but do all their cooking outside in their camp ovens or fry pans, in good weather around the camp fire and in bad weather on a gas burner or stove under their annex.

In this section we will go through some of the basics of camp cooking including the equipment, the different heat sources, how much heat you need, how to regulate the heat, plus other basic tips. It is recommended that you master the art of cooking in a camp oven by starting with some basic easy to use recipes and working up to the harder ones like bread, cakes and pastries etc.

Some basic starting tips

We recommend that you download the temperature guide in the print and ebook area in this section. The guide will help you as you start camp cooking with briquettes and as you get better with practice you will have some idea of how much heat or camp fire coals you will need to cook great food. Remember, we have based the guide on using good quality briquettes but the wind and weather should be considered at all times.

Never give up just because you have a couple bad experiences. You will have some but with persistence you will get the hang of it.

Never put the camp oven directly on the fire, most of our recipes (excluding stews or if frying) are based on the heat coming from the top of your camp oven. You will need a very small amount of heat on the bottom, which is only to warm the ground under the camp oven and helps remove the cold spot at the bottom.

Always preheat your camp oven before placing anything inside, especially with bread or anything that needs high quick heat. If it is not preheated the cooking times will be much longer.

Always place your camp oven downwind to the fire to prevent the wind causing cold spots. Wind is and important issue to keep in mind when camp cooking.

In windy conditions it is recommended to dig a hole and build up the upwind side with the dirt taken out then place the required briquettes in bottom of hole, then the camp oven. If ground is too hard or rocky use other items like rocks as a wind break.

Never put the camp oven too close to a fire as this will increase the chances of uneven browning or burning the food, even if often rotating the camp oven.

Always rotate the heat source if this is on the lid, or rotate the camp oven if the heat source is on bottom, as this helps if cold or hot spots are present. As you rotate have a quick peek to see what the food is doing and to check the temperature.

As you get better with your cooking you will be able to stack your camp ovens on top of one another (with small stands under each camp oven).

Have something clean and ready on the ground to place the lid on after removing when turning meat etc.