Cobb Cooker/BBQ

Zedd,

Start out with something simple but wholesome.

Place 7-8 Heat Beads ® in the firebox and place the whole lot on a gas burner if you have one available to speed up the process of even burning.
If you don't have a gas ring sit the fire box/beads on a metal plate and add a quantity of metho to the beads. You can also use the Heat Beads ® brand of fire lighters which don't give off any odour. Notice I've quoted the Heat Beads ® brand off heat beads which are superior.

While the beads are obtaining a coating of light brown ash, peel and quarter some spuds and carrots and wrap them individually in tin foil. I coat the potatoes with a little margarine.
Place the wrapped veggies around the moat and replace the firebox which should be glowing fairly evenly by now.

Place a lump of your favorite meat, Lamb, beef, pork on top of the grilling pan, (the standard one that comes with the cooker) and place the lid on top).

After a glass of red, or two beers, about 3 quarters of an hour should have passed (unless you're really thirsty) and you can lift the lid long enough to turn the meat over. Optionally, you could turn the veggies but this shouldn't be really necessary and just makes the whole process more complicated.

Another three quarters of an hour (1 1/2 hours in total) your meat and veggies should be ready for consumption.

I find adding additional liquid to the moat totally unnecessary. The meat will not dry out unless it is overcooked.

As for bread, I don't use the Cobb for baking. I prefer the camp oven as I have "perfected" a method whereby the bread is not burnt, but fully cooked.
I use packet breadmix available at the supermarket. The dough can be premixed and refrigerated, or mixed by hand at camp and left to rise for an hour in a warm place. The instructions on the packet tell you how much water to add. Err on the dryish side or you will spent considerable time removing the excess, as it can stick like bleep to a blanket. I also place the dough into a rectangular baking dish that will fit into the Camp Oven, or Cobb.

Some people have used the Cobb successfully for baking bread, but the Camp Oven allows the application of heat to both the upper and lower surfaces and this makes for a better loaf. Around half, to three quarters of an hour should be sufficient and if you get a hollow sound when tapping the bread, it's ready.

Good luck Zedd, it's good fun.

I use a med size camp oven inside the cobb. Great for doing camp oven cooking at home. I cook stews, casseroles, curries etc. Those marinated beef and lamb roasts cook up nice in the camp oven with some spuds,carrots pumkin etc thrown in cooked for 2 hours. Last year on the CSR we cooked all our meals in the cobb!

Glen.

Now... I just know I'm going to get beaten up for this but... after reading posts about Cobbs and Dreampots etc for the past few years they do seem to me to be just a gadget/gimmick which are far more trouble than they're worth - do your worst! :)

Mike Harding - a Bedourie camp oven man.