Camp oven

Rays Camping
Aussie Disposals.

Go with a cast one, they work well if treated well, but then that works with most things.

Ask Mrs John R about DAMPER... She made THE awesome shiat up Bindree...

Hi Eric, we just bought a camp oven from Hillbilly camping gear, it's very good, steel not cast so much lighter, www.campingwithhillbilly.com, they are at 23 Mt Morton rd Sth Belgrave, vic 3160.

Baz.

Bought my Bedorie direct from Southern Metal Spinners here in Lonsdale. They are available pretty much anywhere. Thing is, I use my Cobb now........ Bedorie doesn't see the light of day...... or coals.

Geeez Eric, you are going downmarket with a camp oven........what happened to the microwave?

Camp oven:

It has to be cast iron

The ones with a lip on the lid are good for making damper etc as you can put coals from the fire on the top. When you lift the lid off to check the bread etc the ash does not fall in to the oven

The ones with no lip on the lid are good for other meals and a smaller one than the one you are buying can fit inside it for space saving.

Always wash your camp oven in warm soapy water and stand near fire to dry out properly. Then spray(wipe) oven inside with cooking oil to stop rust and you can also put a papertowel in the base before you place another oven inside it for storage.

Been doing this for 30 years and ovens still look like new.

Camp ovens are available at camping outlets or Army Disposal shops.

Cheers

The Best ones available are Furphy. They have a web site but are fairly expensive,I have one 12in.

Cast Iron has a good even spread of heat and hold the heat well. Spun steel heats up very fast and is a bit harder to control. I believe those that have the Bedourie say they are more versatile but I can do anything in my Furphy.

Imported cast iron is prone to uneven heat distribution and any cast iron will break if dropped in the right conditions.

Furphy has the reputation as being one of the best available.

I am going to get one shortly. I do have the Hillbilly spun steel one and it works great, plus it has the optional gas ring thing which has come in handy at times. I also have a cast iron one (non-Furphy) and it isn't too bad, but as was mentioned earlier, seems to have a "hot spot" in it. Hence my desire for a Furphy.

Furphy Website Link

Good cookin'

Jack

Eric.

Borrow mine and try it if you like.

I've had two of the cheap imported cast iron jobs with the lip around the lid. Work a treat. No roast tastes like one done in a camp oven.

Jim

Eric bought both of mine at big W or similar no probs to date now about 8 years old each and plenty of meals out of them.

All the best
Eric
CyC

Hi all,

I believe there are some that have feet in the casting so that it will not extinguish the coals when sat on them. Is this correct and if so are they better

I started with the cheaper version available from all good camping stores but have since moved to the Furphy.
It's about twice the price but is much more sturdy, gives a more even heat and has a better lid for brushing coals off etc.
As an added bonus you can order them with your name cast onto the lid.
Cooked a roast lamb in mine 2 nights ago much to the delight of all present and received nothing but compliments on the standard of the meal.

Well worth the money I believe and I can vouch for their jaffle iron too.

Hi Eric,

As some others have already stated there are a few features that I consider essential to a good camp oven:
- Make sure you get one with a lip on the lid. This stops the coals from falling off during cooking and if you need to lift the lid at any time.
- Cast iron IMHO is the best.
- Furphy are the undisputed leaders in camp ovens but they are also very expensive. Some of the real cheap imported camp ovens aren't made from very good quality cast iron and this leads to uneven heat distribtuion and they've been known to crack for no apparent reason. As a start, buy a camp oven somewhere in the middle and you won't go wrong.
- Some CO have 3 or 4 little feet which are supposed to keep them up off the coals, allowing the coals to breath and retain more heat etc. I've seen a few of these type in use and I seriously doubt the validity of this claim. For starters, try sitting the feet of a heavy CO on an uneven bed of coals. 99 times out of 100 the feet will sink in and it will "settle" onto the coals anyway. Also, camp ovens can be used very effectively as a pot or pan directly on your gas stove or even placed onto a BBQ hot plate. You would lose much of this versatility if you got one with legs.

Start off with a medium sized camp oven as this is the most versatile size. Perfect for a family roast or to bake damper, bread or scones. Later, you might find a smaller camp oven that fits inside this one for easy storage also useful.

Once you've got your camp oven, you'll need a few accessories:
- A banister brush with natural fibres which can be used to brush the coals from the lid.
- A long steel hook to lift the camp oven from the coals and/or to remove the lid with burning your fingers
- A trivet to place inside the oven. This is useful when baking as it keeps the baking tin off the base of the CO and aids in hot air circulation. Also stops blackened base on your damper/bread etc.
- A baking tin which fits inside the CO and can be used for making bread, damper etc. I use one of those round spring-base tins (your wife will know!) which is perfect for making bread, damper and other things such as quiches, scalloped potatoes (yum!) etc. Also because you can remove the base it can be used on its own for scones and pizza etc. Very versatile!

Search the archives on this forum. There are some good threads on curing and caring for your camp oven.

Hope this helps.

:o) Melissa

IMHO - they way you set the coals is far more important than which camp oven. We got ours (cast) from Rays - cooks up a storm (It does have feet but I don't think they play much of a part.) The trick is to make fire in one place and shift coals to another - place oven on top of coal bed - some more around the sides and good shovel full on top. Hmmm - can almost smell the roast now.

Gaz

Thank you all for your valuble info , its been a great help

Eric I dont know why but if you can get an old one they are very good I have my grandfathers oven circa 1900 small version still going good but I dont like to put them in a fire put some coles out and heat the ground then refresh them but make sure you have air flow under the oven put in your beef ribs or roast then add coles to the top refresh if nessasary will not burn on bottom then, your making me drool have to take it with me when go to bridsville in september

try advertising in sotckjournal or like if serious cant beat that old english casting

frank

hi eric i opted 4 the cobb & very happy cheers