Camp Oven Cooking - Back to Basics

You can't get much more basic than living without power and cooking in a camp oven but that's just what the kids and I, and our good friend Donna just did.  We just got back from camping at Neurum Creek Bush Retreat for a few days which was fantastic.  It didn't start out fantastic as it was raining when we left, raining when we got their, raining when we set up, raining all night and then light rain the next day and eventually the sun came out.  When we were driving there I told the kids "it's just water" like when you're having a shower and it was the only time we could go camping this holiday and we were just going to go anyway.  I didn't actually book it until the day before due to the weather however we made the commitment and off we went.  My friend Donna hasn't been camping in a bush setting before and as we were driving in the rain to our camp she was thinking that we were slightly crazy for doing this.  No one likes camping in the rain and neither do I but we went ahead as it was light rain, but rain nonetheless.  Donna had purchased herself a new tent last year and hadn't had the opportunity to use it yet so she jumped at the chance to come with us camping.

The kids loved starting the fire even though it was spitting with rain and we were wet, but hey, it's all part of life and you can always change into dry clothes later.  I took the camp oven and I had bought a little tripod to put over the fire to hang the camp oven on rather than cook directly on the hot coals as you have more control this way and things don't burn.  Now in saying this, I haven't used the camp oven all that often myself. I've cooked two perfect roast chickens in the camp oven in the last 10 years but hey, I've watched a friend of ours years ago cook wonderful things in his camp oven including lemonade scones and this was one recipe I wanted to try this time.

When I made the scones I didn't end up putting any coals on the top of the camp oven as I didn't have a spade with me and the scones would have been more brown in colour and cooked a little faster if I had.  It didn't matter as we sat around checking on our scones in the light drizzling rain and eventually I called them "done" at which stage we sat at the table with beautiful fluffly scones and put butter and golden syrup on them.  They were warm and fluffly and to die for and were a perfect morning tea both in "activity for the kids to enjoy watching" and "eating warm scones on a rainy morning".  Even though they didn't look like your typical individual scones they were amazing and I was thrilled I had included them on the camping menu.  I measured the flour out at home and put it into a container and bought cream and lemonade with us.  A total success.  As the dough is a really light and soft bundle I basically put the whole thing in the camp oven like a loaf of bread and just used a knife to make some sort of cutting line. When it was cooked I got the whole scone out in one go and we proceeded to cut pieces off where I had marked the lines.

Happy people around a camp fire, I think this time they were roasting marshmallows as Sienna has one on the end of her stick.

My new tripod to hold the camp oven for cooking which I purchased from BCF.

Cooking the scones

Don't be fooled by the looks, these were delicious scones.

Sienna getting stuck into the warm scones with Butter and Golden Syrup.

James eating his scones with Golden Syrup dripping off them.

Mine waiting for me on my plate ready to eat.

That night for dinner I made "Maple Syrup & Soy Drumsticks" and Roasted potato, corn and carrots in the camp oven which was fun.  I used a trivet covered in alfoil then had some baking paper on top of that and then put all the food on top, sprinkled with salt and pepper and then put the lid on.

This time I borrowed the next door neighbours spade from their campsite to put coals on top of the camp oven so it would heat up from underneath and on top.

Sitting around cooking dinner - my style of kitchen complete with cuddles from Sienna.

Donna having a photo in the lovely surrounds of Neurum Creek Bush Retreat complete with our outdoor cooking facilities.

This is the cooked dinner and it smelt and tasted amazing.  There were lots of OMG and YUM and "Oh I wish there was more."  I had popped the chicken drumsticks in a big ziplock bag at home, tipped in some Canadian Maple Syrup and Ketchup Manis (which is Indonesian Sweet Soy Sauce) and closed the bag and put it in the cooler box to take camping.  

We enjoyed our chicken and roast veggies by candle light.