SC - Re: SC Camp Baking

[Bethany Public Library]

Howdy, all!

There are two different types of Coleman Ovens we are talking about here.
One actually has it's own heat source. I haven't used that type. The other
is a collapsible box which relies on an outside heat source---such as a
propane burner from a camp stove or the coals of a fire. Dutch oven cooking
is an art that needs to be taught, and the Dutch oven needs to be the
correct type with a lid that has a lip or is concave. It took a while for me
to catch on to gauging times and heats, but once I did it is simple and
works very well.  My own trick is to take the oven in and out of the fire to
regulate heat, with the coals still on the top. You need a special
pot-lifter (a modern invention), a trammel hook, a long S hook,  or hooks or
even a pair of vise-grips to do this (as long as the oven has a bail-type
handle), but it works well for me. We cook several times like this at
Pennsic just to stay in practice. We also have "mountain pie" night, just
for the kids (yeah, right!).

I have used the stove-top type oven for about 5-6 years now. It is fussy as
far as heat regulation goes and it takes some real adjustment when it is
windy (not airtight---you'll need a windbreak to reliably maintain heat). It
is labor intensive---using it requires that you stay nearby and check the
heat level frequently. It might be useful to but a piece of soapstone in the
oven, to help even out the heat level. However you can bake the sorts of
things you eat at home in it. It makes small batches of brownies, cookies,
biscuits, pies, etc without any trouble (divide a regular batch into smaller
pieces, and invest in small pans, heavy duty aluminum foil, or toss-away
aluminum pans, as the space inside is perhaps slightly wider than a
loaf-pan. The racks are adjustable, however). It bakes bread just fine,
though not to the quality of a heat-mass oven. I bought mine for about $35
new from Campmore about 5-6 years ago.

I also like (and even prefer) to use a heat-mass oven, which is possible
because I spend 2 weeks at Pennsic. The bread is much more flavorful from
such a source, since the nominal amount of smoke remaining after the fire is
swept out flavors the crust with an essence of the type of wood used to
build the fire. If you haven't had the experience, it's worth trying bread
baked in an oven where fruitwood has been used.

 Does anyone know the source of firebrick near Pennsic? I'd sure like to
have some (rather than the stones we currently use, which work so-so). It's
not possible to haul them from home, however. There was a beautiful
heat-mass oven at the north end of the Serengeti last year, near the north
gate. It had a steel-strap dome over fire brick, and then the mud churned
into straw and covering the bricks, all built onto a platform of earth
surrounded by 1x12's and stakes to retain the earth for the platform. Does
anyone know who built it and how to get the plans (if there are any)? I had
a real good look at it (actually stuck my head inside---must have looked
like a real loon) thanks to a kind gentleman who knew nothing about it in
the camp.  The dome was made out of light steel flat stock that was all
riveted to a common center, and fanned out to form the dome shape. There
were enough arms that the mud on top covered well.  I'd really like to have
one like THAT this year.

Pennsic, for me, is an opportunity to learn something new about primitive
cooking. We try to do something different each year, to build those skills.

Cheers

Aoife

Robin Carroll-Mann wrote:
> >
> > I'm thinking of getting a Coleman oven as an
> accessory to my stove.
> > Has anyone used this?  Does it do a decent job,
> especially on bread?
> >
> > (Yes, I know that one can bake in a firepit with a
> Dutch oven, etc., but
> > that doesn't really work for me.)

I have a Coleman oven that I recently bought from a
church white elephant sale.  It cost me $5.  All that
I have done with it has been to turn is on to see if
it worked.  I haven't baked with it yet.  But it
appears to me to be more like the broiler in a
conventional oven.  The flame comes from the top.  Not
below.  It also has a "burner" on the top, which you
can use to heat stuff in pots, because it uses the
escaping heat from the oven.  I now have to buy a full
propane bottle to find out how long one bottle will
last, and then I will try to bake something in it.

Huette