I think the tin can camp stove, aka buddy burner, is ready for a revival. Be it for emergency preparedness or backyard camping, you can make these in about 30 minutes. Here’s the video on how I put one together:
A Few Precautions When Making the Tin Can Camp Stove
Melt the wax in a double boiler or carefully on a hot plate
Hot Wax is flammable! So be careful
Use this stove outside, OK?
First of all, I just need to say BE CAREFUL. Hot wax and open flame require you to pay attention. You can wax you buy at the hardware store, furthermore, you could melt down a bunch of old used candles. Wear gloves while handling the wax melting container. Make sure the cardboard doesn’t have any labels or tape attached to it, because burning plastic isn’t great.
While you may have some tin cans in the house, you might want to seek out the ideal tin can. Cans that are not lined with an interior coating nor have a plastic or painted on label are best. Its actually hard to find such cans. The one in our video had a painted on label, consequently, it smoked and burned. Again, reason to use the buddy burner outside.
I have seen other posts that suggest using the bottom slot as a sort of air damper to control the flame. I have not tried this, as a result, we have a high heat, always on burner to cook our eggs. Maybe if you punched fewer holes up top there would be less air flow. I suggest finding a small fry pan at the dollar store or a yard sale for this. We used aluminum foil to hold our fried eggs, but a fry pan is easier.
Outdoor cooking recipe to bake a cake in a dutch oven. Great camping recipe or to keep you house cool in summer, outdoor baking is the way to go. We use this basic cake recipe and add in whatever fresh fruit we have in the summer months. Its a fun way to bake a cake that doesn’t heat up the house, or when you are camping, this is a super simple cake recipe. Its easy to change up the recipe to suit whatever ingredients you have.
How To Bake A Cake Outdoors
You need to have a fireproof safe place to do this. We use our grill, it works well because it is a good height, and is already built for fire. Or you could use some other fireproof material, but be careful, you will be using hot charcoal to do this. In a camping situation, you can use the coals from a campfire, but you will have to pay more attention to the coals, probably adding a few during the baking process.
If you do not have some oven-proof bowls of some sort – we like to use ramekins – you can use balled up foil to raise the dutch oven above the coals. You do not want the bottom of the dutch oven to touch the coals, this can burn the bottom of the cake. If your dutch oven does not have a flat lid, you can make a ring of foil that will keep the coals from falling off the top of the dutch oven.
To Bake a cake this way requires some experimentation, its easy to burn the cake if the coals on the bottom are too hot. There is some trial and error here. And wear oven mitts or heat proof gloves, this stuff is hot!
Easy Cake Recipe:
1 cup self rising flour
OR 1 cup all purpose flour + 1 1/2 tsp baking powder and 1/2 tsp salt
1 stick of butter
1 cup milk
1 cup sugar – you can use less sugar, this cake is pretty sweet
1 can of peaches, drained, light syrup preferred, 20-24 oz
Preheat the oven to 375F
Put the stick of butter in a 9×9 baking dish, preferably a glass dish, and place in the oven to melt the butter.
Mix together the dry ingredients, then add the milk and mix.
Pour the batter into the heated baking dish with the melted butter, then add the can of peaches.
Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. The cake is done when a knife comes out clean.
This is another of a series of articles about how to cook in a dutch oven, dutch oven recipes, and how to season cast iron and dutch ovens by Gary House, of Cooking-Outdoors.com. A big thank-you to Gary for contributing this.
The key to successful outdoor Dutch oven cooking, is knowing how many charcoal briquettes are required to produce a certain temperature inside of your Dutch oven while it is cooking.
The secret to this knowledge is understanding charcoal briquettes.
Types of charcoal
Types of Charcoal
Charcoal briquettes produce more uniform heat than campfire coals or Lump charcoal, making your Dutch oven temperature easier to control. Brand-name briquettes have more consistent quality than bargain brands. They are consistent in size— about 2 inches square — which is important for predictable heat. Start with charcoal briquettes if you just beginning and experiment with live campfire coals as you progress.
How many briquettes do you need?
This is the basic foundation of Dutch oven cooking, once you know this, everything else falls into place. Take your Dutch oven’s diameter in inches and double it.
• 8 inch Dutch oven = 16 briquettes
• 10 inch = 20 briquettes
• 12 inch = 24 briquettes
• And so on.
The total calculation is the number of standard-size charcoal briquettes you will need to heat your Dutch oven to approximately 325 degrees F for one hour.
It is that simple.
Controlling temperature
Most Dutch oven beginners are familiar with cooking on a stove at home, cooking with bottom heat only and that can cause confusion when cooking outdoors with a Dutch oven.
Because heat rises, briquettes heat the bottom of a Dutch oven more quickly and directly than the top. The top rim of the lid draws the heat downwards, you will need to divide your briquettes between the top and bottom for even heating. Commonly referred to as the three up method and is effective on 8, 10 and 12-inch diameter Dutch ovens; larger size Dutch ovens may require more briquettes.
As an example:
• To heat an 8-inch Dutch oven to 325 degrees, you need 5 coals on the bottom and 11 coals on top. Sixteen coals total.
• To heat a 10-inch oven, you need 7 briquettes on the bottom and 13 on top. Twenty coals total.
• To heat a 12-incher, you need 9 briquettes on the bottom and 15 on top. Twenty-four coals total.
These guidelines will get you close enough that, with practice, you can understand exactly what works for your Dutch oven.
Briquette placement
Top ring & bottom ring placement
Using the circle method of coal placement, place your bottom coals in a single circle aligned with the legs of your Dutch oven closer to the outside of the Dutch oven bottom, referencing the lip of the Dutch oven lid place your coals evenly around the perimeter.
Variables
If your recipe calls for temperatures higher or lower than 325 degrees, make adjustments by adding or subtracting 2 briquettes. Two briquettes equal approximately 25 degrees. Add these to the top of the Dutch oven, unless you need more heat on the bottom.
How long do briquettes last?
Today’s charcoal briquettes last about 45 – 50 minutes. When recipes call for longer cooking times, start fresh replacement briquettes at 40 minutes. They will be ready to add to your Dutch oven when the original coals start losing their heat. Replace approximately 60% of the coals each 45 – 50 minutes of cook time.
Compensation for weather conditions will be required. On cold days, add a couple of more coals on the top and on a hot day remove a coal or two. Wind will play a significant roll in temperature control, it is best to shelter your Dutch oven from the wind with a windscreen if possible.
Following these basic concepts will insure your first adventures in Dutch oven cooking are a success. After practicing a few recipes, temperature control will become second nature and you will no longer need to count as you become more proficient.
Here is one of my favorite beginner recipes, the same one I use in my Dutch oven classes.
Blackberry cobbler
Blackberry Cobbler
Ingredients
For the cake mix:
1 stick butter
2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1 tbs baking powder
1tsp salt
1 1/2 cups milk
For the berries:
4 cups fresh or frozen blackberries or 2 bags frozen (thawed)
½ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp fresh grated lemon zest
¼ cup water
1 tsp cinnamon
10 or 12” Dutch oven (20 or 24 briquettes)
Start your briquettes using the formula above to determine the quantity.
Rinse your fresh blackberries and drain, place them in a bowl with your sugar, lemon zest, water and cinnamon; mix well and set aside.
When your briquettes are ready, place the bottom circle of briquettes down and set your Dutch oven with the lid on top of the briquettes, then add the remaining briquettes to the lid to pre-heat your Dutch oven.
Now you can mix your cobbler batter. In separate bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt; stir to mix. Add milk and beat until batter is smooth.
Remove the Dutch oven lid, take one stick of butter and place in hot Dutch oven, stir until melted. Add your Blackberry mixture to the melted butter and pour your cobbler batter over the top
(A different variation of this would be to take your batter and pour that in first place your blackberries on top.)
A Toad In A Hole recipe cooked outdoors, how cool is that? Watch the video and read on for the recipe and thoughts.
Here’s an Toad In A Hole recipe from the UK that we cook in our cast iron dutch oven outdoors. You can cook this in your kitchen, but its more fun to use this using fireplace cooking, outdoor cooking, or campfire cooking. Perfect for those urban homesteaders who want to take their cast iron outside, build a fire, and cook comfort food. We were introduced to this dish by our friends Barbara and Chris ( who are English ) and visited us at our CT house. Chris made this for us one day. Toad in a Hole is supposed to be for dinner, but I think its great for breakfast, especially after a night out imbiding.
I changed this up a bit from the standard by adding cheddar cheese, which seemed perfectly acceptable seeing that Cheddar Cheese is from England, and cheese tastes good with eggs already, so why not mix them into the recipe?
I make this recipe in a dutch oven, and its super fun to bake the Toad In A Hole outdoors. In the cooking video, we used charcoal to heat the cast iron dutch oven, but you can make this in a fireplace or in a campfire as well.
Buy a Dutch Oven here, and an chimney charcoal starter. This post may contain affiliate links which won’t change your price but I earn a commission from. Thx!
Toad In A Hole Recipe in a Outdoor Cast Iron Dutch Oven – GF Video
Recipe Type: Dinner
Cuisine: English
Author: Eric Rochow
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: [url:1][img:1]
Making Toad In A Hole in a Dutch Oven outdoors is really fun. Go make this and let me know how it came out.
Ingredients
4 sausages sliced in two and then halved. I used sweet italian sausage from our local butcher, but most any sausage you like will work.
1 cup of flour – all purpose works fine, but use what you’ve got.
1 tablespoon coarse salt
Herbs of your choice, rosemary, chives, oregano, tarragon, whatever you have and like, chopped coarsely
1 cup milk
3 eggs – i’m a big fan of local eggs, so try to get some, help out your local farmers.
2 – 3 tablespoons of good mustard, brown, spicy, deli – whatever you like.
1 cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
Instructions
Fire: This recipe takes about a chimney starter full of charcoal. we used about 10 charcoal briquettes on the bottom of the cast iron to start the cooking. if you are cooking this in a fireplace or campfire, be careful not to get the dutch oven too hot.
Take the sausages that have been cut in half and then sliced open lengthways and put them in the dutch oven to brown.
While the sausaged are browning, take the other charcoal or wood coals and pile some on the lid of the dutch oven to preheat it.
Beat the 3 eggs together, then to it the flour and salt and milk and herbs.
When the sausages are browned on both sides, pour the egg batter mixture into the dutch oven and cover.
Place more coals on top of the dutch oven and bake for 30 minutes. If it smells like it is burning, open the cover and check. you may have to move the dutch oven to a cooler part of the fire, or remove some briquettes.
The dish is done when the batter is yellow with brown patches, you will know when its done. It will smell great.
Notes
Use a chimney starter to start the charcoal briquettes. You can also use chunk charcoal, but the square ones are easier.
A trip to the local farm store yields a box of cast iron cookware. Here’s how to season cast iron. Note, after watching this video, watch the newer one I made here about how to season cast iron, thx!
Seasoning cast iron is not rocket science, just watch our how to season cast iron video here and you’ll get the Eric way to season cast iron. One note: I now suggest using flax oil to season cast iron, its much better than vegetable shortening for the job. You can find flax seed oil in the refrigerated section of health food stores and places like Whole Foods.
Next you’ll want to know how to clean your cast iron. The basic rule is to avoid soap. If the cast iron is seasoned properly, just about everything will clean off with hot water and a clean sponge. i have a dish sponge just for cast iron, i took a sharpie and wrote ‘ cast iron’ on the sponge to get the point across to everyone about that.
You’ll be surprised at how easily stuff cleans off a seasoned cast iron pan. I do avoid cooking scrambled eggs in cast iron, for that I use a non-stick pan, works much better.
Let us know your cast iron seasoning suggestions below:
While you may have some tin cans in the house, you might want to seek out the ideal tin can. Cans that are not lined with an interior coating nor have a plastic or painted on label are best. Its actually hard to find such cans. The one in our video had a painted on label, consequently, it smoked and burned. Again, reason to use the buddy burner outside.
