So much has changed over the years in regards to camp oven cooking.  Now we are in the twenty-first century the use of wood for camp fires is commonly frowned upon.  As such we have sought alternate ways of cooking.

Heat Beads® BBQ Briquettes on a cooking table is one.  A Camp Oven Mate with a gas burner is another.  These are just two of the more recent changes in how we use our camp ovens.

What other new ways have you used????

heat beads in the bottom of a choofer ...camp oven on top

Dave

Derek wrote on Mar 18^th, 2013 at 7:48pm:

So much has changed over the years in regards to camp oven cooking.  Now we are in the twenty-first century the use of wood for camp fires is commonly frowned upon.  As such we have sought alternate ways of cooking. What other new ways have you used????

Derek,

In circumstances where contractors/farmers are often involved in harvesting or ploughing activities for many long hours ( sometimes 16 -20 hours shifts :o); and it is not always convenient or economic to take anything but very short meal breaks. I’ve heard of  people constructing sheet metal ovens on their machinery which utilises the heat from the engine exhaust. The idea is that meat and vegetables can be roasting away while the machine is operating and be ready to eat on-site when required.

While wood fired camp oven cooking may be gradually disappearing from some Australian public areas as we move into the 21st century, I doubt it will ever disappear from the bush, at least not on private property. Heat beads/gas burners are certainly a good option for city and town folk, particularly  considering there often limited access to firewood; however most of the people I know who live in the bush, still predominantly use wood for camp oven cooking.
Wind fall timber on rural properties is generally considered a nuisance and a chore which most farmers and rural landholders are compelled to clean up every year, due to either its adverse impact on farming operations and/or inherent bushfire risk. However fortunately most seem to believe it is better to utillise this resource for cooking and heating purposes, than wastefully burning it in the paddock.

Some elements of Australian society may frown on the burning of windfall timber, however the reduction of potentially hazardous heavy bushfire fuel loads of this type on private property is sanctioned by the Country Fire Authority (CFA) and the Department of Sustainability and the Environment (DSE) who consider it an integral component of bushfire preparedness for those living on the land. Furthermore both agencies conduct their own controlled burns on public lands for the same reason, to reduce fuel loads.

Here's a couple of photo's of a very frosty morn last spring (-8 degrees C) at a free camp ground in the Alpine National Park, one of the many public places in Victoria, where you can thankfully still catch a fish and cook it over a camp fire using a camp oven .   ;D ;) ;D

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I am starting to use gas under my camp ovens lately (a summer thing  :))

the portable canister gas cookers when camping and a gas ring when home.

Haven't mastered the heat control yet, but smokeydave has shown me his new valve idea when using gas bottles.

Have burnt some pizza bases, and some other things, but for stews and foil parcels, the gas works OK.

Stump Jump wrote on Mar 19^th, 2013 at 10:13am:

I’ve heard of  people constructing sheet metal ovens on their machinery which utilises the heat from the engine exhaust.

;D ;D That brings back memories SJ. I used to drive an old Diamond Reo Tip Truck, It had a V6 diesel engine (653GM)  .....noisy bloody thing it was too. In cold weather if i was going past a bakery early in the day Id always stop and buy a couple of pies and throw them into the valley between the heads. Worked as good as any pie warmer.....nice hot pies for lunch ;)

My Father spoke of cooking his meal on the locomotive in the days of steam and then into the diesel era. The odd bit of road(rail) kill was prep'd and cooked there as well; pheasants and the like.
When he left the railway to engage in the  more relaxed 24 hr/3 shift game of the stationary boiler attendant he would still cook his meal on occasion while firing those fire tube and wet back boilers.
The biggest bloody pie warmer I have seen  :)