....the scones went down very nicely with a mug of strong billy tea.

TBF wrote on Sep 14^th, 2009 at 12:58pm:


Thanks Aart. We are truly blessed with having such magnificent scenery down our way.

StevenM wrote on Sep 14^th, 2009 at 3:58pm:


G’day Steven,

In answer to your questions,

1.      I see they are in a pie / cake tin, do you have a trivet under the tin?

I generally don’t use a trivet for roasting or baking and prefer to use either a tray or just simply lay the food, for example, the damper or roast on the bottom of the pot. Having said that, there is nothing wrong with using a trivet if you wish.
The reason why I used a pie tin to bake the scones is simply because it is slightly quicker and easier to lift the scones in and out of the pot, than if they were just laid on the bottm of the pot. If I was travelling light, as I often do, the scones would have been baked on the bottom of the pot.

2.      Heat Top and Bottom?

Generally both the top and the bottom of the camp oven is heated during the baking or roasting process. However the coals depicted in the photograph are only designed to maintain the temperature of the preheated camp oven. In other words, the CO is preheated to the desired temperature over the main camp fire and when the scones are ready to be baked, some coals are decanted to a spot further away from the main fire. The preheated CO is then placed on top of those coals. The scones are then placed quickly in the pot. The lid replaced and coals are then shovelled onto the lid. The important thing to remember with this is that you don’t need a huge number of coals to maintain the preheated temperature of the oven. It is a common error particularly with novice cooks, to use too many coals and burn the food.

3.      Do you put the mix in the tin with them touching or leave some space between and the naturally expand?

I generally prepare the scone dough in either a medium sized billy can or a stainless steel dish.

The individual spacing of the scones on the baking tray is a matter of personal preference. If they are laid close together, then they tend to rise taller during the baking. If they are further apart then they tend to grow a little shorter and have a fuller bun shape.

4.      How long roughly?

Scones generally take around 12 to 15 minutes to bake. In any event you will generally smell them when they are cooked (another good reason to cook them away from the smoke and fumes of the main campfire )

Important tips to remember when baking scones

a) Be well organised and have all of the ingredients measured, flour sifted, cheese grated etc before you add the milk and egg... AND most  importantly, ensure that the CO is properly preheated. The oven needs to be up to temperature, the minute the scones are ready to go into the oven. Speed is of the essence here to ensure, light and fluffy scones.

b) When you add milk and egg to the dry ingredients, try to ensure that the scone dough is prepared quickly. Speed in kneading the dough is important because as soon as the rising agents in the flour become wet, they will begin giving off carbon dioxide(gas which causes the dough to rise) and the longer you spend kneading the dough, the lesser the amount of rising agent will be available for the cooking process, and of course, the flatter and heavier the scones will be.

c) Estimating the temperature of a CO is an acquired skill borne of practice, and of course, different makes, models and sizes of COs often heat and cook slightly differently, so its not bad idea for starters, to focus on baking with just one good quality CO which you are comfortable with.

Scones generally like a hot to very hot oven (220C)

Hope this helps

StevenM wrote on Sep 15^th, 2009 at 1:51pm:


Good luck with it Steven, I would be interested in hearing how ya go.