We couldn't wait for the long weekend coming up to try our CO so off for an over night camping trip we went..............

Just Helen myself and the silly dog went for a drive down to the east coast of Tassie in a nice little camping spot called Cosy Corner in the 'Bay of Fires'.

We set up camp, got the fire going and done a spot of fishing while we waited for the fire to produce some coals. We also took some heat beads and heated those up for back up and just to see how they work.









We bought a rolled Pork from the supermarket in the city on the way down the coast (first mistake we think......full of water).

Anyway, we prepared the Pork by drying it off, cutting some slits in the skin and covering it with salt and flour.
It was getting late and fire wasn't as yet producing the coals we wanted so we put some heat beads into a small hole in the ground and on went the preheated oven and roast, allowing some air flow under the oven. I also put some coals in first to dry the sandy ground out so the wetish sand wouldn't suck the heat out of the heat beads.









There was a fairly cold breeze and the ambient temperature would have been only about 5 deg so after about and hour or so of using a mixture of heat beads and hot coals on the lid we decided the cold wind was reducing the heat too much, that along with the fact that it wasn't sizzling how we thought it should of been we decided to bury it into the ground to give it some protection!



Did I mention it was bloody cold? Anyway after about another hour or so we felt it still wasnt hot enough to make the crackling crackle like it should so we really cranked the heat up for the last bit.



All told it was cooking for about 3-4 hours! We learnt an awful lot on our first go...........
1, supermarket meat is full of water (it was all laying under the trivet when we finished)
2, if this happens drains the water out of the oven! We did place a stick under the lid holding it open for the last hour or so but too little too late.
3, ambient temperate and cold winds effect the heat a lot more than we anticipated.
4, light your fire well in advance. It took hours to get the coals I would call suitable for CO cooking....or make a bigger fire  
5, Pumpkin roasted in the CO tasted so much better than any other way we have ever had it.

Anyway, we thought being in the oven for so long would have dried the meat out but we happy to say it didn't. (all the water stewing it would have helped this). The crackling felt somewhat soggy, even though it looked very cooked and crackled. However the roast tasted great and the crackling was in fact mostly crackly.
Silly us didn't get a photo of the finished product in the oven But we did get a shot of it dished up!



Next thing we tried was some damper. We made a traditional damper but we put some bacon and garlic in it and sprinkled it with cheese.



It was a large damper and we were almost ready for bed so we really cranked the heat up to cook this one. And as it turned out it cooked really nice and tasted even better.





So that was our first experience. We are hooked! So much so tonight when we got home we decided to cook a roast lamb! We used the stove top gas burner for the bottom heat and heat beads on the top. Maybe not the most traditional way to cook in a CO but it cooked perfect and was very nice......and the pumpkin was still the best pumpkin we have ever eaten  





Thanks for everyone's advice so far, we are really looking forward to the learning curve ahead. Sorry if my thread is long winded and too many pictures, we are just a little bit excited about CO cooking  

Gotta be happy with the result there DG
and if you are hooked there is no cure, good to see the stubby in the shot by the sounds of the weather it may have been warming up by the fire
mook

D & H
Top job, your post is not long winded that's what this site is all about sharing.  Good photos.  Did you catch any fish?
Muzz

an excellent first CO....it does take a long time to get hot coals....and cooking does take longer....we try and get coals ready by 4pm for dinner dished up around 6pm if all goes well


Dave

A few other things ill try differently next time is to chop the wood a bit smaller. I think our large pieces took way too long to get hot enough to make nice big chunky coals.

Shelter out of the wind is another biggie. Those heat beads barely lasted an hour or so outside with the cool breeze blowing over them, but inside at home with no wind they burnt down to marble size over a period of about 4-5 hours!

I would also think the type of wood your using could make a difference. (now I'm a poet as well)
Any opinions on this??
The wood we were using didn't last long at all on the lid. Admittedly the cold wind didn't help but I would say I was putting fresh coals on every half hour or so because after that time I could easily hold my hand above the coals and they were not hot enough IMHO.
Later that night when we cooked the damper the wind had dropped and coals were working a lot better. I think a lot of this is going to come down to experience, knowing the environment your cooking in and making allowances to suit.