DIY Ultralite Camping Oven

Create your own ultralite campfire oven with a simple modification to the Ozark Trails or Outdoor Products Mess kits from WalMart. Or order from amazon with my affiliate links here and support the channel if you like:
Coleman Aluminum Mess Kit:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...
Flower wire similar to what I used:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...
This project was a great success! I wanted to do a simple mod to my cooking kit that would allow me to make cakes, biscuits, muffins etc.. over the campfire or on my gas or wood hiking stoves. I know bread can be made on sticks and as ash cakes etc.. but I really want my food to look good as well as taste good. Not sure why, just a goal of mine. This mod allows that. I wound up actually reducing the weight of my kit a little as well.
I did use a roll of $1 flower arranging wire that has a ton of other uses besides the oven stand and pot handle I use it for in this video.
I love all the information rich videos out here on youtube. Hope this is helpful to someone. Enjoy!
Subscribe or comment with your ideas and questions!

Пікірлер: 77

  • @wendyfoster5579
    @wendyfoster55793 жыл бұрын

    Quite clever, I have seen people get some height from the fire by a canning ring. Good use of things you probably have around the house.

  • @teresajudy7232
    @teresajudy72329 жыл бұрын

    I'm sure that someone has already suggested this. But, I still have to tell you a trick that works fairly well. When Baking in the Bush. Put some hot coals on top of the oven, to surround it with heat. You won't have to increase your cook time as much. And your food will bake more evenly.

  • @TheToscanaMan

    @TheToscanaMan

    9 жыл бұрын

    Teresa Judy good call. That's the way to do it. I use this: frybake.com/ and you put a fire on the top to create the oven effect as you mention. It does heat more evenly. As a matter of fact when you "dutch oven" bake you need more heat on top than on the bottom so it won't burn below. Fun video though. Cake or biscuits on the trail. Yum.

  • @dirtridermag44
    @dirtridermag449 жыл бұрын

    Nice idea and good job! I'm thinking if you added maybe 1/4 cup of water into bottom of oven 5 or so minutes after the beginning, it might provide some extra cooking power in the form of steam. After the water evaporated the cook would just continue normally. It might just shorten the cook time. Just a thought...

  • @felixcat9318
    @felixcat9318 Жыл бұрын

    This is exactly the same as my first mess tin cookset that I bought 47 years ago! Good to see that the design has stood the test of time. Great ideas to improve the versatility of the set, and your results looked absolutely delicious...

  • @TRV550
    @TRV5509 жыл бұрын

    Great idea. I had a old mess kit gathering dust so I gave it a try with some corn bread. Worked great. I turned the pan upside down so I could use the stem as a handle. Thanks for sharing. I'll be doing a lot of baking on the trail now. Enjoy & be safe!

  • @jasondundom1390
    @jasondundom13904 жыл бұрын

    Use a 5 inch wide circle of carbon felt under you baking pan, will not scorch bottom and evens out heat better :)

  • @marcopotvin4904
    @marcopotvin49042 жыл бұрын

    nice idea i baught a coleman mess kit at my local wall mart last week. look like yours ,,,will try this

  • @granjmy
    @granjmy8 жыл бұрын

    I haven't read all the comments, so maybe someone already suggested this, but here's something to try. In a regular stove, the oven is hottest towards the top. So to brown the bottom of a pie, for instance, you'd put the pan on the lowest rack first. Folks do that to get a crisp bottom crust on pumpkin pies. So start your baking with the cover on the pan like in this video. You'll need to experiment with how long it takes to cook the muffin all through, but not dry it out by leaving it in too long. Then, after you know it is cooked through, so it will not fall when you handle the pan, remove the cover from the muffin pan, and put the pan back in for a few minutes. The lack of a cover may allow the hotter heat to brown the top of your muffin. :)

  • @techguy9023
    @techguy90236 жыл бұрын

    I took the pot and set it on the stove as a spacer. Then put dough in mess kit. Put both halves together like you pack it up with the handle fastened with the bolt. No mods needed. The mess kit pans are an inch and a half off the flame. Baked in about 15 minutes when flipped half way through baking with pliers. Used Crisco on pans.

  • @lindapapa2565
    @lindapapa25658 жыл бұрын

    I doubted it would ever work..Wow! Was i ever wrong! Can't wait to try it! Good job! Thank You

  • @ginaleefarber2422
    @ginaleefarber242210 жыл бұрын

    I am excited. I am going to have knee replacement surgeries over the next 7 months and Oct. 2015 I am taking my first Hiking trip. Omg I am so very excited and been creating most of my own supplies via these wonderful videos. This is a must have. I was wondering if I could make a proper style bisquits. This proved it can be done and baby brother may be missing his Boy Scout kits, lol Thank you for making dinner special. And with muffins that will be breakfast too,

  • @Darignobullseye
    @Darignobullseye8 жыл бұрын

    fantastic!!! I've been looking at different oven possibilities and am happy to see this one with a very low cost and ease to create. thank you much.

  • @lilbugge10
    @lilbugge102 жыл бұрын

    thats so cool! what a cool way to use a mess kit! thanks for the vid :)

  • @TheBubagrunt
    @TheBubagrunt10 жыл бұрын

    Just ran across this and said to myself, why didn't I think of that? I have the same mess kit and never use the stinking thing but a ready made oven for campfire biscuits. That makes this cheap piece of kit a darn necessity now. Thanks a million enjoyed it.

  • @1BigKidOutdoors

    @1BigKidOutdoors

    10 жыл бұрын

    Thanks buba! Appreciate your feedback.

  • @clio66762
    @clio667629 жыл бұрын

    Simple, versatile, brilliant. Great Job!

  • @DerekandDoc
    @DerekandDoc8 жыл бұрын

    Super video and idea. Getting ready for a second AT attempt in April, and this is absolutely something I'm going to take along. Thanks.

  • @Destructionsan
    @Destructionsan9 жыл бұрын

    I've been trying to figure out how to make a backpacking oven for ages! Great video! :D

  • @LostLittleElf
    @LostLittleElf5 жыл бұрын

    Now I know what to do with that old Girl Scout mess kit! Brilliant trick

  • @CHARGERDON55
    @CHARGERDON559 жыл бұрын

    Excellent idea!

  • @bruceprosser8332
    @bruceprosser833210 жыл бұрын

    Thanks for posting this great idea!

  • @animusauthor
    @animusauthor10 жыл бұрын

    Great idea! Ty for posting!

  • @jcksnbailey
    @jcksnbailey8 жыл бұрын

    Great idea, thanks for sharing!

  • @chado_outdoors
    @chado_outdoors Жыл бұрын

    I love those muffin mixes, so guess I just found a use for my second vintage Mirro Backpacker kit. Not that different, but considerably bigger since I'm a fatboy 😂 you just earned a new subscriber

  • @Krakology
    @Krakology10 жыл бұрын

    Great Idea, thanks

  • @longboy1998
    @longboy199810 жыл бұрын

    Cool never thought about that

  • @loves2spin2
    @loves2spin2 Жыл бұрын

    Awesome!

  • @wgrant72
    @wgrant728 жыл бұрын

    Awesome! Thanks for the vid!

  • @Standswithabeer
    @Standswithabeer6 жыл бұрын

    wow...good job.

  • @jeanolsen2077
    @jeanolsen20772 жыл бұрын

    Thank you 😊

  • @cmanofthewoodscentralus3217
    @cmanofthewoodscentralus32173 жыл бұрын

    “Idea” Add some tabs with holes in them so when turning over to dump pan that will hang down, but at same time if you want to attach bail for use of hanging pot over fire to warm soup or make a small stew you can. Thanks for sharing your video with us.

  • @squirrelcovers6340
    @squirrelcovers63403 жыл бұрын

    A large mouth canning ring to raise it off the bottom and Parchment to line your pan is all you need to bake. It works great.

  • @prettyinpink7058
    @prettyinpink70584 жыл бұрын

    Awesome

  • @oldtimerlee8820
    @oldtimerlee88209 жыл бұрын

    Love it! Suspect another variable in your cooking time is the size of the pan. Muffins, cupcakes, etc. are usually smaller than cooking the batch as 1 big one. Know that when I bake corn bread, for example, baking time varies by how deep the batter is in a pan. (Loaf pan vs various sizes of skillets.) The thinner the layer of batter, the faster it'll get done, using the very same oven temp. Just a thought for whatever it's worth. :-)

  • @pamm2230
    @pamm22305 жыл бұрын

    It might be helpful to have more space underneath the pan of food you're baking such as a mason jar lid or a small tuna can so that the pan is higher within the area of baking air. Also adding coals or wood sections of fire on the top of the pan will add heat on the top and shorten the baking time needed.

  • @Rspenesmit

    @Rspenesmit

    Жыл бұрын

    I tested both methods with a riser on the bottom and carbon felt and without anything, the method that used nothing underneath the Pot cooked the most evenly & had the best looking crust on the bottom & sides & a little browning on top with absolutely no burning, & I just turned the pot over and the bread fell right out on it's own, check out Hiram Cooks test on this using a Mess kit, the 2nd best method was Hiram's way using the carbon felt, The 3rd method I used 3 different risers in the bottom & a 4th test using Parchment paper that I had seen others do and none of those tests beat the other 2 ways, without anything and using the carbon flet.

  • @deanoverton4440
    @deanoverton4440 Жыл бұрын

    Yes I just watched your video on making a one person oven and that a good idea but sure I have made one out of a two person mess kit making small pizza and small loaves of bread and small cakes and pies

  • @k9razz
    @k9razz7 жыл бұрын

    That looks tasty

  • @LadyChaos1992
    @LadyChaos19926 жыл бұрын

    I just watched another video with a mess kit similar to this one, and the woman made a "rack" by bending the edges of a grill topper she bought at the dollar store and cut into circles and it sits in her mess kit and round cake pans she has in her bag. She cooked kid-sized personal pizzas on them (she put 2 cake pans together and put the pizza on top of her homemade "rack" inside them and then baked the pizzas that way) and it worked!

  • @1BigKidOutdoors

    @1BigKidOutdoors

    6 жыл бұрын

    Hanna, Thanks for commenting. I believe I've seen that video too.

  • @sosteve9113
    @sosteve91138 жыл бұрын

    well done sir thanks for showing atb steve

  • @johndavies9641
    @johndavies96416 жыл бұрын

    Exelent.👍

  • @noahbrooks423
    @noahbrooks42311 жыл бұрын

    Good Video Dennis..

  • @jamiesmith1343
    @jamiesmith13436 жыл бұрын

    Great idea! I love blueberry muffins too try two foil pie pan one for the mix and one for the top, no dishes LOL

  • @terrysmith3051
    @terrysmith30518 жыл бұрын

    NICE.

  • @Frantic618
    @Frantic6188 жыл бұрын

    I would drill about four one-eighth inch holes around the sides of the lid to let the excess steam escape, which I think is your problem. That should reduce the cooking time.

  • @hiker-trash
    @hiker-trash4 жыл бұрын

    I got the Jacob bromwell potato oven. Haven't gotten to try it out yet but, hopefully soon we will have an oven on trail.

  • @Poppageno
    @Poppageno5 жыл бұрын

    Nice thinking!, Keep the handle on the frying pan and ditch the potholders, I think if you bent the tabs below the holes to a 180° you might be able to still use the pot bail.

  • @crazysquirrel9425
    @crazysquirrel94253 жыл бұрын

    to reduce the risk of burning, place some water in the bottom of the big pot. This will aid in making the batter temp more even. You could also toss in a handful of gravel. Or even dirt (fire the dirt first to sterilize it) Just make sure you release the steam. Once steam is done leaking out, you know it will start baking and can adjust things accordingly.

  • @guardemdog
    @guardemdog9 жыл бұрын

    you could always use powdered milk.

  • @joelsweatman1503
    @joelsweatman15039 жыл бұрын

    awesome info brother

  • @galenlong937

    @galenlong937

    9 жыл бұрын

    Hey Joel, can you send me the link to his channel, I sure would Appreciate it

  • @joelsweatman1503

    @joelsweatman1503

    9 жыл бұрын

    no problem Galen

  • @galenlong937

    @galenlong937

    9 жыл бұрын

    Thanks Joel

  • @joelsweatman1503

    @joelsweatman1503

    9 жыл бұрын

    your welcome Galen

  • @CncObsession
    @CncObsession9 жыл бұрын

    you could use a little dirt as a bottom insulator too.

  • @thatbearlife
    @thatbearlife8 жыл бұрын

    Hey, that was pretty awesome! Do you have a video to show how you make your cool little tin can brazier?

  • @thatbearlife

    @thatbearlife

    8 жыл бұрын

    Oh, found the stove video, thanks!

  • @bobbyharper8710
    @bobbyharper87109 жыл бұрын

    Great. I bet a carbon felt disc in the bottom would work well.

  • @crazedaze6395

    @crazedaze6395

    9 жыл бұрын

    +Bobby Harper thx for this comment......i used 3 small carbon felt discs under 3 silicone baking cups and it worked great........1 oz in an alcohol stove and they cooked perfect

  • @prettyinpink7058
    @prettyinpink70584 жыл бұрын

    What kind of camp stove is that! It looks like a huge can.

  • @russellsmith5114
    @russellsmith51148 жыл бұрын

    liked this idea I'm looking for the pan set in the UK 😊

  • @billyandrew

    @billyandrew

    6 жыл бұрын

    Russell Smith Try camping goods, like Tiso, although they're a bit expensive or maybe Army surplus...lots on the Internet.

  • @edieboudreau9637

    @edieboudreau9637

    6 жыл бұрын

    Russell Smith - check with the scouts. Campfire. They still use them.

  • @hikerJohn
    @hikerJohn3 жыл бұрын

    If you dont care what they *look* like you can put the batter in a cooking bag and put it in (or above) boiling water.

  • @amusingmyslf
    @amusingmyslf5 жыл бұрын

    The timing on the package was for muffins, so it would be longer if you make a cake.☺

  • @allanjelen2365
    @allanjelen23656 жыл бұрын

    where can i buy this ?

  • @1977jda19

    @1977jda19

    6 жыл бұрын

    At Wal-Mart or just about any camping store. There pretty cheap but very useful.

  • @Krakology
    @Krakology10 жыл бұрын

    Dont try this with msr pocket rocket. even on low, i melted a hole in the bottom of the pan.

  • @1970351C2V
    @1970351C2V9 жыл бұрын

    That turned out great. FYI - I have the "Stansport 360 Stainless Mess Kit" which I think would work better for this without any modification. I paid $21 for mine so it's a little more expensive. 1. Pot handles don't protrude up so no bending is required. 2. You can use the pot lid for a stand (the knob screws off by hand) as it is slightly bigger than the base of the pan. This still provides clearance at the top for circulation while allowing the top clamshell to seal. smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B0000AQO5S?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_search_detailpage

  • @2handsfull
    @2handsfull8 жыл бұрын

    Rotate for even cooking.

  • @MrSTOUT73
    @MrSTOUT738 жыл бұрын

    ... bend the tabs in.

  • @1BigKidOutdoors

    @1BigKidOutdoors

    8 жыл бұрын

    +Wayne Novotny Worth a try Wayne. I thought it might get in my way when removing the cake. Thanks for commenting.

  • @charlietango186
    @charlietango1869 жыл бұрын

    The electric motor running was annoying, could hardly hear you talking, you need to do your tests somewhere else.

  • @charlietango186

    @charlietango186

    8 жыл бұрын

    Yer, that looks good mate, save me a piece, just a opinion I have, try to keep away from cooking with aluminium, as it gives off some dangerous toxins, a lot of us bushcraft people are going onto s/steel, it does not add that much more weight, and is a lot, lot safer. atb Ray

  • @diannaharrison5931
    @diannaharrison59315 жыл бұрын

    Reallybigmonkey1 lets it be 30 minutes to get it done. Just sayin.