Mark Young my old Scoutmaster had a similar setup, using a set of three heavier sheet metal pie pans, with a hole drilled thru two of them, connected with a bolt and butterfly nut, to hold the coals on top, and the paper clips to hold the bottom together. Called it his backpacking Dutch oven.
Love the concept of these mini ovens. Indeed, a multi-use item, even the extra binder clips have other uses. Canning jar rings are another support option. Thanks for sharing.
Very interesting. One could install an oven glass in the top to see the progress. One could also install a closable vent in the top bowl for a steaming option, using some water in the bottom bowl. And my last idea is to use a stainless steel cat dish instead of aluminum foil cooking dish to avoid aluminum contamination. Now if one wanted to, one could even install an oven thermometer (somehow) in the top bowl, possibly visible through the oven glass. A flashlight could be used to inspect the temperature. In addition, when baking one could use the adjustable vent in the top to control the temperature. One note on this is that when using a wood fire, it is helpful to let the wood turn to embers, and the flames to diminish mostly, before baking. This is another way you could control the temperature.
" Great idea/ video. I made up a set with multiple sized pairs, all the way to about 14inches. I use the largest size binder clips, even on small bowls, which gives you much more to grab when opening. Instead of the cut cross bars, you could just reverse another mini pie pan and place it in the bottom to raise your cooking item. I'm looking for a round metal grate that would sandwich between the bowls and keep your food higher from the flame. I want to try this with the refrigerated biscuits to skip mixing. "
this is the least complicated, cheapest, and most practical baking vessel EVER, easy to store. I've made something similar years ago, just instead of the bottom aluminum cross I made a grid from twisted aluminum garden wire. Those little pie cups are so useful, and all items can be purchased at the $$-store. Your channel is great!
Mark, I should have mentioned...the top of the stainless steel pot that I use for baking, I carefully hammered concave, removed the bakelite handle ( replaced it with an eye bolt) and then place a couple of BBQ briquettes on top for top heat as in a dutch oven. I treat the briquettes by placing them in a paper egg carton, drenched in heated wax. In this way they start up with one match and produce heat very quickly. All this for about $5.00. Makes great bannock or "bisquick" breads on the coleman type stove. I hope this clarifies my previous post.
Great adaptation. The concave sounds like it will definitely help hold the charcoal on top. Interesting way to make self lighting briquettes as well. Thanks again for sharing
sir, I just want you to know that I really enjoy and appreciate your videos. If you are having health issues I pray that you will recover better than ever. from the deep south, NorthwestAlabama
Thank you for your support. I have recovered well from my cancer. I am having a few ongoing issues related to the surgery but not life threatening. Just annoying. Thanks for watching my videos and for commenting
Um Hm That'll do just fine for an easy way & low cost set-up Mark, Thanks to you & the Mrs. for sharing this idea. Prayers for a speedy recovery. ATB Ter God Bless
Neat idea, and low cost as well. Worth a try.. For some reason, throwing some frozen or fresh cranberries in lemon poppyseed or just lemon muffins turns out really well. Thank you for the video, Mark
@@MarkYoungBushcraft Mark, where do I find the small aluminum pie plate to go inside of the bottom of the oven? I went to three places today but did not find that size. Thanks!
takes a bit of practice to get the temperature right but is cheap to make and is multi-purpose. I have also used it with a fire and coals . Thanks for commenting
Great idea Mark the fact It can be use on different cooking stoves is awsome and the fact you can use the 2 bowls alone for cooking is an absolute plus👍👍👍 Hope you are doing good in your fight my thoughts are for you my friend fromThe maritimes and I know That you will be the winner of that battle 🙌💪💪💪🙏🙏🙏🙏
Great video. I'd like to offer a suggestion of silicone baking cups for the inside mold. Silicone is nonstick, takes heat up to 500°F, distributes heat very well, and it does not hold heat like metal. Handling should be easier and it should eliminate burned bottoms to breads and muffins. Silicone is also flexible for easy packing and it is naturally nonstick for easy cleanup, so no need for parchment paper. You can buy individual baking cups made from silicone in lots of shapes for just a few dollars. I was also wondering, have you considered drilling three holes in the lips of the bowls and running some wire or a bit of light chain so the oven can also be used suspended? I'm thinking you'd retain the integrity of the oven for use directly on your stove, the bowls would still function. And I'm thinking the top bowl will slide up and down the wire to act like a guide that keeps it in place. Or does that sound nuts? Thanks again for the oven idea!
That did look good for sure. I just had part of my breakfast and this video sure made me want something like that muffin there, to go with the rest of my breakfast. Hope the fight is going well And I am still praying for you.
Dog bowls eh? I've collected quite a few of them over the years and my dog only needs a couple. Never thought to take them camping but I will from now on. Love your videos.
this is fantastic. i am definitely going to try it and i don't even have to already have tried it to know that it will work very well!! Also, I bet a second pie pan put upside down in the bottom with some holes poked through it would be a great inside base as well!
I used the oven I mad roast potatoes and pie put potatoes in foil tray and pie in foil tray on top left it 30 mins it was cooked perfectly and I fully enjoyed it , currently on camping holiday in North Wales uk , thanks for the idea .
@@MarkYoungBushcraft I like using my little wood burners, I'm thinking with a nice coal bed a person could have a nice amount of heat to bake with. Definitely take a little practice, cooking is cooking though, different method same principle. This payday I'll be putting together a set.
Thank you so much for this! After I watched it, I put my Dutch oven with lid on top of our wood burning stove to pre-heat while I made a batch of banana nut bread. I put 2 canning rings in the bottom of the Dutch oven, sprayed a Bundt pan and poured the batter in there and then placed that on top of the canning rings, added the lid and let it go for 1 hour. It turned out perfectly! Recipe: Combine 1 cup whole wheat flour, 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 teaspoon baking soda. Mix 2 Tablespoons of ground flax seed with 6 Tablespoons of water and set aside. Mash 3 ripe bananas thoroughly, and add 1/2 cup of honey and the flax/water mixture. Combine the dry with the wet. The thermometer on top of our wood stove said it was about 500 degrees. That is on the surface. Again, thank you. This helped so much. It turned out perfectly. I also added 1/2 cup of coarsely chopped walnuts.
Hi ya mark! Ran across ur video, this is 2nd one, 1st one was the grill u made from a fryer basket, I have been looking at dog bowls off an on for a few months, wanting a cheep cook set, but was unsure, seeing this, I’m sure now and will definitely get them tomorrow (I’ve no cook set) the grill and bowls r right up my alley as far as cost. U have such good ideas therefore I subscribed. Thank u
Thats great stuf. Im using my camp frypan with a metal scrol for the air gap and my stainles plate for a lid.i use a pie dish for my bread. All of it sourced at second hand shops. When i return to auckland ill set up a system like yours. The disposable pie dish is magic for weight aaving and i really like the vaking paper idea-very lightweight. I also make bao as heat control is much less of a problem The straight sided bowls are way better
Mark, I wonder about adding some dry, crystalline sand in the bottom of the bowl with your aluminum criss-cross stand? Maybe a depth about 1/2 the height of the criss-cross? Sand, like larger stones, modify and retain the heat. Just a thought. Courtesy of Half Vast Flying
Wow.... I've been looking for something to fill the baking hole ever since I lost my bakepacker in a move. Ironically, I used to work at Walmart and had eye'd those same bowls a number of times thinking they'd work well for pack use. My brain has been looking at the tongs and wondering if I could do something with aluminum rods to make that component a little lighter and less bulky. Hmm... Thanks for the idea! Definitely going to put one together for hunting season!
Very clever. Two stainless dog food/water bowls are easy to obtain and would be a little bigger. If you cover the bottom of bottom bowl with clean stones, you will get a little better heat distribution and less tendency to over-brown the bottom of your muffin.
I use BBQ grill 1/2 inch thick diffuser brick for the bottom spacer, and a bunt pan instead of the foil pan (it distributes the heat even better...ask your wife). The pots were picked up at a local charity used goods store, quality all just for a few bucks...perfect for camping. Cheap, extremely functional, and relatively light weight. Happy baking!
Thrift stores are my go to places for outdoors gear. I do have a few bunt pans but they are either too big or a bit too small for this oven but I will keep looking fo the right size. Thanks for commenting
Brilliant idea, 👍👍 most people I know use the zebra Billy can but you need to find an old one because the new ones I’ve seen have plastic clips that hold the lid on. [which would melt when you turn the can on it’s side.
Glad you liked the video. The plastic clips on the new Zebra Billy are easily removeable and a wire clip fashioned to replace it. You can also buy new Zebra Billys' from a few retailers that have the metal clip installed. Thanks for commenting
On top of my tent stove (3/4 drum with flat plate steel top) I have a lid from a gas bbq. Its perfect, nearly the same size and shape of the whole flat top of the stove. Score. It has gotten plenty of use and I cant think of a better setup. Breads, pizza, ribs.. window, thermometer. I like it.
Found the exact same dog bowls at the dollar store. I’ve put my kit together and will be using it this weekend on a backing trip to Havasupi Canyon. I believe I have a total of three dollars invested. If this works as expected. I’m going to install a bbq thermometer in the bottom of the top pan. We are celebrating our buddies birthday with this trip and I plan on surprising him with a birthday cake. Thank you so much for sharing this.
I baked a German Chocolate cake in the oven on Aug 2nd. Cake turned out great. I used a MSR micro fly stove and MSR titanium Titan Big Kettle as my cake pan. I didn’t have room for the large tongs. But my leatherman worked out fine for the removal.
Awesome....we gotta try that...gizmo will be pissed about it though...😄 I predict this will be the very first bushcraft channel ever to be sponsored by Value Village...
Hi Mark. I finally made one of these little ovens. Bowls from Wally Mart $3 . I make a big batch of bannock and divide it up into 100 gram bags. To that I add one pack of Apple Cinnamon oatmeal and a few Ocean Spray Craisins Blueberry. I used a Nano stove with a Trangia burner. Simmer ring was set at about 1/4 “ . Cook time 20 minutes. It turned out great, well maybe a little dark on the bottom. I made this in the house. I don’t know if I could keep the Trangia going in any amount of wind at that setting. Next time I’m going to try a heat diffuser, the top of a tomato can (796 ml) looks about the right size and it fits in the dog bowl nicely.
Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you. Yeah, I have found a spacer of some sort is pretty much essential. Something I should be using as well is "thermal mass". Stones or ball bearings or something else to soak-up, distribute and hold the heat from underneath. I also like the bannock recipe, especially the addition of the oatmeal. I will have to give that a try. Thanks for commenting
I've looked at these a few times for a thermal mass. Much lighter then ball bearings.www.amazon.com/Mrs-Andersons-Baking-Ceramic-Stoneware/dp/B00004S1BT
Mark Young I picked up some ceramic pie weights and have used them a few times. It seems to add to the baking time and I still slightly burn the bottom of muffin. I’m never really cooking the same thing twice and that’s not helping to dial this oven in. The last time I baked I added one paper clip to the lip of bottom pan then put the top on and secured it with 3 clips. This gave a little gap to let some moisture out, worked good. Next try is going to be the top of a 4 inch can between the heat and the oven. Hopefully the small air space will be the secret to not burning the bottom of the muffin. Update... the top of a can worked great as a heat diffuser (side cut can opener) also nice and light to carry and fits in the dog bowl. Muffin was cooked perfect. Now let’s see if I can do it again without burning it. Cook time about 25 minutes and no pie weights.
I think my two large bowls are 11 inches and I use a 9 inch cake pan .. that allows me to bake an entire muffin cake or cornbread for going with camp meals I also can bake a pan of biscuits for sausage gravy and biscuits for breakfast .. my camp buds where amazed .. plenty for three of us .. just posted a picture of mine on pathfinder group page a couple days ago
I was wondering since it involves dog bowls which are available in different sizes, would it be practical to use a bigger bowl as the “lid” and avoid having to clip the rims (assuming there was enough clearance from a bowl sitting over another one like that). I wonder if it would affect airflow or heat escape.
Actually, I see you idea as very reasonable. I don't think heat loss would be an issue. I like the simplicity of it plus it offers two different size bowls for other uses. Thank you for commenting
thank you for the class and your wife too. do you think if you trippled the size of the pot would it work??? i have a large family and show some more cooking such as savery dish instad of sweet ect
Glad you liked the video. Yes, a simple oven like this could be made in any size. The limiting factor would be matching the heat source to ensure it is well distributed across the bottom. Thanks for commenting
This looks to work great as is but some kind of hinge could make opening and closing to check food and take food out possibly easier. A hinge that could be assembled and disassembled at the camp site so it could still collapse down for packing. Good idea thinking of the dog bowls. Looks like the muffin came out just right.
@@MarkYoungBushcraft you could use those binder rings that open up so you could then restack them together for travel. Could also run the rings thru the binder clips to keep track of.
Nice oven, Mark (and Mrs.). I'll have to try this one. I like the idea of having 2 bowls to use for other stuff. Makes packing lighter. Do you think one of the little alcohol fuel stoves would work for this? I sure hope you're doing ok and recovering well.
Hi Libby. The bowls are great multi-use items. I would say yes to the alcohol stove if it can hold a good amount of fuel and has a simmer mode. A Trangia or something similar should work. Recover is slow but progressing. Thanks for commenting
Beautifully done!! Question, if you were to bake this on coals would you add hot coals to the top to brown that a bit more? Or with the height of the top pot would the heat reach?
Yes, coals on top will work. How brown food gets will depend on the number of coals plus how close to the top you can get the food. Thanks for commenting
For lifting out items, Use foil underneath. Fold a strip a few inches wide, so it runs under your cornbread pan and sticks up opposite sides like a handle. Or use wire to make a similar lifting basket
Hi Mark, just catching up with the great videos you keep up loading, brilliant my friend, what a great idea. Just wondering where you obtained the aluminum for the spacers, they look neat? Hope you're on the mend buddy, keep sharing, thanks.
Hye Paul. Feeling pretty good. Just waiting to start chemo in about a month. The aluminum is 1" barstock I picked up at Canadian Tire. I will be doing a video at some point making an Ikea hobo stove from scratch...Thanks for your continued support
The dog bowls are great. You could use aluminum as well but I would be cautious about not letting them get too hot. I have used an aluminum cook kit as an oven with stones in the bottom to absorb, hold and transmit heat and did not have an issue
I did this today. I succeed by failing along the way. We used Strawberry cheesecake muffin mix. I had 3 dog bowls. Two for my oven and a smaller third to bake in. We use pam spray so it wouldn't stick. I used the Lixada gasification wood stove for my fire source and? FAIL. Kept trying to no succeed UNTIL? I just placed the whole unit into my new volcano grill with the coals (around 10) pushed to the side of the oven. Family and I ate dinner, checked after and it came out perfect. Thanks for the idea. I want to try it again worth the Lixada using pellets instead of wood and see if I can get it to work. Still at my camp site enjoying the road less traveled. Before I forget. The little alcohol dish that comes with the Lixada Gasification Stove? I used that to give my muffin pan space from the bottom of the dog bowl oven.
There are lessons to be learned doing this. We still occasionally make mistakes. I advise caution with the pellets. They can produce a real hot flame. Great idea with the little Lixada bowl. Thanks for sharing
