Cowboy Cooking outdoors with cast iron cookware

[j_20]

I dont have a ring in mine like ram does i just fill it about half full of oil then when done transfer it over to serving dish. Though that ring does look handy. Yes for the stuff you mentioned I'd go with a trusty lodge dutch oven, the coals on top really make the top of a cobbler good. The stews and chili though can be made good in a cream can cooker or can cooker to, both brands started right here in Nebraska.

 

[Dave]

One winter I was chasing on a landing up about 4,000 feet on the west slope of the Cascades. Two feet of snow and colder than a witch. I had a 55 gallon drum for a fire barrel. I robbed a piece of quarter inch steel off the mechanics truck. It was just the right size to cover the top of the barrel. We ate a lot of hot lunches based on that steel plate. The only washing it ever got was being tossed cooking side down into a snow bank. I have a reflector oven too. Stood it up against the side of fire barrel. It worked good for biscuits. Sure beat a cold peanut butter sandwich.

So trying to picture this contraption Dave. Sounds awesome. Sounds quite snowy and cold there. We get the cold and wind but not near the amount of snow. Two feet at one time is a rarity though it can drift well higher in places!

So if your food is in the reflector oven in the fire barrel (reflector oven looks like it has three walls and a bottom) how do you keep the fire from burning the tar out of it. Assume you put a dutch oven inside the barrel to cook your stuff in other than using the reflector oven. Steel plate kept snow out but I assume it would be dang hot to eat off of (be careful not to get a second or third degree burn - rubber handle fell off of skillet, thumb hit the metal, nice second degree burn. Doing dishes was painful tried to keep my hand out of water so got me out of dishes for a few days :lol:

That steel plate was big enough to cover the top of the barrel. We would leave a little gap to one side for the smoke to escape. When we made off with that steel plate we also borrowed the mechanics grinder to polish up one side of the plate. That was the cooking side. Although a bunch of hungry cold logger wouldn't let a little things like dirt and grease to stop them from eating. Used it like a big grill. We grilled all sorts of things on it. To "wash" it we just tossed it cooking side down into a snow bank. The reflector oven was set on the ground outside the fire barrel. The heat coming off the barrel was reflected up or down toward the cooking surface. I have used the same oven to cook by an open fire. Like a lot of other things it is a bit tricky learning to use. I have burnt a thing or two and had a few that took longer than desired to get done.

It isn't all that cold on the west side of the Cascades. It is generally only in the 20's in the winter. But this is an area which probably gets 100 inches of rain per year. Rain and below freezing temperatures equal snow. Then you get to find out how tough you are. Most winters there would eventually come a time when the crew wasn't tough enough. Then you got to go home for a month or three until the weather shifted.

 

[NECowboy]

I dont have a ring in mine like ram does i just fill it about half full of oil then when done transfer it over to serving dish. Though that ring does look handy. Yes for the stuff you mentioned I'd go with a trusty lodge dutch oven, the coals on top really make the top of a cobbler good. The stews and chili though can be made good in a cream can cooker or can cooker to, both brands started right here in Nebraska.

How do you rate the can cooker vs lodge dutch oven though in terms of taste? I wouldn't think the can cooker would be that good. Also I already own a pressure cooker and slow cooker so not eager to buy yet one more thing. Most of my cooking other than grill (own a Traeger) is indoors in part due to Nebraska's open fire ban and not having a fire pit or the like.

 

[NECowboy]

One winter I was chasing on a landing up about 4,000 feet on the west slope of the Cascades. Two feet of snow and colder than a witch. I had a 55 gallon drum for a fire barrel. I robbed a piece of quarter inch steel off the mechanics truck. It was just the right size to cover the top of the barrel. We ate a lot of hot lunches based on that steel plate. The only washing it ever got was being tossed cooking side down into a snow bank. I have a reflector oven too. Stood it up against the side of fire barrel. It worked good for biscuits. Sure beat a cold peanut butter sandwich.

So trying to picture this contraption Dave. Sounds awesome. Sounds quite snowy and cold there. We get the cold and wind but not near the amount of snow. Two feet at one time is a rarity though it can drift well higher in places!

So if your food is in the reflector oven in the fire barrel (reflector oven looks like it has three walls and a bottom) how do you keep the fire from burning the tar out of it. Assume you put a dutch oven inside the barrel to cook your stuff in other than using the reflector oven. Steel plate kept snow out but I assume it would be dang hot to eat off of (be careful not to get a second or third degree burn - rubber handle fell off of skillet, thumb hit the metal, nice second degree burn. Doing dishes was painful tried to keep my hand out of water so got me out of dishes for a few days :lol:

That steel plate was big enough to cover the top of the barrel. We would leave a little gap to one side for the smoke to escape. When we made off with that steel plate we also borrowed the mechanics grinder to polish up one side of the plate. That was the cooking side. Although a bunch of hungry cold logger wouldn't let a little things like dirt and grease to stop them from eating. Used it like a big grill. We grilled all sorts of things on it. To "wash" it we just tossed it cooking side down into a snow bank. The reflector oven was set on the ground outside the fire barrel. The heat coming off the barrel was reflected up or down toward the cooking surface. I have used the same oven to cook by an open fire. Like a lot of other things it is a bit tricky learning to use. I have burnt a thing or two and had a few that took longer than desired to get done.

It isn't all that cold on the west side of the Cascades. It is generally only in the 20's in the winter. But this is an area which probably gets 100 inches of rain per year. Rain and below freezing temperatures equal snow. Then you get to find out how tough you are. Most winters there would eventually come a time when the crew wasn't tough enough. Then you got to go home for a month or three until the weather shifted.

What were y'all doing up there Dave?

 

[j_20]

I dont have a ring in mine like ram does i just fill it about half full of oil then when done transfer it over to serving dish. Though that ring does look handy. Yes for the stuff you mentioned I'd go with a trusty lodge dutch oven, the coals on top really make the top of a cobbler good. The stews and chili though can be made good in a cream can cooker or can cooker to, both brands started right here in Nebraska.

How do you rate the can cooker vs lodge dutch oven though in terms of taste? I wouldn't think the can cooker would be that good. Also I already own a pressure cooker and slow cooker so not eager to buy yet one more thing. Most of my cooking other than grill (own a Traeger) is indoors in part due to Nebraska's open fire ban and not having a fire pit or the like.

It depends for me really, I like to do cream can suppers (a Nebraska version of a low country boil) so the can cooker does good for that but if I got the time I like the dutch oven. Im form the appalachian mountains though so you give me a stocked spice cabinet and I can turn just about anything into a good meal and cook it on a rock if need be haha.

 

[HowardPhalf]

I take it you bake your cakes in a cake tin.
if so why not transport the cake in the tin and then decorate it at the venue?