Camping ovens make a big difference when you go camping thanks to them being able to provide you with delicious campfire cooked food! But this brings up the question of what is a camping oven? This question has a few different answers since there is more than one type of camping oven.
With there being five different types of camping ovens, you can immediately see why some people get confused. However, the general consensus is that the Dutch ovens are the best for camping ovens.
- For cooking inside a tent, you will need a stove with a Flue Pipe
The 5 Types Of Camping Ovens
The five types are a canister, liquid fuel, solid fuel-burning, alcohol, and wood-burning stoves, or Dutch Ovens, which all look like a pile of words thrown together, but one thing is for sure, you need one to be able to cook on site.
Having this many options can make finding the right camping oven for you a surprisingly tricky task. Camping has a lot of different varieties as well, such as backpacking, day or car camping, Overlanding, etc. What suits a backpack camper most likely won’t suit a family car camping trip. So figuring what type of camping you’re doing will help you figure out which one you need.
The many different types of camping ovens may all sound confusing, but they all have the same goal in mind, to cook food. Which essentially what a camping oven is. I’ll go over some tips and tricks to choosing a camp oven along with an easy campsite roast further down the page.
What Is A Dutch Oven?
The most common and popular type of camping oven is a dutch oven. Dutch ovens are popular with car campers because of a few reasons, and one of the main ones being that they’re more durable than a lot of other types of camping ovens.
They also only really only require fire to be able to cook with instead of propane, which is more convenient for some people.
Dutch ovens are a cast iron pot with a straightforward design that has multiple ways of cooking a variety of yummy camping meals. The main two methods of cooking with a Dutch oven include a tripod and the in the ground technique, which sounds more complicated than it is. For more methods, you learn how to cook with a dutch oven here.
What To Consider When Buying A Camping Oven
Before buying a camping oven, there is a lot to consider before making the purchase. There are a few different styles of camping ovens that suit different styles of camping, so knowing the form of camping you’re doing is one of the most important things to work out first.
A simple example is if you’re going backpacking, then you won’t be wanting the extra weight of Dutch oven, which is generally more cumbersome and heavy to carry on your back. You’d be better suited to go with something like a canister backpacking stove, as it is lighter and not too bulky to carry around.
Camping Style
As I mentioned above, the type of camping you’ll be doing will affect what kind of camping stove you’re going to require. If you’re going car camping or family camping, then there’s a good chance you’re going to need a bigger camping oven. Something like a 2 or 3 burner stove works well for a family camping trip.
Weather
The forecasted weather at your campsite will come into play with what type of fuel you should be using. Something like kerosene while it’s cheap and low grade it’s commonly used because of the price, but it’s difficult to light in cold weather. These poor attributes to Kerosene make it not very good for cold weather camping.
Propane is something that’s recommended by a lot of campers because it’s not affected by cold weather to much and burns relatively clean. So it’s a good recommendation for a lot of styles of camping, but it’s heavy so not a great option for backpacking.
Fuel Type
The type of fuel your camping stove needs is something you should consider and work out beforehand. Some people don’t want to deal with a campfire Dutch oven because they have young kids around or camping in a very dry area. Times like this, you might be better off with using a propane option since you don’t have to worry about a fire.
However, you need to ensure you bring enough propane to meet your cooking requirements. For example, a 16.4oz propane cylinder can last you on average, one hour of cooking. So unless you bring a larger bottle, you need to budget for how many 16.4oz bottles you need to take.
You could go with the liquid fuel option, but there are a lot more dangers with them. They are more challenging to use than something like a canister stove, so you’ll need to put extra work into maintaining them. You will want to keep a maintenance kit on hand and regularly clean the fuel line and residue off the burner for regular maintenance.
Weight Of The Stove
The total weight of the camp stove is a significant factor and is pretty self-explanatory. The heavier the oven, the harder it is to move, which can be an issue for several styles of camping, and if you have a disability or are a senior citizen tent camping.
Being heavier usually comes with them being bulkier, so that can affect how much space you have to store things. Often the weight of the oven is overlooked, but certainly something most campers need to consider.
Price
For some people trying to camp is about keeping the budget down for a cheaper family vacation. So the cost of the oven does come into play in these kinds of situations. Having a top of the line camping oven sounds great, but is it truly needed for your camping trip? This is something you should work out beforehand. Camping is an enjoyable thing to do, but a broken wallet isn’t!
However, cheap is not always the best. If you’re an avid camper or willing to give camping multiple tries, it makes sense to invest in a high-quality camp oven that will last you many years, rather than buy a cheap and nasty oven which may not even survive the first camping trip.
Can You Use Camp Oven Inside A Tent 
Using a camping oven in a tent is possible provided you follow safety regulations, using an oven inside a tent is known as hot tenting. It can be an enjoyable activity that makes camping much more relaxing.
Camp stoves with flue pipes are the main type of camp stove to use inside a tent. Creating a fire for a cast-iron Dutch oven is not recommended.
BUT there are things you need to know before you even attempt such a thing. Since using a camp oven inside the tent can be dangerous, so you should do plenty of research beforehand.
There are a number of safety precautions to take before you attempt such a thing. The type of tent you have should be flame retardant, which is either canvas or polycotton. The tent should also have a stove jack, that you can also call a chimney. Whatever you want to call it, it’s crucial if you’re planning to attempt this.
Position The Camp Stove Wisely
Where you put the stove is important as you’ll want to have it sitting on either the ground with the bottom of your tent pulled back or some kind of flame retardant mat. This will help with preventing a fire.
There is something called a spark arrester which is a device that prevents debris from a combustible source. Having this will help prevent sparks landing and catching fire and potentially burning your tent down. So you should keep things that are flammable/combustible items away from the stove as well.
One of the last things you’ll need to have is some kind of fire extinguisher. This is self-explanatory and is something that is required if you’re planning on having a camping oven inside your tent.
The silent killer of camping is carbon monoxide which is something you need to be careful of. You need a well-ventilated tent if you’re planning on using a camping stove inside which is why the stove jack is so important. Having just the door open isn’t enough, you will want fresh air coming into the tent at all times with the poisonous carbon monoxide exiting the tent via the stove jack.
It should go without saying, but don’t leave your stove on at night. The only exception to this is if you have people staying on fire watch. I have heard of people that do this, but it’s not a risk I’m willing to take. For some people, this takes away some of the advantages of having a camping stove inside, which is the warmth. But I value my life over staying a little warmer at night.
Tips For Cooking A Roast In A Camp Oven
The roast is a tradition for many families and for some families, it’s a necessity. So much so that even when camping they can’t live without the good old fashioned roast! Thankfully you don’t have to go roast-hungry on your next camping trip. With that said, here are some of my best tips for cooking a roast in a camping oven!
Lamb is one of the most popular types of roast and getting it just right can be tricky. The key to a good lamb roast is to cook it longer at a lower temperature, making sure you create roughly 6 slits in it so moisture can penetrate the lamb to keep in nice and tender. This is so you can put some slivers of garlic and my preference rosemary before roasting!
You don’t want to dry out the juices it creates as this is key to making some excellent gravy. So I make sure I don’t have to many coals underneath to keep it from drying those juices out. A fattier type of meat has fewer chances of drying out which will add in making the gravy better. Some people like to use a trivet but I personally don’t as again it affects the gravy!
Some people will tell you to add water to the cooking process but I find this can stew the veggies. This isn’t something I’d recommend as you want to roast the vegetables, not stew them! Anyways, the meat itself will provide plenty of liquid to help with the roasting process.
There’s a saying I’m a big fan of which is “teamwork makes the dream work” which applies when cooking a delicious camp side roast. You should have one person in charge of the roast and another looking after the fire. This will help with preventing any accidents from someone having to look after the fire and roast at the same time.
Tips For Cooking With A Oven Over A Campfire