Camp Cooking Accessories

Well, this page started out just to show off the "Coleman Camping Oven" but I have decided to add additional gadgets as I buy them. Well, the second one is pictured below - the new Coleman Camping Drip Coffeemaker.

Coleman Camping Oven

On advice of many people we decided to try the Coleman Camping Oven to add to our cooking arsenal. So far it has worked well, but at times we put a sheet of aluminum foil over the top (wrapped a few inches down the sides) to increase the temperature. Since we got it we have used it on almost every trip for one item or another (like a coffee cake for breakfast or a layer cake for desert).

The people who recommended it to us stated it worked best with the hottest stove you have available. As that is our high pressure outside stove that is what we have used. Reportedly, the hottest stove, and hence the ability to achieve the hottest oven temperatures would be a Coleman "fuel" (white gas) stove.

All photos are thumbnails, click to see an enlarged version

	To the left you see the camp oven on our 2 burner high pressure stove. Many have reported that the thermometer in the center of the door is not accurate and suggest adding a standard oven thermometer inside. So far we have not had any problems with this issue.
	Interior view of the oven.

Camping Drip Coffeemaker

The one thing I always missed while dry camping was a good cup of coffee each morning. I must admit that I am spoiled, even at home I use Dunkin Donuts coffee. While camping I have been using coffee bags which are available from Folgers or Maxwell House. While they produce an OK cup of coffee, it is just not the flavor I have come to expect each morning.

So, when Coleman issued a press release announcing a true drip coffeemaker that used any camping stove as it's heat source I was interested. A quick trip to Wal-Mart and I was now the proud owner of one of these unique devices.

The unit appears to be very well made. Obviously the base area of the unit is metal as it sits over the camp stove fire. The water reservoir is made of heavy plastic (at first I thought it was metal too) with a glass coffee carafe. I wonder if the unit is not manufactured by Mr. Coffee as the carafe is almost an exact duplicate from the one in the kitchen. Additionally the unit had a trial size bag of Mr. Coffee coffee inside when purchased.

Well, I'd like to tell you how it works, but while the pop up is comfortably sitting in the garage - there is a 2 foot pile of snow in front of that garage door. Keep checking back for the first report when I get to use it.

3/23/03 - Well the snow has melted and spring is here! I tried my new coffee maker on our first trip of the season. The first discovery I made was that the Coleman coffeemaker does not fit on the high pressure LP stove on the outside of my Santa Fe. You have to remove the stove grate (not a big deal) and the coffeemaker will "bridge" over the flame nicely.

My first suggestion is to take that neat little bag of coffee they give you and toss it in the trash. Lousy coffee in my opinion!

The coffeemaker works well, if just a little slower than my Mr. Coffee at home. Using good coffee grounds, it makes good coffee, but a bit on the cool side for my taste. I still consider it a step above the coffee bags I was using.

Cooking Tripod

All photos are thumbnails, click to see an enlarged version

	We do most of our cooking over the campfire. We have used several grill racks through the years, but so far this works best for us. It is a Lodge Tripod, adapted with a grill that can be raised and lowered over the fire. I must admit, I got the idea from Marcy, "ForestCreature" and the tripod she uses.
	At the top of the tripod I attached a small stainless steel "S" hook with a stainless steel pulley. Through the pulley I ran a small cable that raises and lowers the grill.
	The grill is a small round replacement BBQ grate from Home Depot. You can see the cable connects to 4 corners of the grill and come together at the top of the grill in another "S" hook that connects to the main pulley cable. This can be disconnected for ease of storage.
	The free end of the cable connects to a wooden handle. At each end of the handle is round stainless steel eye, just large enough to slip over the tripod leg. Upward pressure from the pulley end of the cable "locks" the handle in place anywhere along the length of the leg. This allows you to position the grill at any height.

Revised: May 08, 2007

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