The Neverending Trip Down the Camping Rabbit Hole - Campfire Oven Cooking

This is my fourth year camping, and I've started to feel that my camp meals are getting a little repetitive.
It’s always delicious and fun just grilling some meat, but sometimes I want to try something a bit different...

So, last time I focused on “easy enjoyment” with a tabletop grill, but this time, I’m stepping it up a level and challenging myself with “oven cooking on a campfire”!

The gear I used this time is

LOGOS / Fire Cook Pit

This has a two-tier mesh section, so you can cook with a campfire on the top level while using the bottom level for oven cooking.
By setting the included bar on the top tier, you can use both the upper and lower sections of the campfire simultaneously, making it a very versatile item!
It’s perfect for me, someone who’s a bit lazy and wants to do both the fire and cooking at once (lol).

On the Campfire

• By placing the included bar, you can set a pot to make soup, use a frying pan to cook meat, or even engage in more advanced campfire cooking.
• Being able to adjust the position of the bar allows you to accommodate everything from large pots to small kettles!
• You can also adjust the heat intensity by changing the placement of the bar, allowing for both indirect and direct heat.

Below the Campfire

• The lower section serves as an oven space that takes advantage of the heat from above.
• You can easily cook in an oven-like manner by laying down aluminum foil or using a skillet.
• This fire cook pit is designed to be wide enough to comfortably fit an L-size delivery pizza (about 31 cm).

Actually, I mentioned this briefly in “My First Solo Camping Trip, Day 1” post, and I’ve been interested in it ever since… and before I knew it, I finally got my hands on it (^_^;). This is the danger of camping gear collecting, isn’t it?

Let’s assemble it right away!

Despite its large finished form that you can see in the image, it can be stored very compactly.
Thanks to small compartments (such as those for connecting the upper and lower mesh sections), it’s easy to keep all the parts organized and avoid losing any. You can pack everything into one bag, making it super easy to carry.

There are a few more parts to assemble, but they’re light and simple, so it wasn’t a hassle at all.

Let’s Start the Campfire!

The fire pit is flat and large, making it easy to stack firewood!
With the V-shaped fire pit I used before, it was always difficult to do the "Igeta" (traditional criss-cross) or "Gassho" (teepee) wood stacking methods, but with this one, the stability is excellent!

Additionally, it’s a mesh type, which improves combustion efficiency, making it easy to start the fire, and the firewood burns cleanly all the way through.

Let’s Bake a Pizza!

To avoid burning the toppings and for hygiene reasons, I placed the pizza on aluminum foil and baked it!

This time, I took the easy route and baked a chilled pizza I bought at the supermarket, but you can easily enjoy a more authentic pizza depending on your mood—by adding your favorite toppings or even making the dough from scratch if you're the dedicated type!

The heat from above gave the pizza a nice crispy crust, and the hot Margherita pizza is ready!
I’ll enjoy it with some white wine~ (^_^)♪

Cheese-Baked Veggies and Sausages

Since I get full quickly from pizza, I decided to make a “Cheese-Baked Veggies and Sausages” as a snack to go with the wine.

Ingredients (use whatever you have at home, and adjust the quantities as you like!)

• Main ingredients: Broccoli, sweet potato, shiitake mushrooms, sausages
• Seasonings: Olive oil, salt and pepper, garlic (garlic powder is fine too)
• Finish: A generous amount of pizza cheese

How to Make It

1. Add olive oil and garlic to a skillet, and warm it up on the upper level of the campfire.
2. Add the chopped vegetables and sausages, and stir-fry them.
3. Season with salt and pepper (add spices or ketchup if you like).
4. Generously sprinkle pizza cheese on top.
5. Place the skillet in the oven space on the lower level of the campfire. Once the cheese is bubbling and has browned, it's done!

I wrote this in a recipe style, but basically, it's just “stir-fry the chopped ingredients, top with cheese, and pop it in the oven space!” (lol).

It’s so easy to make oven-like dishes, so next time I want to try making apple pies or chocolate pies using puff pastry!
The "Fire Cook Pit" expands the possibilities of camp meals—maybe you can try adding it to your own gear collection?