Cardboard Box Oven
Courtesy of the U.S. Scouting Service.
A cardboard box will make an oven -- and it works just
as well as your oven at home! There are different ways to make a cardboard
box oven.
1. The open top Box Oven
Cut off the flaps so that the box has four straight
sides and bottom. The bottom of the box will be the top of the oven. Cover
the box inside COMPLETELY with foil, placing the shiny side out. To use
the oven, place the pan with food to be baked on a footed grill over the
lit charcoal briquettes. The grill should be raised about ten inches above
the charcoal. Set the cardboard oven over the food and charcoal. Prop up
one end of the oven with a pebble to provide the air charcoal needs to
burn - or cut air vents along the lower edge of the oven.
2. The copy paper Box Oven
The cardboard boxes that hold reams of paper, 10 reams of 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper, or 10
reams of 8 1/2 by 14 inch paper, will
make very nice box ovens. Line the inside of the box and lid with aluminum
foil. Use a sponge to dab some Elmer's glue around the inside and cover
to hold the foil in place. Make a couple holes in the cover to let the
combustion gases out, and make a few holes around the sides near the bottom,
to let oxygen in. Make a tray to hold the charcoal using one or two metal
pie plates. You can either make feet for a single pie plate using nuts
and bolts, or bolt two pie plates together bottom to bottom. Cut a couple
coat hangers to make a rack to hold up the cooking pan. Poke the straight
pieces of coat hanger through once side, and into the other. Two pieces
will usually do fine.. Put several lit briquettes on the pie pan, put your
cooking pan on the rack, and place the cover on top. The first time you
use this box oven, check it a few times to make sure that enough oxygen
is getting in, and enough gases are escaping, to keep the charcoal burning.
3. Box oven without the box!
David T. Berg says, "I saw a demo last week at our
round table of the box oven minus the box! Procedure:
1.Pound four one inch + diameter by about 1.5 ft length
sticks into the ground in the shape of a square about 1.5 ft per side and
wrap them with heavy duty foil. 2.Arrange aluminum foil around stakes and
drape over top and crimp to hold in place. Also line floor with foil.
3.Drive three or four stakes into the ground through
the foil floor to hold up the baking dish. It looked kind of ugly but worked
pretty well for baking the biscuits. If you make it this way, you don't
have to take up room with a bulky box. Anyway, that's what the person doing
the demo said."
4. (?????)
5. Yet another description of a Box Oven
From Dori Byron, Fair Winds Girl Scout Council Trainer,
Brownie leader, and Computer nut, "You need:
1.One large box (whiskey or any double corrugated box
that will fit a cake pan or cookie sheet with about 1" all around will
do.) Note: this does not have to have a lid or top.
2.Lots of large high quality, heavy duty, tin foil
(commercial time, use Reynolds wrap)
3.Four small TIN juice cans
4.A 9x13 cake pan or small cookie sheet
5.One #10 can, open at both ends and vented at bottom
for charcoal chimney.
6.One small friendly stone to vent bottom
First cover the inside of box with two layers of foil.
Be sure you have no box showing anywhere. You can tape it down on OUTSIDE.
Place a large sheet of foil on a level, not burnable, piece of ground.
Place the charcoal chimney on the foil and place a fire starter and whole
charcoals (one for every 40 degrees of temperature plus one or two for
cold, wet, or wind) Light the chimney and wait about 20 min for charcoal
to be ready. Pull off chimney and spread out charcoal to fit under pan
used. Place four small juice cans to support cake pan and lower box oven
over all. Vent on leeward (that's away from the wind for non mariners) side
with small stone. Cook for amount of time called for in recipe. If cooking
for much more than 30 minutes replenish charcoal.
Note: Be sure and lift box straight up or you will "dump" the heat. No peeking allowed!! Anything you can cook in an oven at
home can be done in a box though I prefer things that can be done in 30
min or so. Good Eating!" For all box ovens: Control the baking temperature
of the oven by the number of charcoal briquettes used. Each briquette supplies
40 degrees of heat (a 360 degree temperature will take 9 briquettes).
Experiment! Build an oven to fit your pans - or your
menu: Bake bread, brownies, roast chicken, pizza or a coffee cake. Construct
a removable oven top or oven door. Punch holes on opposite sides of the
oven and run coat hanger wire through to make a grill to hold baking pans.
Try the oven over the coals of a campfire. More information about Box Ovens,
is available from the US Scouting Service Project.
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