# Field expedient ovens **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 11, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/field-expedient-ovens/524556 "2010-01-11T20:41:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sweeteviljesus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/898d66/32.png) [@sweeteviljesus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweeteviljesus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/field-expedient-ovens/524556/1 "2010-01-11T20:41:26Z")
I was wondering if there were a simple and relatively quick way to make an oven in the field. I was wondering what a backpacker or bushcrafter might do since packing in a camp stove is almost certainly out of the question (for the uninitiated, a camp stove a.k.a. a Dutch oven is a large cast iron pot with a heavy, lipped lid upon which you place additional coals and is good for stews, baking bread, etc.). It occurred to me that given sufficient time, one could make a brick oven using natural clays, etc., but this isn’t very practical. Is there another way that, say, sourdough breads could be cooked in the field? Thanks, Rob ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/field-expedient-ovens/524556/2 "2010-01-11T20:51:12Z")
[Backpack ovens.](http://mysite.verizon.net/ldbails/Outdoor/Other/5.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/field-expedient-ovens/524556/3 "2010-01-11T20:54:45Z")
You can bake in a foil-lined cardboard box, using charcoal briquets. Google “cardboard” “oven” and you’ll get many tips. ---
**Author:** ![YamatoTwinkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/cc9497/32.png) [@YamatoTwinkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YamatoTwinkie)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/field-expedient-ovens/524556/4 "2010-01-11T20:58:10Z")
For a commercial product, try googling for “Outback Oven.” The author of [this](http://books.google.com/books?id=6GZvk54t484C&pg=PA112&lpg=PA112&dq=DIY+outback+oven&source=bl&ots=WoTWHW__ja&sig=zzkWzB_ltTpwJPKmGSIDXaJMzX0&hl=en&ei=Mo5LS6OYL9WzlAeOueyJDQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAoQ6AEwADgK#v=onepage&q=&f=false) book recommends making something similar out of a coffee can. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/field-expedient-ovens/524556/5 "2010-01-11T21:36:23Z")
> [@Nametag](#): > > You can bake in a foil-lined cardboard box, using charcoal briquets. Google “cardboard” “oven” and you’ll get many tips. Heck, I’ve even used a foil-lined box as a **solar** oven. Took a bit longer, but the coffee cake didn’t care. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/field-expedient-ovens/524556/6 "2010-01-12T04:56:50Z")
Solar ovens tend to be fairly limited in the temperatures they can reach. For some foods, you can just cook them longer at a lower temperature, but not for all. You’d probably want to research specialized recipes, if you’re going that route. ---
**Author:** ![WarmNPrickly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d78d45/32.png) [@WarmNPrickly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WarmNPrickly)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/field-expedient-ovens/524556/7 "2010-01-12T12:59:47Z")
I was thinking of something like a dutch oven. It is probably like a camping oven only heavier. ---
**Author:** ![fighting\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@fighting\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fighting_ignorant)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/field-expedient-ovens/524556/8 "2010-01-12T14:57:09Z")
[Outback Oven](http://www.backpackerspantry.com/InventoryD.asp?loc=100&item_no=167002&category=test&subcategory=)! ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/field-expedient-ovens/524556/9 "2010-01-12T17:40:19Z")
My dad had something similar to [this](http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=5010D700T&categoryid=27400) when I was a kid. It folds flat and sits on a standard Coleman stove when baking. I was thinking about buying one for Burning Man to try to bake something delicious. It’s not backpackable, but is designed for car camping. ---
**Author:** ![SmellMyWort](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/field-expedient-ovens/524556/10 "2010-01-12T18:18:00Z")
[Earth oven](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth_oven) Simple, but maybe not so quick. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/field-expedient-ovens/524556/11 "2010-01-12T18:38:08Z")
When I was a boy scout we took a square 5 gallon can and cut off one side. We rigged a removable grid that was about 1/2 way up. For the back packing trip in we stuffed a sleeping bag into the can and strapped it to my pack frame. When dinner rolled around I set it up in front of the the fire and baked a cake in it. Worked like a champ. So I don’t see a problem with doing bread. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2010, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/field-expedient-ovens/524556/12 "2010-01-12T18:41:18Z")
> [@Darryl\_Lict](#): > > My dad had something similar to [this](http://www.coleman.com/coleman/colemancom/detail.asp?product_id=5010D700T&categoryid=27400) when I was a kid. It folds flat and sits on a standard Coleman stove when baking. I was thinking about buying one for Burning Man to try to bake something delicious. > > It’s not backpackable, but is designed for car camping. They work quite well. My lawyer has one that he uses every chance he gets. Nothing like the smell of freshly-baked muffins to get people out of their sleeping bags in the morning.