We received this enquiry from a keen Cobb cooker, who has recently taken up camp oven cooking, and wants to get the best from her Heat Beads^® BBQ Briquettes. We thought this response from camp oven cooking king Derek Bullock, on our behalf, could be useful for anyone out there who is dabbling in camp oven cooking and looking for a few tips.

Q

I am wondering how long the heat should last in your Heat Beads^® BBQ Briquettes? I have a Cobb and they recommended your brand and after reading of problems others have with cheaper ones, I have stuck to yours. In the Cobb I never experienced any problems; I could do the roast, pudding and bread all on the original coals.

I have now started Camp Oven Cooking where sometimes I want to do say 3×20 minutes for small cakes etc and I feel I am losing heat rapidly. Although I can get say two batches; the third one is not cooking at all well. I am writing to ask just what time factor I should expect and if I need to heat up some more Heat Beads^® BBQ Briquettes when cooking batches of bread/ muffins/cakes etc in a camp oven?

C.S.

A

Hi C,

I have found over a period that weather can have quite an effect on how long they will last. On a nice warm day with no wind and cooking in the sun you should get a constant temperature for about an hour. Dull cold and windy and it could be anything. Just as an example, when I cooked at Miles last year I cooked two rib fillet roasts for just over two hours on the original batch of Heat Beads(r) BBQ Briquettes. It was a hot day. To do your three lots at 20-minute intervals for cakes where you need a constant temperature, I would suggest to do two lots with the original Heat Beads^® BBQ Briquettes and then replace them. The reason they last longer in the Cobb is because the temperature is contained to a certain extent. You can get the same effect using your Camp Oven Mate with Heat Beads^® BBQ Briquettes.

Have fun!

Derek