Sorry about the previous post. I bumped the enter button. Does anyone use a reflector oven and if so what do you bake in it? We purchased one and are excited to use it on our two trips this summer.

I have one. I don't blame you for being excited. Personally I think the BWCA firegrates are ideally set up for reflector oven use. The down side to them is their weight. However, there are some that are now being made of aluminum which makes them very lightweight.

What to bake in them? The short answer is - anything. Anything you can bake at home can be made in a reflector oven. There a few tricks however.

First, I use a 9" non-stick pan for everything. You don't want to carry a bunch of different pans. So bread, biscuits, cakes, muffins are all made in a 9" round pan. Of course the muffins look like a cake, but they still taste like muffins. :-) By the way, you can bake fish in it too, or casseroles for that matter.

You also don't want to carry a bunch of ingredients, so I like add-water-only, store bought mixes. If it calls for milk or eggs, use powdered/dry stuff to make it add-water-only. I usually grease the botton & sides of the pan with a bit of oil on a paper towel.

You also bake by sight. That is, at home you use an oven timer, but with a reflector oven you don't have precise oven temperatures and the "oven door is open" so you can see it very well. Bake by sight, rotating the pan when needed. You may find that the back of the oven bakes faster than the front. Also, you may want to bake your stuff slightly browner than you would at home.

The real trick, however, is in controling the heat/fire. Heat from the open fire is reflected from the shiny interior of the oven. The slanting top and bottom of the reflector direct the heat toward the top and bottom of the pan of food being baked, that's why the back often cooks faster than the front (by the fire). If the cooking temperature seems too hot or too cold, you can move the oven backward or forward to adjust it. Start with the oven about 8" from the fire.

The best fire for the reflector is a teepee fire built to the height of the oven’s cooking shelf so that the flames are above the food. In the BWCA, place the oven in front of the firegrate and feed the fire through the slits on the grate's top. This will help the fuel to be upright.

Try to keep the oven shelf level. I use rocks or firewood to level it. Gather an ample supply of small wood for the fire. Sticks one to two inches in diameter or smaller are best. I use a lot of pencil to finger thick sticks.

You can guess the temperature with reasonable accuracy by holding your hand just in front of the oven. If you can hold it there for seven to 10 seconds, the temperature is near 200 degrees; six seconds, 300 degrees; three to four seconds, 400 degrees; one to two seconds, 500 degrees.

After five minutes, check the food to be sure it’s cooking properly. If the top is browning faster than the bottom, the fire is too large. If foods are browner on bottom than on top, the fire is too low. Make adjustments as necessary.

Carry two thick potholders or heavy gloves for moving the oven and handling the food.

I find myself standing there feeding the fire alot. It really is key to have the flame higher than the food. You need flames for the reflector oven, unlike a dutch oven which needs coals. The firewood in the BWCA is idea; for reflector ovens.

Have fun baking!

I too am looking forward to using my reflector oven. I built it from 0.020" thick aluminum sheet. This is what mine looks like.

I have nearly completed building a reflector oven from these plans:
Reflector Oven Plans
I look forward to using Bannock's baking tips, and enjoying the results.

BTW there are some pictures of my reflector oven in the photo gallery under "Bannock Mudro Lake".

Thanks for your help guys. I bought mine at rutabaga. It is made in I think Sweden by some guy. It costs $60 so I hope I have good luck with it.

Freden. That's what I have, too. You'll like it. Very lightweight. Very portable. Functions well. It's the one in the pictures I mentioned. Got mine from Rutabagas, too. He only sends over to the U.S. something like 12 a year. There's not a lot of demand for reflector ovens, but even still with that small supply you can't always get them.

You might consider bringing along a pair of pliers for turning pans, moving the oven while it's hot, etc. More versatile than pot holders and a lot less disgusting to work with if they get wet!

I can think of using water-added pizza crust mix, english muffins, soft taco shells, and bannock as pizza crust. Any other suggestions?

You could use that premade Boboli Pizza crust. However, when I make stove-top pizza, I use pita bread. Don't open the bread or anything, just use it as is. Fry one side. Reduce heat. Flip it and add the sauce, cheese and ingredients. Cover. Heat. Quickly steam to melt the cheese. Serve.