With all the new members we have maybe someone could pull up the jello-mold oven from the archives, perhaps some of them would like to try that out. I use mine all the time at home and do still trip with it occasionally.

This one? JMO

Or this one Tweaks

I replaced my heavy Dutch Oven with a JMO a few years ago. It hasn't missed a trip since. Made great muffins and biscuits again this year. And oh so much easier on the back.

Yes - the JMO is a permanent addition to my cook kit. Very versatile and opens up a whole new line of menu items.

Thanks to Dogwood Lady

Old Hoosier

Thanks for the inspiration!

I went to the local Goodwill, and found this nice little set - paid $4 total. Added a hole and a thermometer ($9), and just made some brownies that the wife said were to die for.

You guys rock!

For a diffuser I use one of those toast makers with the wire rack you put the bread on and put it on the campfire [then blacken the toast] I simply take the wires off, packs small and light. I think it's against the wilderness rules to use a thermometer, My stove is a Peak One and it will simmer really low. I bake bread, muffins, pizza, and my favorite is applecrisp. FRED

For a diffuser I use one of those toast makers with the wire rack you put the bread on and put it on the campfire [then blacken the toast] I simply take the wires off, packs small and light. I think it's against the wilderness rules to use a thermometer, My stove is a Peak One and it will simmer really low. I bake bread, muffins, pizza, and my favorite is applecrisp. FRED

FOG51:I think it's against the wilderness rules to use a thermometer

That's not a thermometer - it's a functional lid lifter :)


Thanks for the ideas - I've seen your pizza idea, and laughed quite loud about it. It is truly brilliant!

This morning I did it without the diffuser, and it worked even better. The Coleman Exponent has a small conical flame, which runs directly up the mold pan without an issue - I was just a bit too cautious last night.

I made a "holy cow we found blueberries" coffee cake:









The second photo is the one tip I learned from Cliff Jacobsen (just happened to have his book from the library today, in the section where he talks about improvised ovens). He said to put the mold pan in another shallow pan of water to cool it off for a few minutes to remove your baked goods - it really worked, and allowed the cake to fall right out, after a little edge knifework.

I'm 25 days from Mudro EP now, and can't wait to impress my comrades - thanks for the excellent suggestion!

Use some good old Crisco to grease the pan and your food will slide out easier.

I cook over a camp fire - not a burner. But a great diffuser to use is simply another metal pie pan. Put one on bottom as a diffuser and one on top for holding topside heat.

The bottom diffuser on a camp fire also removes all the smoke smell risk.

Once you learn the technique - the sky is the limit. Pizza, brownies, muffins, biscuits/gravy, fudge, cakes, on and on.

Old Hoosier

I'm really interested in learning to cook this way. I thought there's no way in heck I'll walk into goodwill and find what I need on the first try. Lo and behold, they had exactly one of everything I need. The jello mold, 9" round cake pan that fits perfectly on top of the jello mold and some sort of round flat piece of metal with holes in it for a diffuser. All for $2.47 total. I couldn't believe I got so lucky, all in one trip.

Another key is to size the recipe correctly for your size jello mold, and that simply takes some practice runs. Having the correct amount of recipe makes for better cooking, just the right amount of food, and no messy overflows to clean up. It is a very nice tool if you are inclined to that type of cooking.

quote buz: "





"

I'm still looking for the silicone sheets to doctor my rig up like yours. How well do the staples hold on the circles?

I was also wondering if I could glue it with some silicone, at least the outside one.

It may not matter for this trip (early August is a warm time), but I think winter would be quite different. I noticed quite a temperature variation when the wind blew over the pan; whether it was a lack of insulation or a flame change I do not know.

quote Old Hoosier: "I cook over a camp fire - not a burner. But a great diffuser to use is simply another metal pie pan. Put one on bottom as a diffuser and one on top for holding topside heat."

Great point, and now I must go back to Goodwill. I think I would need this for a stick stove too, both to keep my temps inline, and my food from smoking.

Hmm - maybe it would be good to leave the smoke in for some dishes, like your biscuits and gravy...

Something more to try this weekend!

Man B,

Those are not staples, just a stiff wire pushed/threaded thru both pieces, back and forth, kind of like a sewing stitch. It holds them really well, no issues. You can find those silicone sheets at bed bath and beyond, and likely a lot of places on line if you look for silicone baking sheets.

You could also honestly use some corregated cardboard for the outside ones, if you are careful for insulation. I did a couple of times in the fall/winter, worked well. But the inside one really removed any burning issues, so it had to be silicone, and works great in that regard, I dont have to work real hard on temp control, and the outside ones were left overs from the cut up sheet. I only use the inside one on summer trips.

Hi All,

Well, I brought the whole shebang to the wilderness, and it was a rousing success, especially with the boil&eat crowd I was with (everyone was responsible for their family unit, and the others brought Chinese pocket rocket stoves).

I made sure to grease the pan well each time _ I brought the Parkay Squeeze after leaning this trick from an outfitter. Maybe next time I'll try ghee, but the squeeze bottle is pretty convenient.


Mostly desserts to share, but I did cook some meals:

- Pizza (I did mine with Jiffy pizza dough, dehydraded sauce, dehydrated beef, and pizza cheese - I couldn't fit in the mini pepperoni that I brought, as the pan was full)

- Open Faced Strawberry Pie (again, Jiffy pie dough, dehydrated strawberries, sugar, and cornstarch) - this was amazingly good - a suggestion, though, is to put the strawberries, sugar, cornstarch and water in a cup to mix and then heat to warm, and allow to stand while preparing the pie dough. Also, a generous squeeze of butter over the dough goes a long way to make a sweet/salty/fatty/fulfilling dessert

- My "I Found Blueberries" coffee cake - we found blueberries, and dumped them into the Duncan Hines "just add water" blueberry muffin mix. Again, a generous squeeze of butter over the top helped a lot

- Chocolate/Chocolate Cake - I found a Chocolate chocolate chip cookie mix, which needed eggs and oil. A few dehydrated eggs, more butter, and baked - it turned out lots more "cakey" than I expected, but was all gone very quickly.

One final tip - after I was done baking, I put the baked good right into the lake for a minute. The pan floats (you'd better watch it so it doesn't sail away), and it gave enough cooling to allow the cake to shrink back from the sides.

Did you do the silicone?

Not yet - I have that on my "dead winter" list to develop. That list is growing...

Curious was all and glad it turned out well without.

I use my JMO with a dragonfly and make a skirt out of alum foil around the outside to cook the side. It seems to work fine with out skirts in these pictures.

JMO work great on fire grates where the whole thing sees heat.

Mine always goes because it nests in the cook kit and its a treat on a long scout trip.

The goofiest thing I want to do... is modify my coleman lantern to cook JMO on the top.

quote Humdinger: "The goofiest thing I want to do... is modify my coleman lantern to cook JMO on the top."

That is an AWESOME idea!

In fact, I think if you have a sufficiently old lantern, it would take no modification at all!

The 1940's 220 lanterns had a much smaller "stack" on them, which would perfectly set up the JMO:



I just took a peek at my stash of lanterns (I'm up to 6 now), and I have one of that vintage. Stay tuned - I'm stealing your idea!

(Side note - could this be the JMO version of the Easy Bake Oven?)

quote ManBehindThePlan: "

quote Humdinger: "The goofiest thing I want to do... is modify my coleman lantern to cook JMO on the top."

That is an AWESOME idea!


In fact, I think if you have a sufficiently old lantern, it would take no modification at all!


The 1940's 220 lanterns had a much smaller "stack" on them, which would perfectly set up the JMO:





I just took a peek at my stash of lanterns (I'm up to 6 now), and I have one of that vintage. Stay tuned - I'm stealing your idea!


(Side note - could this be the JMO version of the Easy Bake Oven?)"

I'm wondering if you would get enough heat coming up the outside ring of the mold to cook adequately. I know you would get enough heat on the inside ring.

quote OldFingers57: " I'm wondering if you would get enough heat coming up the outside ring of the mold to cook adequately. I know you would get enough heat on the inside ring."

To be perfectly honest, I wonder the same thing. I need to pull out the lantern to test it - it's a recovered garage sale item, and I'm sure I need to do some work with it.

I do know one thing - I wouldn't bring it to the wilderness - the backpacking stove makes more sense there, but car/Scout camping...

quote ManBehindThePlan: "

quote OldFingers57: " I'm wondering if you would get enough heat coming up the outside ring of the mold to cook adequately. I know you would get enough heat on the inside ring."

To be perfectly honest, I wonder the same thing. I need to pull out the lantern to test it - it's a recovered garage sale item, and I'm sure I need to do some work with it.


I do know one thing - I wouldn't bring it to the wilderness - the backpacking stove makes more sense there, but car/Scout camping..."

Let us all know on here how it worked out for you using the lantern with the JMO. I'm hoping you'll test it out at home soon.

I had good luck with an angel food cake pan and a pan to fit over the top. That's all goodwill had when I went. Only problem is it bends easily. So it needs body work after a few portages.

quote Seaweed1: "I had good luck with an angel food cake pan and a pan to fit over the top. That's all goodwill had when I went. Only problem is it bends easily. So it needs body work after a few portages. "

Like a pound cake can?

like this

quote Seaweed1: " like this "

thats pretty cool
I've never tried one of the bigger "pound cake" styles. I had thought the opening in the middle was to narrow to allow enough heat to reach the top for even cooking

That's an Angel food cake pan.

quote OldFingers57: "That's an Angel food cake pan."

Are you sure it isn't a Bundt? ;-)

(Cue My Big Fat Greek Wedding)

Angle food with a flan or torte pan on top it looks like. Thought about bundt pan myself but usually heavier - cast rather than sheet usually or in my experience.

just doesn't seem that the hole is large enough for heat to travel thru and be trapped by the top for even cooking. Going to have to retire to lab and do some testing

That was all I could find the day I went to goodwill. It worked fine I cooked biscuits and blueberry muffins in it. Of course I never had a proper jello mold oven to compare it to. Maybe the fluted edge lets some heat in around the outside edges too.

quote ManBehindThePlan: "

quote OldFingers57: "That's an Angel food cake pan."

Are you sure it isn't a Bundt? ;-)

(Cue My Big Fat Greek Wedding)
"

Bundt pan usually looks like this

I've seen non-stick bundt oans, which makes it an interesting option, but never non-stick jello molds (doh!) or angle food tins (which seem mostly two part ones).

I've seen non-stick angel food cake pans, however they have a white interior to them as opposed to a regular Teflon interior.

I had grand visions of perfect baked goods when I set about acquiring the necessary parts for the jmo. Real life experiences have been less than fairy tale. So far everything was over done around the center and never would finish around the outside. I built a diffuser from 1/16 aluminum, I put a large hole in the center, I think that was a mistake and I I'll make another one with smaller holes in the center. I also plan to open up the holes in the center tube of the jmo since the tube is the same height as the outside. It's fun to play with this thing but at my current skill level it won't be making any trips!

For a dizzure I use one of those bottom plates off a bread toaster [the kind you use on a campfire, Coleman or colligan brand] I bought it at fleet farm., lots of little holes scattered around on the face of the plate. My jello molds center is shorter than my cover so the heat goes up the center then around /down the inside of the mold. I've never tried to cook on the campfire but on my little coleman single burner stove set on the lowest setting it works great. Now I generally use my DIY reflector oven. FRED

quote Lotw: "I had grand visions of perfect baked goods when I set about acquiring the necessary parts for the jmo. Real life experiences have been less than fairy tale. So far everything was over done around the center and never would finish around the outside. I built a diffuser from 1/16 aluminum, I put a large hole in the center, I think that was a mistake and I I'll make another one with smaller holes in the center. I also plan to open up the holes in the center tube of the jmo since the tube is the same height as the outside. It's fun to play with this thing but at my current skill level it won't be making any trips!
"

What are you using for a stove? I use a dragonfly, no diffuser, and have had no burning issues. Cakes, muffins, pizza. Maybe the large center "tube" helps.

I have used my Chinese pocket rocket, I can turn this down to almost nothing and I have used my jet boil. I thought the jet boil would be way to hot but I don't think that's the case. I had to turn them up a bit to get the outside to cook at all. It takes forever to get anything to cook!!
I'll try the toast diffuser, I have one here.
For the lid i have been using a 11" aluminum pie pan that I also use for the lid for My fry pan. It's fairly heavy and larger than it needs to be. I read in one thread that I might need holes around the outside edge too??
I'm going to try another round tonight. Possibly brownies again since I have some ice cream!!

I use a windscreen - the one that MSR puts with Whisperlite and Dragonfly. It goes to just about rim of jmo.

I don't think the holes help. You want as much heat as possible at top - just like a dutch oven. I get pretty good browning on top. And one wicked hot pie pan.

Rather than using a stove, could you do this on the grate over the fire? I'm assuming you'd have to have a low flame and hot coals to make it work.

I don't know. I think some have. I rely on the somewhat narrow plume of the stove to send a lot of heat to top.

If you have coals, just pile those on top of pie pan on a skillet or pot like a dutch oven.

I think the jmo (and several similar commercial products) are for burners. It does work on a gas range or Coleman suitcase stove.

I tried the toaster diffuser and it made all the difference in the world. Turned out some perfect brownies!

I do this over the coals all the time, works like a charm!

quote dogwoodgirl: "I do this over the coals all the time, works like a charm!"

Thanks!