The News Tribune (Lite) - Baking in the great outdoors

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Section: Adventure

Baking in the great outdoors

THE NEWS TRIBUNE
I am trying to find an oven that I can bake more than one item at a time. I have seen the Outback Oven, but you have to bake in a pot or a frying pan. I have seen this new Backpacker Oven recently and am wondering if you have used this or if you think this might be something to look into. – Dave Rodreguiz, Lancaster, Calif.

Oven devotee: I have long been an avid fan of the Outback Oven ($75 in 10-inch model), a handy gadget that turns many camp stoves into a convection oven. I’m intrigued as well by the newer Backpacker Oven ($50), which is basically metal box that fits over a camp stove.

One advantage: The Backpacker Oven is made so you can cook two things at once as opposed to only one for the Outback Oven.

The Backpacker Oven is really just a folding metal box with two shelves and a heavy diffuser plate near the bottom. The whole thing sits over a stove, the stove heats the diffuser plate, and the oven heats up. Whatever you can bake at home you can bake in the Backpacker Oven – biscuits, pizza, brownies, you name it.

One disadvantage: If the Backpacker Oven has a flaw, it’s weight. The whole thing weighs about 28 ounces. The Outback Oven comes in at 22 ounces – but also comes with a nonstick skillet that can be used for other things besides baking. On the other hand, in principle the Backpacker Oven seems easier to use – the Outback Oven can be a little bit tricky.

Either way, it is such a treat to have baked goods when car-camping, bike-camping and so on. Both are a little heavy to take backpacking, but maybe with a group of four you could split the thing up.

Keep in mind you cannot use a stove that sits atop its fuel source – whether liquid or propane/butane. It must have a fuel supply that sits off to the side and feeds the burner through a hose. Otherwise the whole thing heats up and … ka-BOOM! Your brownies are in orbit.

To ask a question of the Gear Guy, you can find Douglas Gantenbein at www.outsidemag.com.