It’s great to see members trying their hand at camp oven cooking for the first time and it’s particularly gratifying when their first attempt is so successful.  On a recent club trip Rick and Julie produced their new deluxe, double handled, carefully seasoned 12inch camp oven, a rack for the bottom, an oven lifter, a bag of heat beads and a beautiful leg of pork.

It was clear from the outset that Rick is an avid reader of Kampers Kitchen because he carefully counted out the number of heat beads needed, prepared the pork with a little salt and added just the right amount of water.

The timing was spot on and the result was a superbly roasted leg of pork , complete with crackling and of course all the trimmings to go with it.  Rick proudly displayed the result of his new found culinary expertise and then quickly disappeared into his camper to emerge sometime later with a huge satisfied grin and a bone!

Rick and Julie were so pleased with their first attempt at camp oven cooking that they announced that they wanted to be part of the Mitsubishi Club team for next year’s camp oven championships at Milmerran.  Good on ya, Rick and Julie!

Another member who, whilst he knows bugger all about camp oven cooking, never ceases to amaze with the variety of gourmet meals he produces on club camps.  Not for him simple stews, sausages, things in tins or, Heaven forbid, dried stuff in packets.  While others produce cheese or chips for happy hour, he produces fancy imported smoked salmon, fresh prawns or exotic dips.

On one club trip to nowhere one of the ladies said she felt like fresh cherries and cream.  Presto, she had it!  Last Christmas someone wanted plum pudding and custard and quick as a flash not one but two giant plum puddings appeared!

We refer of course to the ubiquitous Mr. D. with whom camping is both a great delight and a never ending source of wonder.      

The variety of food and bits and pieces Greg is able to extract from the bowels of his “pie cart” and the back of his tractor is quite incredible. In fact Greg can produce a greater assortment of odds and ends than you’ll find in any flea market.  To the best of our knowledge only once has he been unable to produce on demand and that was when he was asked for a couple of corn cob holders!

On a recent trip our shower ceased to function and Greg produced some apparatus which traced the fault to a defunct socket which on inspection needed to be soldered. Now having been on the odd trip or twenty with Mr. Dunstan it was indeed quite foolhardy to even consider testing him, albeit jokingly, with the question, "I don't suppose you have a 12 volt soldering iron handy? ”Of course!” he replied.

Whereupon he dived into the back of the tractor produced the soldering iron, which he told us was made during the war, is very rare and which he procured at a swap meet.  He then produced some solder and had the job finished in a few minutes.

But whilst Mr D. may know bugger all about camp oven cooking he is without any doubt the club’s foremost exponent of the fine art of gourmet camp dining with style.  And apart from sharing his fine food with the less imaginative campers, Greg is always willing to lend a hand, can fix most things and if you want your campsite or a pathway mown Greg is the ONLY member who will do so.  A word of caution however, the mower is old and tends to wobble occasionally and the motor mower isn’t much better either!.

Greg certainly knows how to enjoy fine food when camping and we’re hoping he’ll share some of his secrets with us in future issues of Kamper’s Kitchen.     

CAMPING TIP ..

Travelling with eggs can be a problem because you never know how long the eggs you are buying may have been on the shelf. You can keep eggs longer if you wipe them over with cooking oil. This blocks up the pores and prevents the air getting in. If you are unsure of the freshness of eggs break them one at a time into a cup or small bowl before adding them to your recipe.