Minnesota’s summer camping season has gotten off to a fast start in our family.
We’ve already completed a Boundary Waters wilderness canoe trip as well as a few days spent retreating in tents and campers, enjoying some time in lakes country and always huddled around an evening fire, save for a short-lived fire ban in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area. Campfires offer great ambiance, keep the bugs away, help warm up campers during the chill of evening, and while the smell of cigarette smoke remains a turn off for yours truly, the smell of a campfire is a favorite odor.
On top of all those campfire benefits, there is the value of heat for cooking. Hobo dinners in tinfoil, hot dogs on roast sticks, and a marshmallow slowly toasted to golden brown perfection all manage to hit the spot and satisfy hungry bellies.
A more recent kick on camping trips has been to break out the pie irons. For the uninitiated, pie irons are concave cast iron squares or circles that close like a clamshell and crimp and seal food inside, at the end of a heat-resistant rod with a handle. These cooking devices are great for cooking about anything in the embers and coals of a campfire while keeping your hands away at a safe distance. While I call them pie irons, others refer to this cookware as pudgy pies or hobo irons.
The first thing you have to do if you have the cast iron version is get your pie irons seasoned.
You can use a campfire, a grill, or your home oven. Disconnect the handles and heat up the irons to remove any paraffin wax put on new irons to keep them from rusting. Wipe away any wax left after heating.
Next, lightly apply some canola oil or any other high smoke point oil to the cast iron surface, interior and exterior, to create the first layer of seasoning. Let the pie iron sit in heat of around 400 to 450 degrees for 15 or 20 minutes. The iron should turn dark brown or black. Repeat the process with a fresh layer of oil 4 or 5 times. Once you have enough layers applied, your cast iron will be seasoned and ready for use.
When cooking with your pie iron, make sure you are cooking in embers or coals, and not in an open flame. Embers and coals provide a more even and moderate heat.
Flames, particularly orange flames, put out high heat that will burn whatever you cook. Pie iron users have to be patient enough to start a campfire and allow it to burn down to coals. Then you need to be patient to let your meal cook, followed by more waiting and patience to let it cool down so you don’t burn the roof of your mouth.
Every time you use your pie iron, make sure you grease the interior before loading it with food you intend to cook. Butter or cooking oil will create a barrier that will prevent your meal from sticking to the pie iron and helps prevent the likelihood of burning your food.
Pie irons are great for both savory and sweet meals.
For a savory meal, try a hobo meal with some prepared beef and vegetables in gravy, always sandwiched in bread. Or try a Philly cheesesteak and bring some grilled and seasoned sirloin strips or chunks, mixed with already sauteed bell peppers and onions, and some provolone cheese, done in a white bread pocket.
Cook some chicken or steak in Tex-Mex seasoning at home, mix in some rice, refried beans, and put together in a pie iron around a flour tortilla and you have campfire chimichangas. For another Mexican flavor, pile seasoned ground beef, cheese, salsa, and sour cream into a tortilla for a makeshift taco.
Grab a flour tortilla, dash in some pizza sauce and mozzarella cheese, and toss in your favorite toppings like pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, and onions and you have your own miniature pizza, although it’s more like a hot pocket, calzone or stromboli. For fast and easy, load up your bread with some butter and a few slices of your favorite cheese and you’ll have a perfect grilled cheese sandwich.
If you are a breakfast lover, don’t skip cooking over a morning fire.
Throw a thawed hash brown wedge in for 5 minutes for perfectly cooked hash browns. Toss in cinnamon rolls or biscuits from the canister and have those items ready in minutes. Soak bread in stirred eggs, milk, cinnamon, and sugar and make delicious French toast right in the pie iron.
If you have a sweet tooth, bring along some cookie dough for hot and fresh cookies, or pack pie crust or crescent roll dough and mix in your favorite flavors like blueberry, peach, or apple pie filling. Squeeze in some cream cheese for a rich and creamy taste.
Pie iron meals are only limited by your imagination. You can cook up nearly anything with the right ingredients and prep.
Over time, you’ll learn how much cook time each item needs; when in doubt, open things up and check. It’s better to undercook than overcook and burn. If you haven’t broken out the pie irons since your younger days in the scouts or on camping trips with family from many moons ago, give it a try and remember how much fun food straight from the fire can be.