Cobb Cooker: Rock cakes

I used four heat-beads for our lunchtime damper and belatedly thought to use the residual heat for more cooking.

By the time I made the rock cake mixture, the beads had largely burned away.  I added one extra to cook the first cakes.


After half an hour, I turned the rock cakes over.  Obviously that's not the usual cooking method but it works OK!   The cakes had an extra thirty minutes of cooking time on their second side - and were done.  I had a bit more mixture so dropped four spoonfuls on the solid plate.  Nick added two more beads, which resulted in a quicker cooking time for the second batch.

How were they?  Pretty good!  Nick took several over to share with our neighbour, who ate two (and didn't offer any crumbs to his dogs) - so obviously liked them!

Cobb Cooker: Damper

I made damper for lunch today, using one of our Cobb Cookers.  From past experience I knew the more basic the recipe, the better the result - so I googled till I found one that was super-simple. 

Actually I used the recipe as a rough guide, making a double quantity of dough with self-raising flour as I don't think I brought baking powder (and couldn't be bothered looking)!  I used milk powder in with the flour and added about 2 cups of water.  After about 30 minutes on the solid BBQ plate, Nick and I flipped  the damper over to cook for another half hour on the second side.

Nick, Erin and I enjoyed our damper with olive spread, vegemite and/or cheese.  Vaughan preferred to eat his with BBQ or Goat Chasers sauce!  (I bought the Goat Chasers sauce for Nick while we were at Wagga, cos it reminded me of our adventures chasing goats on the Bluff).  Strawberry jam was also a popular topping choice.

Cobb Cooker: Apple cinnamon pudding cake

Before coming away, we cleaned out and chest freezer and fridge.  The last of our frozen stewed apple came with us. 

I used a small portion tonight and improvised an apple cinnamon cake for dessert. 

Although I thought to bring cake tins they were left at home, so I used one of my small thermal cooker pots.  Both Cobbs had left-over heat beads from our roast chicken dinner, so the cake was placed on a rack above the basic cooking tray of one cooker.  It was baked for around an hour and a half.  While it was cooking, I made custard using powdered milk - and dessert was quite well received.

The cake batter was basic:  1 cup SR flour, 1/2 cup sugar, 1/2 cup milk, 1 large Hamby Home(in)stead egg and approx. 3 tablespoons melted butter.  I couldn't find my vanilla but used about a teaspoon of cinnamon in lieu (given the stewed apple component).

Cobb Cooker: Roast chicken dinner

We lit both Cobb Cookers this evening and roasted some chicken drumsticks with vegetables.

The drumsticks were lightly sprayed with olive oil and then sprinkled with dried mixed herbs, before cooking on the basic Cobb Cooker plate.

I cut the potatoes, pumpkin and sweet potato into roughly equal pieces and drizzled them with olive oil.  They were tipped onto the solid BBQ plate.  After about an hour I turned everything.  The meal probably had a further half hour of cooking time before it was served - and declared delicious!

Cobb Cooker: Cheese and ham focaccia

When we last stayed in Louie's shack, he had a gas oven in the kitchen.  Nick used it to cook a very fine Christmas lunch and it was again put into action by Nissa and Vaughan when making the bore's birthday cake!

Louie has made some changes since our last visit.  The gas oven has been removed and the kitchen now has electric hotplates. The only oven is an outside fuel stove. I'm working up to using that. When when my family had a shack at Yowah, all cooking was done on a fuel stove - and a similar one was purchased for our early days in Dooralong, before the power was connected. Of course, it would be more comfortable to use the fuel stove in cooler weather but all the wood is wet!

I decided to make focaccia for our lunch today. I often make it at home. It goes together quickly because the dough is proved in the microwave while the oven heats.

The process was slower today but a fairly successful experiment - after Nick and I exchanged a few terse words, before swapping Cobb cooking trays!  Consequently the ham and cheese was cooked into the focaccia, rather than remaining a top layer (as is my usual method).  After about 20 minutes the bread was flipped over, pancake-style, so as to brown both sides.  The baking time was around 40 minutes in total, a little longer than when using the electric oven at home.

It wasn't my best-looking focaccia but tasted fine and I'm sure the method can be fine-tuned with practice. 

Cob-Bra!

I'm not sure where I first read about the Cob-Bra, a canvas skirt windshield for the Cobb Cooker. 

They seemed a great idea, so I bought two last week. As the business is local-ish, I picked up the Cob-Bras, so met Lynn briefly (and was envious of her cutting table)!


Infront Camping Gear make a huge range of canvas products - and we may well purchase other items in time.  I don't fancy a shower-hat style thermal cover for the Cobbs but there are plenty of other temptations. The product list includes miscellaneous camping items, roof-rack covers and canvas bags to suit just about everything. Something for everyone, for sure!

At this stage I've used a "bra" around the outside of one cooker but I might try to fit it inside instead to maintain the look of the stainless steel mesh.  Aesthetics are important, after all!

Light my fire(s)!

I've been trying some new methods of lighting the Cobb Cookers. 

The instructions say to use three firelighters in the fire chamber and place the fire basket on top of them, before adding the heat beads.  The older booklet actually says:-


"Relax.  Do some breathing exercises.  It takes 20 to 25 minutes for the fuel to be ready for cooking."  OK.  I haven't been relaxing.  Or doing breathing exercises.  Instead, I've been looking for ways to hasten the lighting process!

There was a suggestion on a camping/caravanning forum to light the beads over a gas hotplate - and do away with using heat beads.  I did try that.  One basket worked well and the other didn't but praps I was (again) too impatient!

I googled further and found some instructions from the manufacturer, specifically for lighting heat beads in a Cobb Cooker.  As there was a tin of the right size awaiting recycling, I cut the end off and put it into service as a "mini chimney starter".  It worked well and I've adopted that lighting method since.  Of course the tin no longer looks as bright and shiny as in the pics above!

Cobb Cooker: Pizza!

Some weeks I really look forward to Friday, not because anything dreadful has happened during the week or anything wonderful is planned for the weekend - just that I like the feeling of  Friday afternoon!

Last Friday, I packed a picnic afternoon tea and collected Vaughan from school.  He, Erin and I spent a lovely hour in the sunshine feeding some local ducks and geese.  On the way home we bought a few extra pizza ingredients, then made pizza on the Cobb cooker for dinner.  We didn't eat till late, partly cos of the laid-back vibe and partly cos the process was slower using the Cobb.

I made four pizzas, using our deep-dish enamel camping plates.  They fitted well onto the trivets (atop the Cobb grill plates).  I used both ovens, each with eight heat beads.  The pizza bases were crisper than necessary in an attempt to brown the cheese on top - probably 30 minutes each time, perhaps longer.  Further experimentation is definitely warranted but as a first effort, I was well pleased!   

(Vaughan and I have previously made camp oven pizza with excellent results, so we can always use that method using the Cobb Cooker as the heat source - if necessary).

I've watched a couple of YouTube videos about Cobb cooked pizza.  Both made the pizza directly onto the frypan plate.  The cheese on top was melted, not browned.  I'm pondering that.  I've also been watching The Hairy Bikers on DVD.  They often use Cobb cookers/charcoal ovens.  I was interested to see one of them use a small blow-torch to brown the top of a soufflé made in the cooker.  Now, that might be a gadget worth getting!

Cobb Cooker: Cookin' the chook!

I collected a parcel from the post office today.  It contained my Cobb Cooker griddle plate, dome extension ring (and chicken roaster). 

I was expecting the items, so had bought a chicken while out grocery shopping to trial the new upright roasting rack cooking method.


I'm using both cookers tonight.  I started eight heat beads in the first one at around 4:30pm.  I also made a liquid mix for the moat using water, crushed garlic, lemon juice (and the remainder lemon) with some rosemary sprigs.  After fiddling with the chicken roasting gadget for a little while, I located it onto the grill plate.  I then sprayed the chicken with olive oil and dusted it with some mixed herbs.  It went onto the Cobb, with extension ring and lid, at 5:00pm. 

I started six heat beads in the firebox of the second cooker at 5:30pm or so.  At 6:00pm I put carrot, pumpkin and sweet potato in around the chicken.  (I topped up the moat and checked on the heat beads just prior to adding the vegetables).  I used the fenced rack on the second cooker's grill plate to hold potato pieces and a few onion wedges - which were also started around 6:00pm.

It's 7:00pm now and all smells wonderful but I expect it will be another hour or so before we eat - sadly!

Cobb Cooker: Bolognaise and butterscotch ...

I used to Cobb cooker again last night with the Crofton cast iron pot, to cook a simple bolognaise sauce. My recipe varies depending on what ingredients are available at home but the method remains constant.

I often use one of my thermal cookers but the cast iron pot is quicker if I start cooking later in the day. I used our kitchen gas hotplate as my initial heat source, while preparing the six heat beads inside the Cobb's fire-box. I then placed the pot directly on the fire-box, in the same way as I had for the previous night's beef casserole. The Cobb was set up outside and Erin commented that the delicious smell wafted everywhere!  (The sauce was done about 45 minutes later, reduced and nicely thickened).

So why is there a photo of butterscotch self-saucing pudding?!  I made that after the bolognaise was done, using the residual heat of the beads to slowly cook a (very late) dessert.  It sat on the grill plate for about two hours in total.  I checked it from time to time.  The beads had reduced to a small crumbling pile when I removed the pudding. They had lasted around three and a half hours - a cost of 60c, or 17c per hour of cooking time. 

Cobb Cooker: Cake - take two ...

There was still life in my heat beads after last night's casserole was cooked, so I made a double batch of cake mixture.

The full cake tin took about an hour and a half to cook, perhaps more. 

This cake had a bit more "colour" than my first effort.  It wasn't burnt but it was good that I removed it from the heat source when I did.  I again used two layers of baking paper inside the cake tin.  I knew the cooking time would be longer, so also improvised two trivets underneath.  I had hoped the trivets would stack but instead they slotted together.  Not to worry.  I'll check what other options may be possible with either equipment on hand - or picked up cheaply.

As you can see, the cake was a little higher on one side than the other.  The Cobb cooker itself was level, thanks to Nick's morning efforts.  Keeping the trivet(s) level is tricky.  I'll have to work on that!

Costing the Cobb ...

Erin gifted Nick a compact, portable BBQ for Fathers Day - together with a bag of Heat Beads. 

The bag was bought from a small mini-market, so the price was higher than it may have been at a larger retailer. 

I counted the remaining beads this morning and worked out the cost per bead (taking into consideration those already used).  Given the initial bag price, these beads are around 10c each.  Bunnings stock a 16kg pack for $21.44, which would drop the bead price to just 4c - so we'll buy them next time!

Yesterday I made one casserole, an impossible pie and two cakes (or one and a half when volume is considered).  I used just 10 beads for over 7 hours of cooking time - great value for $1.00.  I'm very happy with that - and will be even happier when the same energy costs only 40c!

Crofton meets Cobb!

I was on a roll today with my Cobb cooking trials. 

While I was waiting for the impossible pie to finish, I decided on a beef casserole for dinner. 

After checking the instructions, it seemed I could put my Crofton/Aldi cast-iron cooking pot directly upon the fire basket of the Cobb - and the contents were soon bubbling away nicely.  There wasn't a recipe as such.  I started out to make my usual beef stew and realised I didn't have one of the ingredients, so improvised.  As luck would have it the end result far surpassed my expectations and now I'm trying to remember what I did! 

Cobb Cooker: Cake!

I've been doing some research about Cobb Cooker cooking. 

I particularly wanted to cook cakes and found some very good instructions at a camper trailer discussion forum.

The author stressed that the cooker should be level, so Nick did his best!

The trivet rack itself isn't level, and locating it within the holes of the grill plate is a bit of a fiddle.  Hence the cake tin isn't level - but we tried!

I made one quantity of a basic vanilla cake recipe that I use fairly often. 

The ratio is a cup of flour and a cup of sugar to half a cup of milk, with two eggs.  I always reduce the sugar and used some of our chookies' eggs. 

The cake tin was about half-full and took the suggested hour to cook. 

Next time I will make a double quantity of cake mixture and test the cooking time again.  I didn't use a second trivet today but may do that when cooking a full cake. 


The verdict?  An excellent first attempt.  Vaughan ate several pieces (and isn't generally keen on non-chocolate cake)!  Erin and I have taste-tested also, though are resisting further samples so Nick can try some when he wakes up again.

And then there were two!

It's a good thing we tested our new Cobb Cooker last night. 

Eagle-eyed Erin spotted this bag and contents at the dump shop today and swooped upon them.  She called out to me and I hurried over.

We checked the bag - one intact cooker!


A small recipe book was included, with recommendations for the number of heat beads needed to cook effectively.  There was also a couple of typed pages with other recipes (and heat bead suggestions). Very handy!

The cooker seems the same model as ours though perhaps an earlier edition.  It's been well-used but should scrub up very well and will be a welcome addition to our camping kit, providing extra cooking area at the right price. 

How much was this splendid bounty?  $5.00!  And we thought our brand-new cooker with all its attachments was a bargain! 

Just like a bought one!

I've been interested in Cobb Cookers for quite a while and over the past few weeks have had several second-hand offerings on our eBay watchlist. 

Sadly I missed the end of one auction - and the cooker sold for less than I was going to bid.  As a result of my disappointment, Nick researched prices and found a great deal at BCF.  During the week, we visited our local store, specifically to look at these cookers.  We happened to be there on the last day of a short 3-day camping equipment sale - so received 25% off the cost of our Cobb Cooker and various accessories.  What a fantastic bargain! 

Funny story - we returned home and didn't check our boxes of goodies till just before Nick was leaving for work, at a little before 5:00pm.  It was then that we realised we hadn't bought a Cobb Cooker but an empty Cobb Cooker box!  I immediately rang the store and we exchanged the empty box for a full one the next day, amid much light-hearted banter from the staff!

We decided to test the Cobb Cooker tonight, just using the basic frying plate to cook eight lamb chops.  I was side-tracked by other missions and remembered to turn them after about 45 minutes.  I was very relieved to see steam rising through the lid!  The chops were on the hotplate for a bit over an hour in total but could have come off earlier.  There was still plenty of heat left in the eight heat beads, so we put on some sausages as a second experiment - and were very pleased with those results also!  Hooray!