How to Make a Hobo Oven

While field cookers such as iron camp ovens are a staple of virtually any camping supply store, backpackers and car campers do not need to spend money on this kind of equipment. Instead, a camper who wants a camp oven can build a hobo oven from ordinary household materials. In just a few hours, any cardboard box of the right size can be turned into a perfectly workable charcoal-fired oven.

Things You'll Need

  • Cardboard box
  • Heavy aluminum foil
  • Scissors
  • Rubber cement
  • Camp cooking stand
  • Firewood or charcoal briquettes
  • Camp spade
  • Metal pan (optional)
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Instructions

    • 1

      Choose a cardboard box to serve as the oven. The box must be large enough to accommodate the interior dimensions of the oven with the top facing outward and serving as a door. For example, if you intend to bake a pot pie in a 9-inch circular pan, obtain a box at least 11 or 12 inches wide. The box must also have a few inches of clearance above the pan as it sits on the camp stand.

    • 2

      Cut the two short flaps off of the top of the box, leaving only the long flaps.

    • 3

      Cut pieces of heavy aluminum foil to line the interior of the box. Apply lines of rubber cement to the interior and press down the foil so it lies flat against the surface of the box. Arrange the individual pieces of foil so they overlap each other by roughly 1 inch, ensuring that the cardboard is not exposed anywhere in the interior.

    • 4

      Cut and glue pieces of aluminum foil onto the top flaps of the box. Cover the inside of the flaps as well as the side edges.

    • 5

      Allow the cement to dry as directed by the manufacturer.

    • 6

      Set the box so the top flaps (which are now the oven doors) face outward. Insert the camp cooking stand into the box.

    • 7

      Shovel red-hot coals from a campfire into a metal pan, using a camp spade. Alternatively, if you do not have a campfire, pour charcoal briquettes into the pan, set them alight and wait for the briquettes to turn into hot coals. Insert the pan under the camp stand and into the oven.

    • 8

      Place your food onto the camp stand. Close the doors to bake the contents.