Sure, hot dogs or veggie dogs on a stick are a classic campfire meal, but this camping gizmo offers up easy, limitless possibilities for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
“Pie irons” are made from cast iron and often feature chrome plated steel handles. Campers open the iron – spray the inside with cooking spray for best results – and place a slice of buttered bread on both sides of the iron.
Get creative with the bread – raisin, sour dough, cinnamon swirl, tortillas, garlic or straight-up white bread – all work wonderfully. Or, instead of bread, try waffles, pizza dough or hash browns and then fill with anything: meat, cheese, eggs, peanut butter and jelly, burgers, fruit and cream cheese, etc. (We recently made mozzarella, tomato and basil on whole grain and it was amazing!)
Then, simply close the lid and toast over the fire until done, which takes about 15 minutes. Remember, they get really hot, so you will need a hot pad or utensil to open and remind children not to touch them after they’ve been exposed to the flame. Also, store them in plastic bags so the soot on the outside of the irons doesn’t get on other things.
Purchase a pie iron – also called a “pudgy pie” or “mountain pie” maker– for each family member or just get two or three, cook multiple rounds and share as a group as they are finished. Here’s a classic one we like that’s about $17 on Amazon.
It’s a fun process for open-fire campfire cooking or around the backyard fire pit and the versatility makes menu planning really easy for all three meals and desserts. S’mores totally work with these bad boys as well.