The original directions called for a box that scotch whiskey was shipped in.  It was thought to be stronger than other boxed.  Actually that is not particularly important.  You can use the box to  take stuff to the camp out, make it into an oven and then use it to collect trash.

This is a small – maybe 2-4 person oven.  Larger box ovens can be made the same way.  We also discovered the foil covered box could be set on a barbecue to save bending over. Place the charcoal under the grate. Placing the food (if liquid like cake mix) on a level surface is a must!

Making the Scotch Box Oven

You will need:

• A large cardboard box, 18″ x 12″ x 12″, or whatever size
  you can find that is large enough to fit around your pan,
  with room to spare on all sides.
• Aluminum foil
• Masking tape
• Stapler (not absolutely necessary)

A box oven is made from an ordinary cardboard box.

1. Cut off the flaps. The bottom of the box will be the top of the oven.
2. Line the inside of the box with long sheets of foil, shiny side out. Make the first sheet long enough to cover both short sides and the bottom, with some foil hanging over each side. If your box is wider than your foil, you may need two strips laid end-to-end. Just overlap them and use your fingers to poke the extra foil into the corners. About 3 pieces of foil, overlapped, should be enough to cover the longer sides, going across the inside bottom each time and hanging extra foil over outside.
3. Use tape to fasten the foil firmly to the outside of the box. Don’t use tape inside. It will burn. If you overlap the foil enough and press it tightly into the corners, it may even stay in place all by itself. Turn the box upside down to check.
4. If the foil starts to come loose, use a stapler to fasten each strip to the side of the box. Make sure the sharp ends of the staples are inside the oven, so you won’t scratch yourself. Staples that have gone through cardboard do not close safely. If you need to put any staples in the bottom of the box (the top of your oven), check the outside for sharp points poking through. If you find any, pad them with masking tape.

Using the Box Oven You will need:

• A box oven
• Tongs
• 4 Small metal cans – smashed soda cans work great
• Potholder
• A small rack
• Charcoal – glowing coals from charcoal chimney
• Foil
• A small rock
• pencil

1. Find a place that is smooth, level and out of the way.
2. First cover the spot with foil, shiny side up. The foil helps reflect heat up into the food and keeps the area clean.
3. Next set four metal cans in a square in the middle of the foil. They hold up the food so heat can flow under and around it.
4. If you have a rack, set it across the tops of the cans.
5. Set the oven over the cans. Place the pencil on top.  It should not roll.  The oven must be level or the cake (or other liquid things) will not cook evenly.
6. Carefully draw around it with stick. This will show you where the box sits.
7. Remove the box and use tongs to line up hot lumps of charcoal just inside the outline of the box, on all four sides. You will need one briquette for every 40 degrees of temperature. To find out how many briquettes to use, divide 40 into the temperature you need. If the division does not come out even, use one extra briquette.
8. Now set the box down gently on its outline. None of the charcoal should touch the box. If you aren’t sure, lift the box carefully and check. Use a stick to push any briquettes that are too close.
9. Slide the pebble under one edge of the oven to lift it slightly off the ground. Charcoal must have some air to burn. Let the oven heat for two to three minutes.
10. Lift it gently and set it down nearby while you get the food.
11. Set the food you want to bake on top of the cans or the rack.
12. Put the oven and the pebble back, and you are ready to bake. About the same amount of time is needed to bake something in a box oven as in a regular oven. If the recipe calls for twenty minutes, wait twenty minutes before you peek. Sometimes, as in any oven, the food is not quite done when the time is up. If so, put the oven and pebble back and give it a little longer. If your recipe takes longer than forty-five minutes, you will need to add more hot charcoal. Start the new charcoal heating when you begin baking, and it will be ready when you need it. Just lift the box and use the tongs to line up the fresh charcoal. Don’t take the old charcoal out.

Starting Charcoal Using a Fire Starter and a Charcoal Chimney

Charcoal Chimney:

1. Take a coffee can or #10 can and use a punch type can opener (“church key”) to make air holes around the sides of the bottom.
2. Set the can in a safe place – out of traffic.
3. Place a fire starter in the bottom of the can.
4. Light it.
5. Fill the chimney with charcoal. White smoke will show the charcoal is heating.
6. Leave the chimney alone for about thirty minutes, until the top briquettes turn white.
7. Use tongs to lift the charcoal into the oven.
8. If you will need more charcoal, leave one or two briquettes in the bottom to start the next batch.

Fire Starters:

1.  Fill the twelve cups of a cardboard egg carton (not foam) with sawdust or tiny shreds of paper.
2. Squeeze the top of a can it make a pouring spout.
3. Melt old candles or paraffin in the can over boiling water.
4. Pour the wax over the sawdust.

or

1. Tear off half a page of newspaper.
2. With your knife, shave wax strips from an old candle and pile a small handful of them on the newspaper.
3. Fold the paper into a loose ball and use it to start your fire.

or

1. Fan fold a paper napkin or paper towel.
2. Tie in the center with a 12″ piece of string.
3. Hold by string and dip in melted wax.

Some Safety Basics for All Outdoor Cooking

1. Make or collect all your equipment before you start.
2. Choose a recipe and read it through. Be sure you have  everything you need.
3. Have a bucket or pan of water ready to put out the fire.
4. Tie back long hair and roll up loose or floppy sleeves.

Deciding where to cook:

1. Look for bare dirt, concrete, or asphalt. Heat can damage grass or wooden decks.  An old metal wagon works too.
2. Look up. Check for overhanging branches or buildings.  Heat rises.

Using the oven:

1. Never touch anything but the outside of the oven with your bare hands. Remember that burning charcoal is much hotter than it looks, and the cooked food will be hot too.  Use tongs for the charcoal and potholders for the food.
2. Stay close to your oven while the food bakes. Someone might walk by and get burned or spoil your recipe.
3. Use your nose. Food should smell good as it bakes. If you smell something burning, check to see what is wrong.

Cleaning up:

1. Using potholders, carefully fold the foil from under your oven into a bundle, with all the ashes and charcoal inside. Put it into a bucket of water and leave it there for at least two hours.  Never  put it into a trash can while it is still hot.
2. Or, if you are absolutely sure no one will come near your cooking spot, leave the foil and charcoal alone until they cool – about two hours. Then fold it all up and throw it away.

Source:  Many years of experience.  There are other box oven variations too.

We like to do things when we succeed at them.  Outdoor cooking is no different.  Start simple, get hooked, and soon you will be doing amazing things on a camp stove, barbecue and/or campfire.  And don’t forget box ovens.  There is not much you do in your kitchen you cannot to outdoors.  Check out the recipes tagged KOA for yummy things to make.

Miscellaneous hints.

The lower air pressure at high altitudes changes the ways in which foods bake and boil.  Cooking times double for each 5,000 foot rise in elevation. If a food takes 15 minutes to cook at sea level, it will cook in 30 minutes at 5,000 feet. It can make a HUGE difference in your success!   Know your altitude and correct the cooking times accordingly if you want that spaghetti to ever get al dente.

Progression in cooking

1. Nosebag (sack lunch/dinner)
2. One-pot meal
3. Charcoal
4. Foil Cookery
5. Frying
6. Stick or wire cookery
7. Beanhole
8. Reflector oven

Foil Cookery is great!  The most important ingredient is patience to allow the fire to burn to coals … at least 45 minutes for wood or 30 minutes for charcoal.  You can’t hurry it!  You can estimate the necessary cooking time quite accurately by counting seconds as “one and one”, and “two and two”, etc.  Hold your hand palm downward where food will be placed and start counting.  Stop counting when the heat becomes too warm to hold your hand there any longer.

Slow (250° -325°) count to 6 or 8
Medium (325° – 400°) count to 4 or 5
Hot (400° – 500°) count to 2 or 3
Very hot (over 500°)count only l

Liquid soap on the outside and bottom of a pan will make it much easier to clean.

Temperature Control with a Dutch Oven (NOTE:  A Dutch Oven for camping has feet – not a flat bottom)
Possibly, the biggest secret in Dutch oven cooking is controlling temperature. If there are too many briquettes on the bottom, the food will risk burning. And if there are not enough briquettes on the top, the food will probably be on the raw side or cooking times will be very long. Temperature control is almost as much feel as it is anything else. There are some basic guidelines for controlling the heat, but with all of the environmental factors it is an estimate at best.
Almost everything can be cooked in a 325°F to 350°F oven. It is also probably the easiest temperature to attain.  There is one fairly easy way to find out the cooking temperature of the Dutch oven, how long you can hold
your hand about 2” above the coals? It is not perfect, but it is way to get close to the oven temperature.
• 7 seconds – 250°F to 300°F
• 5 seconds – 300°F to 350°F
• 2-3 seconds – 350°F to 400°F
Using charcoal briquettes are the easiest way to achieve consistent cooking times and temperatures.  Place the briquettes equally around the rim of the lid and in a circle on the bottom. Try to avoid placing briquettes directly under the center of the oven, especially the smaller ovens. Coals should be approximately one inch apart in a circle under the
oven. Never place coals directly under the center of the oven, if you do, you will create a hot spot and burn
whatever you are cooking.
How Many Briquettes Are Required For Cooking:
The accepted rule of thumb for a 325°F to 350°F oven is take the oven diameter, double it, that will be the number of briquettes that are needed. Always be patient and resist the desire to add too much heat. The most common cause of burned or dried out food is too many briquettes. Also remember that it is easier to add briquettes (heat) than it is to remove it.  Briquettes will typically last anywhere from 45 to 75 minutes based
on weather.
The type of cooking that you are doing will impact the placement of the briquettes:
Roasting: The heat source should come from the top and bottom equally (about 1:1 top to bottom).
Baking: Usually done with more heat from the top than from the bottom (about 3:1, top to bottom).
Frying, Boiling: All of the heat should come from the bottom.
Stewing, Simmering: Almost all heat will be from the bottom (about 4:1, bottom to top).
When you need a longer cooking time, you will need to add additional hot briquettes to the oven.  Cast iron does distribute the heat fairly well, but you can still get hot spots. The best way to avoid hot spots is to rotate the oven about one quarter turn and the lid about one-third to one-quarter turn in the opposite direction every 15 to 20 minutes.
The lid can also be placed on the fire or stove upside down and used as a skillet or griddle.  Use a trivet or three equal sized stones or bricks to support the lid while cooking.
Another tip for cooking foods that have high sugar content (fruit desserts) or even when you are learning is to line the oven with heavy duty aluminum foil. But if you watch your heat, lining the oven is not needed.