Kids do outdoor cooking with cardboard oven

Most kids have cooked a hot dog or browned marshmallows over a campfire. But, have you ever baked pizza in a cardboard oven set next to the open fire?

A couple dozen kids last month got some hands-on experience on how to expand their outdoor cooking skills for the next time they're on a camping trip.

First, naturalist Anna-Lisa Tucker showed kids how to make a cardboard reflecting oven. Then, she took them outdoors to try out some new recipes over the open fire.

The demonstration was at the Missouri Department of Conservation's Rockwood Reservation in July.

Of course, no demonstration would be complete without making "s'mores" for dessert.

At the end of the two-hour session, Ms. Tucker gave kids information about other outdoor cooking tips. One was a book, "Cooking on a Stick: Complete recipes for Kids."

(The book by author Linda White is available on Amazon.com. Click on Amazon's logo on our homepage. The new-book price is $8.95; used is $5.93.)

Samuel Bach

Ten-year-old Samuel Bach of House Springs said he'd cooked hamburgers in a campfire.

"I wrapped the hamburger in aluminum foil and put it on the coals," Sam said. He added raw onions with the meat to give more flavor as they cooked together.

Sam was at the demonstration with other members of Boy Scout Troop 421. He lives in House Springs and will be a 5th grader at Clyde-Hamrick Elementary School in Imperial.

He said his best outdoor experience was camping on his cousin's farm near DeSoto. "We slept four to a tent. And we rode four-wheelers and swam in a lake," Sam said.

Ethan Nixon

Ten-year-old Ethan Nixon of South St. Louis County said he'd been camping only once. That was with a Boy Scout troop.

That campout didn't end up to be such a good experience. "We slept in a tent but it stormed real bad and the bottom of the tent got wet," he said.

However, he was able to get by because the kids slept on cots. That kept them above the water on the floor of the tent.

Ethan said he hadn't ever cooked outside.

He said his best outdoor experience was when he went deer hunting with his dad and brother. He didn't get a deer but his dad did.

"I helped field-dress the deer," he said. Then, the family took the carcass to a meat-packing plant. "We got hamburger, sausage and stew meat. I liked the meat," he said.

Aiden Worley

Eight-year-old Aiden Worley of Pacific said he'd been camping overnight. He didn't sleep in a tent. "We slept in a camper owned by my grandma and grandpa," he said.

Aiden said the last camping trip was at a campgrounds near Perryville, Mo.

But, he said his favorite outdoor experience was fishing at Camp Wappappello in southern Missouri. He said he did bait his hook with a worm but didn't catch any fish.

Sam, Ethan and Aiden all agreed that "s'mores" were their favorite outdoor food.

Julia Kelly

Eight-year-old Julia Kelly of Manchester said she stayed in a tent for three days last summer. She said she cooked hot dogs, corn-on-the-cob and "s'mores" over the open fire.

The corn was cooked in the shucks over the fire's coals. After the corn is tender, the shucks are stripped off.

Julia will be a 3rd grader next fall at Christ Prince of Peace School in Manchester.

She said her best outdoor experience was an inner tube float trip on the Meramec River.

Naturalist Anna-Lisa Tucker cooked a variety of foods over the outdoor campfire.

She used metal skewers to cook hotdogs. Then, she did a variation that's called "pig in a blanket." That involved cooking the hotdog and then wrapping biscuit dough around the meat. Then, she put the combination over the fire until the dough was baked.

To demonstrate how to use cardboard reflecting ovens, Ms. Tucker baked pizza bagels.

By covering the inside of the box with aluminum foil, you can keep the fire's heat from burning the cardboard. It's even possible to build cooking racks in the oven.

To make rack holders, you push pieces of metal coat hangers across the open end of the box. Then, you wrap flat pieces of cardboard with foil and hang these on the metal frame.

(For some recipes for outdoor cooking, see sidebar below.)