How Do You Cook With A Pie Iron?

Hands down, one of the coolest ways to make food when you’re camping is with a pie iron. 

You can use a pie iron, also known as a hobo pie or camp cooker, to make everything from breakfast to dessert.

But if you’ve never used one of these things before, then you might be a bit uncertain how to get started doing some campfire cooking with a pie iron.

Let us instruct you on how to use a pie iron over your campfire to cook up a tasty meal.

How Do You Season A Pie Iron?

If you have any experience with cast iron cookware, then you already know that you’ve got to season your pie iron for the best results.

The seasoning prevents rust and creates a nonstick surface for your food. Here’s are the instructions to season your cast iron pie iron the first time:

1. Coat the cast iron of your pie iron with cooking oil (inside and out).
2. Heat it over a campfire (or grill) that has a medium heat for 15 minutes.
3. Remove from heat and carefully wipe out the oil with a paper towel.
4. Re-coat the cast iron of your pie iron with cooking oil (inside and out).
5. Re-heat it over a campfire (or grill) that has a medium heat for 15 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and carefully wipe out the oil with a paper towel.
7. For the third, and final time, re-coat the cast iron of your pie iron with cooking oil (inside and out).
8. Re-heat it over a campfire (or grill) that has a medium heat for 15 minutes.
9. Remove from heat and carefully wipe out the oil with a paper towel.
10. Your cast iron on your pie iron is now seasoned and ready for use.

The more you use your cast iron, then the more seasoned it gets over time.

Do Your Food Prep In Advance

Before you waste all of your firewood, you’ll want to take care of any food prep work that needs to be done.

Ideally, you’ve already cut up any needed ingredients and pre-measured them out to make the process go more quickly. If not, you’ll want to do that now.

Basically, anything that you can do before you start cooking with the pie irons is what you should be focused on.

Start The Fire and Start Cooking!

Once you’ve got everything ready to go, it’s time to get that campfire going so that you’ll be able to cook. 

And if you’re just doing some backyard camping, the you can use a pie iron over a grill or fire pit.

Before adding the ingredients to your pie iron, remember to grease each cooking pan. Personally, I like to bring a can of cooking spray for this purpose.

Once the pans are greased, here is the best way to add your ingredients:

1. Put a starch on the bottom of the pan (like a piece of bread, mashed potatoes, or a tortilla).
2. Add in your fillings on top of the starch.
3. Use the same starch to cover and finish up your pie iron meal.
4. Close the irons up and lay flat over the hot coals or embers to cook evenly.
5. Flip to cook the other side when you think it should be ready (you can pop it open to check the progress).
6. Remove from coals when done, unhook the pans, and pop out your food.

Here are a few tips to remember as you cook with your pie iron:

• Each campfire is different, so you won’t know exactly how long to cook on each side. That’s why you should test it mid-cooking. But I usually find 5-7 minutes is perfect for most things.
• You can put bread or tortillas that hang outside the pans – this is actually perfect because you just cut away the excess and it perfect seals up your food like a little Hot Pocket.
• You can use a knife to help pop your food out of the pans.
• Remember that these pans get HOT! Campfire gloves are a good idea to prevent burns.

After Dinner Pie Iron Clean-up

When you’re done with your campfire dinner, you’ll want to clean your pie iron. Caring for a pie iron is very simple.

All you have to do it wipe it out with a soft cloth or sponge and some hot water. You can also use mild soap, if you want to do so.

Then, dry the cast iron pans of your pie iron completely.

And finally, apply a light layer of cooking spray (cover the cast iron pans completely) to prevent rust.

image: Deposit Photos

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