How To Clean A Camp Oven – A Quick Guide

You’ve just cooked a delicious meal using your camp oven and now it’s time to clean it. So how do you actually clean a camp oven?

In this article, I will show you how to clean a camp oven properly after using it. I will also give you a step-by-step guide on cleaning a rusty camp oven so you can restore it back to a usable state.

How To Clean A Camp Oven After Use

Step 1: Rinse the residues

The first step is to wash out the residue left in the camp oven. You can use your hand to rinse off the remaining food residue.

Step 2: Add a mild liquid soap

I’m sure you’ve heard “never wash your camp oven with soap” before. It was believed that using soap will remove the non-stick coating that you create when you season your camp oven.

However, a mild soap is unlikely strong enough to be able to remove the coating that has baked on and reacted to the cast iron metal (this is a process known as polymerisation).

In addition, using soap will help remove food residue and excess oil that’s left in there after cooking.

Step 3: Scrub

Scrub your camp oven with a scouring pad. No need to use a scraper or a steel scrubber. If you seasoned your camp oven right before you used it, food residue is unlikely to stick in there to the point where it needs scraping.

Step 4: Rinse and dry

Once you’re confident that you’ve thoroughly cleaned the camp oven, rinse it and dry it using a paper towel. Alternatively, you can dry it by putting it in the campfire or the oven for a few mins.

Step 5: Oil and store

Lastly, wipe a thin layer of oil in the inner and outer surfaces of the camp oven before storing it. This will help prevent the camp oven from rusting even when you store it for a long time.

Remember to store it in a warm dry place.

Cleaning a Rusty Camp Oven

Step 1: Scrub off the rust

Using a cleaning vinegar and a stainless steel scrubber, scrub off the rust in your camp oven.

Alternatively, you can scrub your dry camp oven with crumpled foil. One camper shared that the foil works very well when it comes to removing rust.

Step 2: Wash it with soap and water

Next, wash your camp oven with soap and water to get rid of any loose rust. If you can still spot some rust, go back to step one and repeat the process.

Step 3: Re-season your camp oven

Once the rust is scrubbed off, it’s time to re-season your camp oven. Simply put it on the campfire for 30 mins, then apply a thin layer of oil to the inner and outer surface of the oven and wipe it with a paper towel to spread it evenly.

Lastly, put it back on the heat source and let it sit for another hour. This will create a new non-stick coating and the camp oven will be as good as new.

Conclusion

Cleaning your camp oven is pretty straightforward. Although there has been a lot of discussion about whether you should wash it with soap or not, in our experience, washing it with mild soap does not remove the non-stick coating that you get from seasoning your camp oven.

For your camp oven to last, you should really look after it and clean it after use by applying what you’ve learned above.