Cooking on the choofer – Dad Style Lamb Shanks done in the camp oven

You may have seen my “Cooking with Denny” posts where I share the cooking that I do with my Mum.  Well now it’s Dad’s turn to take the cooking spotlight!

I still get more hits to my blog by people searching for info on how to make a choofer following some posts I did on my clever Dad’s choofer – a home-made barbeque made out of an empty gas bottle.  This style of barbeque is extremely popular with “grey nomads” (retirees who take to the road in their caravans/camper trailers/Winnebago’s) and the range of styles of these home-made  barbeques is endless.

If you have stumbled to this post looking for more info on making your own choofer, have a look at my past posts here as I have given lots of links to (hopefully) useful info.

This recipe was thrown together by Dad yesterday to test out his new camp oven which he researched for ages to ensure it would fit perfectly in the choofer (for those who want to know, a 4 and one half quart camp oven fits perfectly in a 9kg gas bottle converted choofer).  This camp oven was bought from Rays Outdoors (on special for $23!) and Dad also got his accessories at Rays Outdoors such as the griddle plate and hook for lifting the camp oven off the fire (both shown below).  Dad’s hot tip is to become a Rays Outdoors VIP member as they give a discount and that way you hear about the upcoming sales!

Dad’s camp oven fits perfectly in the top of the choofer resting on cross bars that he added.

Now onto the recipe!!!!  Dad threw four lamb shanks into the camp oven (with the choofer holding about ten heat beads/hot rocks nicely fired up inside underneath) and added red wine, a stock cube, water, garlic and salt and pepper.  On top of the camp oven he put some hot beads to heat from above.

After letting this cook for a while, he chucked in some tinned tomatoes and at this point you could also add some mushrooms or any other veg you wanted.

Let this bubble away for as long as you like, the longer the better as the meat will fall off the bone – the smell and taste of these was just sensational!!!!!!!!

And whilst on the subject of camp ovens, if there are any “grey nomads” looking for an interesting spot/event to visit – Millmerran (which coincidentally is the town where I spent my early school years!) hosts the Australian Camp Oven Festival every two years on the first weekend October – an event that attracts 7000 visitors to this small town on the Darling Downs where participants can compete in camp oven cooking comps.  All I can say is that it is lucky for my Dad it’s not on again until 2014 as he would be in BIG trouble if he chose this event over my big “FOUR OH” party in 2013 🙂

If you have any questions about building your own or cooking on your choofer, please leave me a comment and I will see if I can get the Choofer King (ie  Dad) to give me the info you need or try to find it for you.

Choofer Update – for all the choofer info seekers out there

It still makes me laugh that I have unwittingly become a choofer resource for the grey nomad community.  It is still the number one search item that leads people to my blog!  For those who have no idea what I am talking about, refer to my earlier posts on Choofers here.  It all started when I bragged about my clever Dad’s Choofer.

Anyhow, this is a quick post, just for your choofer addicts out there, as Dad has forwarded what he claims to be the “best choofer yet”.  This post not only explains how this choofer was made but has lots of useful photos.

I would like to add that Dad also added that “there is always someone that can do it better”.  Quietly, I think Da has choofer envy.  I am willing to put money on the fact that the family choofer will be getting a major overhaul when they return from their nomad expedition (whenever that may be – the pasture is apparently much greener up north than in cold Victoria).

Happy Choofing!

For all your Choofer (Choofa/Chuffa) searchers out there – WELCOME

Something surprising has happened.  When looking at my site stats the other day I realised that more traffic is coming to my blog from Google searches on “how to build a choofer” than any other search.  Oh how I laughed…. and it’s all because of my hurried post on my clever Dad’s Choofer.

So, purely to do my bit in keeping the internet savvy grey nomads happy, here is a list of places you might be able to get more information on building your very own choofer (note, there is some debate about the spelling so if you are searching for info on Choofers, try some alternative spelling).

If you are new to this, each person’s Choofer is apparently a reflection of their own style.  My very own persons-of-parental-persausion are currently on their annual great northern migration and have commented that if there are 50 vans at a free camp, there will be at least 30 Choofers on display and each one  is unique.  Just have a look at the range of images of Choofers available on Google here.

Some places to find some info:

The Grey Nomads Forum

Strike Hook shows how your Choofer can fit a camp oven (and show’s you how to make a stew)

Flash version of a Choofer…… and the photos are great

Bernhards Choofer

Or if you really aren’t confident in building your own, you could always buy one ready-made, like the OzPig Ovens.  It was also recommended on a few of these sites to try buying one on Gumtree or Ebay or the Trading Post.  I try to get my Dad to do a bit of a how-to at some stage as well (yes Daddy Darling, that means you…..puhleeeeezzzeeeeee).

Personally, (as a bit of a self-confessed geekette) I want Da to build me one like this.  Admittedly, it’s design may have  strayed from the concept of building a bbq out of a gas bottle a little but who wouldn’t want a Death-Star Choofer!!!!

Darth Vader, eat your heart out!!!

This is a Choofer – built by my clever Dad….

My father is a handyman and is always pottering around in his man-cave building or fixing something.  His latest project was to build a choofer to take away on their next grey nomad migration north (aka caravaning holiday for three months).

For those who do not know (and I certainly didn’t) a choofer is a simple, portable webber-style barbecue made from a gas bottle, yes a gas bottle.  It has screw-on legs, and cross bars that support your pan on top of the hot coals/wood.

There are different kinds of choofers, some are fancy, painted and feature serious grills, but Dad’s is a lot more rustic.

This is so simple but yet so effective.  Dad added a hinged door to his and plans on dropped the cross bars lower so that a camp oven fits perfectly inside.  When it is not in use, the lid clips securely in place and it look once again like a normal gas bottle.

Apologies to those who are scratching their heads thinking that this is not my standard type post, but I love things like this….. and thought you might get a kick out of it too. Oh, and this is the man-cave…….and yes, those storage containers tell you where I get my OCD from…. sorry Da!