The Australian Bedourie

This is a bedourie pot. They are not made from cast iron, but from carbon steel.

The design was based on the cast iron camp oven, however.

The workers at the Bedourie Cattle Station in Queensland, Australia, found that their camp ovens kept falling off the pack horses and breaking.

So they designed a lighter pot that was less likely to break, and called it a bedourie.

Another feature is that the lid fits down over the pot, to prevent ashes from getting into the food.

Just like a camp oven, the lid can be flipped and used as a frying pan.

Because it doesn't retain heat as long as cast iron, it can be packed up sooner after use, which can be an advantage if you have to pack up camp right after breakfast.

Whenever you try to make up for the negatives of cast iron, you also take away some positives.

Because it does not retain heat as long, the bedourie has to be partly buried in hot ashes in order to cook the same as a camp oven.

It also has to be watched more often than a cast iron camp oven; The food can burn more easily.

Here are some instructions I found on how to use a bedourie:

Dig a hole half as deep as the bedourie, and slightly wider.

Place a bed of coals in the hole and allow to burn for 5 to 10 minutes to preheat the ground.

Remove coals if you need to reduce heat, or replace coals if needed.

Place bedourie in the hole. Place a few coals around the bedourie and put coals on top.

To check your food, remove bedourie, take off the coals*, and remove the lid.

*You need to be wearing welding gloves when you do this.

Then put the bedourie back in the hole, and put the coals back in place.

You can purchase one here, but I don't know how much shipping is to the US.