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MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 10:27 am
by mkitchen
Mo and I are just getting into the DO cooking thing and we are enjoying it greatly. I have had a 12" for quite some time and have added a 10" and an 8." Since we have limited room in our teardrop and our 4X4 trailer, we needed to set up our kit so that it wouldn't take up too much room.

Our set up seems to work out well for us. I don't have a table for the above reason, but I have come up with a pretty good set up that I am happy with. I might build up a DO table later if I find I really want one. The thing is that we tend to move every day, sometimes every other day and a bigger set up would be a pain.

I used to do a lot of bicycle touring and I cooked on an MSR backpacking stove. The stove came with a lightweight foil heat shield and using it made cooking much faster. In using my DO, I noticed that the coals would cook down into the dirt and any breeze would disipate the heat quite a bit. So here is what I have set up. I'm sure that I have come up with ideas that others have already come up with so I am not taking credit for some new and great thinking here.

First off, I needed something to put the DO on to keep the coals from cooking into the dirt. I still like to use wood coal from my fire if available but I do now carry charcoal as well and use it when needed. this pizza pan works for either.

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The next thing I did was build a heat shield using license plates. I connected the plates with hog rings. The hog rings are not big enough to connect the plates together and allow them to fold without drilling holes closer to the edges. once this was done, it all went together very well. Here is a shot of the heat shield folded up.

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And here is a shot of everything together. All of my kit fits into a relatively small box, along with the charcoal lighter, glove, lid stand, shovel and pot lifter, hense the description as relatively small.

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I haven't gotten to put the new outfit to work yet but will be going camping next month and will certainly be checking it out then.
Mikey

Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 2:47 pm
by GerryS
Awesome!

Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 6:15 pm
by Verna
Ingenious, Mikey!!! I like that!!!

I had asked Bob Henry what I should do to protect a table that hangs off of the back of my tear drop, and now YOU came up with a great answer!!! I found 8 old license plates in the garage, and I can use them as a heat shield when using my Coleman camp stove on the wooden table.

THANKS!!!

Oh, what is a "hog ring"?

Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 7:47 pm
by mkitchen
Verna wrote:Ingenious, Mikey!!! I like that!!!

I had asked Bob Henry what I should do to protect a table that hangs off of the back of my tear drop, and now YOU came up with a great answer!!! I found 8 old license plates in the garage, and I can use them as a heat shield when using my Coleman camp stove on the wooden table.

THANKS!!!

Oh, what is a "hog ring"?


Hog rings are small wire loops (approximately 10 gauge) that are open on the end. After inserting them into the pieces that you want to connect, you simply close them with pliers. You can get the rings and special pliers at any hardware store. If you are just using them for this one project I suggest you save some money and just close them up with regular pliers. Be careful though, the ends are very sharp. The rings are actually made to put in a hog's nose to keep them from rooting but they have a lot of uses.
Mikey

Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Sun Jan 13, 2013 7:51 pm
by Verna
Thanks...I figured the rings really did have something to do with hogs. I'll check with Tractor Supply tomorrow.

Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 9:13 am
by bobhenry
Verna the small circular split ring key rings will work great also and being a bit larger in diameter they will go on without having to redrill the plates.

Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 9:29 am
by bobhenry
Being too old and too fat to spend the day squatting over a dutch oven I still like my satellite table. Knocks down in 30 seconds and takes up very little room.

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Here is the thread link...

http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=40883&hilit=WALKER&start=15

P.S. there is also a table top version in this thread somewhere !
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Here it is !

The round 500 series satellite dishs would not fit the walkers I had purchased so I decided to try another avenue with them.

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installed 3 legs 120 degrees apart using $2.79 worth of carriage bolts nuts and 2" fender washers.

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Table is very stout and stable ( I was a bit surprised by the strength)

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The carriage bolts were 3/8 diameter by 3 1/2" long

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There is about an 1 1/2" clearance under the dish which should prevent any damage to a site picnic table.

Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 6:13 pm
by Phooey
For those people that are building license plate heat shields, I have found that if you take the chain used for hanging lamps apart the individual rings fit very nicely and leave plenty of space between the plates for adjustment when placing around a dutch oven. :)

Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 12:33 pm
by deleted
Wow. I have one of those satellite dishes in my garage and have been trying to figure out where to get rid of it! So glad I saw this thread before I did. Now I just need to find a walker. And a Dutch Oven. LOL. I recently picked up a DO cookbook. Getting a little ahead of myself I guess.

Oh yeah, and where do you get so many license plates from? I only have two and they're on my car :) But I want to make the shield too.

Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 7:39 pm
by Mike B
Great minds think alike. That kind of windscreen works great when you're doing donuts in Rathdrum, ID, too.

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Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 9:47 pm
by deleted
Do you all find the license plates at antique stores? Thrift shops? Junkyards? Would love to get one from each state I drive through when I go to pick up my trailer in Michigan. Then it would be sentimental and practical.

Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 2:08 pm
by deleted
Thanks Slow. I guess I can keep an eye out for them on my road trip and also ask on Facebook and Twitter and see if any of my friends can cough a few up for me :thumbsup:

Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 4:51 pm
by Phooey
In California it is apparently illegal to recycle/reuse license plates. I got a real lecture when I went to a pick and pull junkyard to see what I could come up with. So I decided to poke around on the internet. I scored a whole bundle of them off of Goodwill.com for just a few bucks. The site auctions stuff just like e-bay.

:thumbsup: :D

Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Wed Mar 20, 2013 9:57 pm
by mkitchen
I got mine from a junk yard here in town. They usually want a couple of dollars each but if you are buying 10 or so like I did you can dicker a bit on the price. No restrictions on getting plates here.

Stacie, I really like the idea of getting plates as you travel through different states. Each one would have a bit more meaning then. I tried to get as many different plates as I could but the choice was limited. I may have to expand my collection during my upcoming trips.

I have also found that a spring steel binder clip works great to connect the plates in a circle.
Mikey

Re: MY new Duth Oven Heat Shield

PostPosted: Thu Mar 21, 2013 6:08 am
by Verna
Stacie, there are a lot of Indiana plates out there because we are issued new ones every 3 or 4 years. I once gave about 20 of the to a young boy who wanted his ceiling to be covered with license plates. Now I only have enough for my heat shield for my galley table.

I know most antique stores in Indiana have a few of the older plates.

Good luck