This past weekend I field-tested my knockoff of the Omnia oven, also known as a wonder pot. I had tried this setup at home on my kitchen stove, but I wanted to try it outdoors, too, so I took it on the canoe trip to find out how it would perform. It worked great, in my humble opinion.
This lightweight backpacking oven consists of a heat diffuser (with removable handle from Harold Import Company, also known as a flame tamer, about $7), an aluminum ring mold (which I picked up at a local thrift store for $2), and a round foil pan (three for $1 at Dollar Tree, although you could probably get one for free if you save a take-out container).
The diffuser sat on the burner. The ring mold sat directly on the diffuser. The foil pan acted as a lid for the ring mold. Four small holes punched through the side of the foil pan allowed moisture to escape. The edges of the foil pan were pinched over the mold. I powered the oven using my titanium Monatauk Gnat burner attached to a four-ounce MSR ISOPRO canister.
What did I bake? Two packages of blueberry muffin mix. These are ideal for backpacking because you only need to add water. After adding the water directly to the package and mixing, I squeezed the batter into the greased mold and placed the setup on the stove.
Within a few minutes, the oven thermometer indicated that the temperature had reached 500 degrees, so I turned down the flame. After about 15 minutes, the muffin mix was golden brown on top in just a few spots, so let it bake for a few more minutes. Two packets of mix produced the equivalent of 12 fluffy muffins.
The downside of this oven is that it uses quite a bit of fuel. I hope to find a better-fitting lid, but I’ll need to weigh it (literally) against the foil pan that weighs almost nothing. If I sandwich carbon felt (or even corrugated cardboard) between two foil pans, I might be able to boost heat retention. I’m also searching for an angle food cake pan to see if the mold will fit within it, although this will increase the oven’s overall weight.
The oven weighs a mere 11.9 ounces (337 grams). Total weight can be reduced to 9.2 ounces (260 grams) by excluding the thermometer and removing the handle from the diffuser.
Pan (lid) = 0.5 oz / 13 g
Mold = 3.5 oz / 100 g
Diffuser = 6.4 oz / 181 g (without handle 5.2 oz / 147 g)
Thermometer = 1.5 oz / 43 g
TOTAL = 11.9 oz / 337 g
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