Lamb Shanks Camp Oven
Lamb shanks in the camp oven.
Check out our below recipe and method for cooking lamb shanks in an Aussie camp oven. This is another simple recipe that is great for a cool night while sitting by the fire. Camp cooking does not need to be difficult for it to be an absolute ripper. Great food while camping makes it a whole lot better. Good food, company and camping, the prefect ingredients for a great weekend.
Ingredients
The below ingredients are a meal for two, so increase the ingredients as required if cooking for four or more.
- 2 x Australian lamb shanks
- 2 x canned diced tomatoes
- 1-2 x potatoes cut into chunks
- 2-3 x carrots cut into chunks
- 1 x brown onion chopped
- 2 x garlic cloves chopped
- Mix of herbs to your liking (we use mix of Italian herbs, parsley and basil or whatever we have in our setup)
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Splash of red wine
- Beef stock
- Corn flour if required to make mixture thicker (we don’t usually add this)
Cook Time
Cook time will depend on how hot your coals are and whether or not you want to go low and slow. But the usual cook time should be somewhere between 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours. Prep will take anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes.
- Prep – 15-30 minutes
- Cook time – 2 1/2 to 3 hours
Gear We Use
This is the gear we use when cooking lamb shanks in our camp oven:
- Adventure Kings 12 inch spun steel Aussie camp oven and canvas bag.
- Sharp knife – Zebra Pro with a Drifta handmade leather cover (tops!).
- Companion Leisure double gas burner in our Drifta trailer DOT373.
- Primus single stove gas burned when touring in 76 AUS.
- Chopping board (Kmart special).
- Oven gloves or fire resistant gloves to handle your camp oven.
- Olive oil and paper towel to season your camp oven when finished.
Method
Get your fire going 30 minutes or so before you start so that you have some nice coals ready for the camp oven. You can either do the preparation steps over the coals or on a gas burner. We usually do the prep over a gas burner in the kitchen so everything is nice and close when getting started.
Chop the onions and garlic. The onions do not need to be chopped very fine. Chop the potatoes and carrots into chunks.
Now heat up some olive oil in your camp oven, add the lamb shanks to seal. When the lamb shanks are in the camp oven, add some salt and pepper. You do not need to do this for very long as you are only trying to seal the lamb shanks in order to keep all the flavours and juices in the meat. Turn the lamb shanks with some tongs ensuring all the meaty bits are nicely sealed and browned off. Once the lamb shanks are sealed, remove them from the camp oven and set aside.
If you need to add a bit more olive oil to the camp oven for the next steps then add some more. Now add the chopped onion and garlic to the camp oven. Fry these until the onions are nice and soft for a about 3-5 minutes depending on the amount of heat. Once the onions and garlic are ready, add the canned tomatoes, potatoes, carrots, herbs, beef stock and a splash or red wine to your taste. Stir and get the liquid to simmer. Then add the lamb shanks back to the camp oven. The lamb shanks will be partially covered depending on the size of your camp oven and the size of the lamb shanks. Using a spoon pour some of the liquid over the lamb shanks.
Now you are ready to add the camp oven to your ready hot coals. Add the camp oven lid and then place the camp oven on top of the hot coals. Add a few more hot coals on top of the lid. You need to add coals on top to create an oven affect.
Sit back, have a couple of beers or a glass of red wine by the fire and relax.
After about an hour to an hour and a half, check that the liquid is simmering. If not, then add a few more coals underneath and on top of the camp oven.
The lamb shanks should be cooked within 2 1/2 hours to 3 hours depending on the heat of the coals. You will know when the lamb shanks are ready as the lamb will be nice and tender and easily come off the bone.
Serve with the lamb shanks with the stew and cooked veggies. Enjoy with a glass of red wine or whatever floats your boat.
This is a super simple recipe and is great on a cool night sitting around the fire. You can chop and change some of the ingredients based on what you have in your setup or whichever veggies you prefer, sweet potatoes are another good option. As mentioned above, the ingredients listed are for two, so double for four and so on if more. You cannot go wrong with this recipe, it will always come out an absolute treat.
We hope you give this recipe a real good crack and let us know how you go by commenting below. For more simple camp cooking recipes check these ones out here.
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Thanks for reading legends.
Recipe and method by Peter.
