Cooking concepts: Campman JNR

It’s hard to beat cooking with fire, and the Campman Jnr is hands-down one of the best ways to do it.

Our test unit was made by Hilltop Heaters, a small operation that makes them from scratch. It was designed in conjunction with The Camp Man, who’s currently a few years into the big lap – that’s right, a few years!

So it’s no surprise it’s one of the most practical, well-thought-out little cooking systems around. Why do I say that? Well, it’s fairly lightweight and portable for what it is, and it can bake, roast, smoke, boil and barbecue like a champion.

As with any open fire, getting it going consistently can take some preparation time and patience. This means perfecting your cooking temperatures can also be a bit tricky if you’re fresh into camp school.

Being fairly small in stature means it’s hard to get a long-lasting fire going, so you do need to keep feeding wood into the fire, or add a few heat beads to the mix, to help maintain a consistent temperature.

The hot plate is nice and thick, so it holds the heat well. Plus you can wrap everything in aluminium foil, so there’s virtually no clean-up required.

When you think about it, this system is basically a camp oven and hot plate all in one, with the added benefit of a self-contained fire pit which won’t cost you a cent to run – that’s unless you can’t find any kindling to get it going. How’s that for versatility?

Versatility: 4/5
Running cost: 4/5
Set-up (time and difficulty): 3/5
Weight and ease of storage: 3/5
Clean-up and maintenance: 5/5
Strength and durability: 5/5
RRP: $235
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