On my way to work this morning, I caught a portion of a discussion on the radio about “Hobo Pie Makers”. They were talking about how they were recently introduced to the little jewel of a camping untensil pictured above. They discussed finding the irons and recognized a site you could hit on the web. I chuckled. You don’t need to go to any special website to buy those. They are readily available at Walmart, Kmart and other local sporting goods stores that sell camping gear.
Example http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product.do?product_id=4809692
The better makers are cast iron, although they sell them made of various metals. Pie makers have been a staple of our camping trips since I was an infant. My grandparents called them hobo pies, mountain pies or whoopie pies.
My favorite recipe is hobo pie pizza. Pizza sauce, pepperoni, onion, peppers and maybe a mushroom or two. The key is to remember that it cooks fast on the hot coals so whatever you put in needs to be thin.
I find it comical when I hear people talking about these cooking utensils like they are some gadget that just popped out of an engineering lab somewhere. “Look at this new thing I found. Its Great!~” I’m 41 years old and have been camping since I was an infant. We’ve always had at least one hobo pie iron tucked away in the camper. Pie fillings and other goodies that can be put in the hobo pie maker are always a part of the required inventory to be loaded for any camping trip.
Now, I’m hungry. I’m going to have to go build a fire and make some nummy goodness for lunch. I wonder if they’ll mind a camp fire in the office parking lot?