King Brown, the Camp Oven King, shares life’s passion at Outdoor Adventure Expo
Thousands of punters strolled through the Toowoomba Showground gates for the Outdoor Adventure Expo, keen to see the latest in camping and off-road gear, and to learn the classics from legends like Ron Wilson, the Camp Oven King.
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Ron Wilson has been honing his craft over a lifetime spent sharing food around a campfire.
Known by the moniker King Brown, the Camp Oven King, Wilson travels Australia sharing his knowledge with anyone eager to escape the beaten track.
He spent the past weekend running workshops at the Queensland Outdoor Adventure Expo and said camp oven cooking tapped into the essence of humanity.
“Throughout history, human beings have sat around fires together with their family and friends, sharing food,” he said
“Whatever you are cooking, it takes time, you can put it on the fire and listen to it cook while you talk and drink beer.
“That is what humans have always done, it’s a very primal thing.”
Thousands of outdoor enthusiasts came through Toowoomba Showground gates over the three-day expo to see timeless classics, like the King Brown, as well as the latest innovations.
There were hundreds of camper vans and trailers on show, along with solar panelling, batteries, water systems, accessories and destination promoters.
In the main tents, Wilson ran about a dozen workshops teaching punters how to cook everything from damper to chicken cacciatore.
“I have been doing this since I was 16 years old,” he said.
“I spent about seven years living in a swag and I liked food so I had to learn to cook on a fire.
“I burnt the hell out of dampers and everything else, but eventually I got really good at it.”
Wilson started cooking for the people he worked with, and amassed an ever-growing collection of camp ovens.
In time, friends and family began asking King Brown to cater their parties, which he did for free. “My first job was for 125 people and it went from there,” he said.
“Years later, I was doing so much catering that it was interfering with my business, so I put a whopping big price tag on it hoping it would slow down, but I got busier.
“I got so busy, I had to give up my spot on my other business and I went full-time with camp oven catering.”
This passion led to running workshops at shows, expos and community events across Australia.
“I have never had a bad day cooking with a camp oven,” Wilson said.
“There is something about the flavour you get with a camp oven that you can’t replicate in a kitchen, it is something about the cast iron pots, it could be that when you take the lid off you get that wisp of smoke.”
For anyone who wants to learn, Wilson recommended not treating a camp oven like a barbecue.
“I always tell people that you have to burn to learn,” he said.
“Practice makes perfect.
“But one of the myths about the ovens is they should never take the lid off.
“In the barbecue scene, they have a saying, if you’re looking, you’re not cooking, because you lose all the heat out of the barbecue, whereas camp ovens build up heat really quickly.
“They are back to a full head of steam before you can sit down and pick up your beer again.
“Looking is how you learn, you cook with your senses. Look, smell, listen and taste.”
Originally published as King Brown, the Camp Oven King, shares life’s passion at Outdoor Adventure Expo
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