Best Campfire Cooking Gear Australia 2026: Fire-Tested Picks

Cooking over a campfire is one of the great pleasures of Australian camping. There's something about food cooked over coals — the smoky flavour, the ritual of tending the fire, the satisfaction of pulling a perfect damper out of a camp oven. It connects you to country in a way that a gas burner never will.

We spent months cooking over fires across Australia — from quick billy tea on the Heysen Trail to full roast dinners at bush camps in the Kimberley. Some gear made cooking a joy, some made it a chore. These three pieces are the ones we'd never leave behind. Check our camping stove reviews for gas backup options, and don't forget your camping checklist.

How We Tested

Each piece of gear was used for at least 30 campfire cooking sessions:

• Cooking performance: Heat distribution, temperature control, food quality
• Durability: How it held up to repeated fire exposure
• Ease of use: Setup, cooking, and clean-up difficulty
• Portability: Weight and packing for vehicle transport
• Versatility: Range of meals possible with each piece

Quick Comparison

Best Camp Oven: Camp Chef 12" Dutch Oven

The camp oven is the heart of Australian campfire cooking, and the Camp Chef 12-inch is the best one we've used. The pre-seasoned cast iron means you can cook on it straight out of the box — no hours of seasoning needed before your first trip.

The flanged lid is the feature that separates a camp oven from a regular pot. Pile hardwood coals on top and you get heat from above and below, turning your camp oven into an outdoor oven. This is how you bake damper, roast a chicken, make a pie, or cook a perfect pulled pork.

The 6-quart capacity feeds 4-6 people comfortably. We cooked everything from breakfast fry-ups to slow-cooked lamb shanks to chocolate self-saucing pudding. Cast iron holds heat incredibly evenly, which means fewer hot spots and more consistent results.

At 8.5 kg, it's obviously car camping only. But if you're driving to your campsite — and most Australian campers are — the weight is irrelevant. This oven will outlast you. We've seen 40-year-old camp ovens still cooking beautifully.

The key to camp oven success is patience. Let your fire burn down to white-grey coals before cooking. This takes 30-45 minutes with hardwood. Rushing this step with flames instead of coals is the most common beginner mistake.

Best Campfire Grill: Campfire Pioneer Grill

Sometimes you don't want a three-hour slow cook — you want to throw some steaks, snags, and veggies on a grill and eat in 20 minutes. The Campfire Pioneer Grill makes this simple.

The adjustable height is the key feature. Set it high over the flames for gentle warming, mid-height for steady grilling, or low over hot coals for a serious sear. This control makes the difference between charred outside and raw inside versus a perfectly cooked steak.

The 45 x 35 cm cooking surface is generous enough for a family's worth of steaks and vegetables simultaneously. The foldable legs make packing straightforward, and at 3.2 kg, it's light enough to toss in the back of any vehicle.

Best Camp Kettle: Petromax Fire Kettle

The Petromax Fire Kettle is a beautifully simple piece of engineering. It's a double-walled stainless steel kettle with a chimney through the centre. Stuff twigs and leaves into the base, light them, and the chimney effect draws air through so efficiently that 1.5 litres of water boils in 3-5 minutes.

No gas canisters, no fuel bottles, no batteries. Just twigs from the ground beneath your feet. This makes it perfect for remote hiking where every gram of fuel matters, or for those moments at camp when you want a cuppa but can't be bothered building a full fire.

At 600 grams, it's light enough for the hiking crowd, though the soot that builds up on the exterior means you'll want a stuff sack to keep it away from your clean gear. The stainless steel construction is virtually indestructible — this is a piece of kit that will be in your family for generations.

The 1.5 L capacity is enough for 6 small cups of tea or coffee. For larger groups, you'll need to boil twice, which takes the efficiency edge off. For 1-3 people, it's perfect.

Building a Campfire Cooking Kit

The beauty of these three items is that together, they cover every campfire cooking scenario:

• Dutch oven for slow cooks, baking, roasts, and one-pot meals
• Grill plate for quick grills — steaks, snags, fish, and vegetables
• Fire kettle for hot water — tea, coffee, instant noodles, and washing up

Add a long-handled pair of tongs, a lid lifter for the camp oven, a set of heat-resistant gloves, and a wire brush for the grill. That's your complete campfire kitchen.

For gas-powered backup cooking, see our camping stove reviews.

Verdict

The Camp Chef 12-inch Dutch Oven is the single best piece of campfire cooking gear you can own. It handles everything from damper to roast dinners and will last a lifetime. The Campfire Pioneer Grill is the quick-cook option for steaks and snags without the fuss of a camp oven. And the Petromax Fire Kettle is the clever, fuel-free way to boil water anywhere with nothing but twigs. Together, they're the complete campfire cooking setup. See our budget camping guide for more gear picks.