Anyone Have Feedback on the Camp Maid DO Set Up?

NYCgrrl wrote:
I plan to give the company a call when I can find the telephone number to inquire about specs for some of their products yet while looking into their collapsible chimney starter I found an interesting looking DO smoker/ oven/ grill system:

https://campmaid.com/pages/about-us
Has anyone seen or used it IRL?

My fellow Cast Iron Chefs say "pass this one by". The product is made of inferior materials in China; the parts break easily; and there's no true functionality to it. It's designed to appeal to gear heads and gadgeteers but doesn't perform well.

Check on the videos at youtube on DO cooking and you'll see a variety of reliable and cheap set ups that are time tested.

Lodge makes an excellent USA-made camping Dutch Oven with superior materials that's a favorite among the Cast Iron Chefs. They also like Camp Chef products. The camping Dutch Oven has legs that allow coals to be placed underneath. Here's a link to the Camping Dutch Oven.

I got a Lodge Seasoned Steel 8" pan for Christmas and it's a 5 star winner for camping with the gas grill.

The camping DOs are also available in the camping sections of your local Walmart usually.:W

Thanks for the heads up on the DO setup. I did wonder about whether the charcoal well was deep enough for "low and slow" but was a tad suspicious when not much was listed about construction.

Originally, came to the site whilst looking for a collapsible chimney starter but since they don't list any useful specs for that either or contact info gonna bypass them and buy a verifiable s/s version from Ebay even though I don't like the handles as much.

Bored of finding a space to shove the non collapsible version into the car.
Time to grab the man's c/c since he lost the last collapsible one;).

Weber makes a compact chimney starter. Not collapsible but when dealing with heat I'd be concerned that the joints would eventually fail in a collapsible.

There's always the old reliable #10 can of baked beans. Remove the label, empty the beans and clean. Then using a church key punch a bunch of holes in it. I've done that many times and used a pair of pliers and a DO lid lifter to empty the coals into the grill.
Free.
Compact.
You always have a lid lifter and pliers with you anyway.
And you get enough beans to feed at least 15 people in the bargain.
:B

I made one using duct work sheet metal. A friend of mine cut the metal to my specs and punched two holes in each of the four sides near the bottom for air. I used a piano hinge with pop rivets to connect the 4 sides. Bent some metal rod I had lying about for the folding handles. The grate on the inside was cut from an old BBQ grate I had. Drilled two holes for tow of the grate pieces to fit and a pop riveted lip on the opposite side to hold the rack up. I'll have to find some pics. Folds flat, about 3/4" thick.

magnusfide wrote:
Weber makes a compact chimney starter. Not collapsible but when dealing with heat I'd be concerned that the joints would eventually fail in a collapsible.

There's always the old reliable #10 can of baked beans. Remove the label, empty the beans and clean. Then using a church key punch a bunch of holes in it. I've done that many times and used a pair of pliers and a DO lid lifter to empty the coals into the grill.
Free.
Compact.
You always have a lid lifter and pliers with you anyway.
And you get enough beans to feed at least 15 people in the bargain.
:B

Collapsible is important on my end since I've not the storage space of garage and attic homeowners:).

I happily owned the prior s/s chimney starter for at least 3 seasons with no signs of rust/deterioration and then dealt w/ the frustration of a smaller chimney starter; an equal to the original sized galvanized steel w/ a bare metal handle and most recently, a large round chimney starter. Tired of those design flaws. Whether they rusted out, took up too much space or required a bulky/clumsy oven mitt for handling, it was too much for a simple task tool.

Read and thought of making a chimney starter using a #10 can but the storage constraints came into play; hate to do a something that has to be done camping season after camping season. I like my Dremel but err not THAT much, LOL.

garmp1 wrote:
I made one using duct work sheet metal. A friend of mine cut the metal to my specs and punched two holes in each of the four sides near the bottom for air. I used a piano hinge with pop rivets to connect the 4 sides. Bent some metal rod I had lying about for the folding handles. The grate on the inside was cut from an old BBQ grate I had. Drilled two holes for tow of the grate pieces to fit and a pop riveted lip on the opposite side to hold the rack up. I'll have to find some pics. Folds flat, about 3/4" thick.

My fav and now sought version had s/s coated piano hinges; a Bakelite type handle that moved from side to side but locked in place when hot, and an oven/grill quality base. Suspect it was about 1.5 maybe 1.75" when folded.
Wuvved that thing!!


This is the version I'm contemplating now despite it's hot to hold handles and too small air holes:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/New-Stainless-Steel-Folding-Charcoal-Starter-Outdoor-BBQ-Grill-Chimney-Starter/351367690652?_trksid=p2141725.c100338.m3726&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20150313114020%26meid%3D83e8eb789fe24022a8ee32ce22e089c1%26pid%3D100338%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D30%26sd%3D262742704682

I have the Campmaid setup. Love the lid holder. Great setup for cooking for up to 4 people (given the size of the grill or using the lid as a griddle. Very nice that it will nest inside of my 12" deep sided Lodge DO.

Rolling Condo wrote:
I have the Campmaid setup. Love the lid holder. Great setup for cooking for up to 4 people (given the size of the grill or using the lid as a griddle. Very nice that it will nest inside of my 12" deep sided Lodge DO.

Did you have to replenish the charcoal frequently?