Rome Pie Iron

Rome's classic pie iron is a versatile campfire cooking tool. It is made of heavy cast iron with extra long handles. This pie iron can be stuck right in the coals, and it will cook everything from bagels to burritos.

An epiphany is when you put a camper, a campfire, and a pie iron together. A pie iron is made of two aluminum or cast iron bread trays that hinge together and have long handles for cooking over a campfire. The variety of scrumptious meals that can be made in a pie iron is endless. I have several Dutch ovens, and I know about the benefits of cooking with cast iron, so I was curious to try these gadgets. Rome Industries has been making pie irons since the early 60's, so I purchased two of their classic square cast iron pie irons.

Rome coats their pie irons with a thin paraffin coating at the factory to prevent rusting. You can scrub the pie irons in hot soapy water to remove the paraffin, or you can melt it off over a grill or campfire. I washed mine in hot soapy water and then dried them immediately. Next, I cured them per the instructions. I was now ready to cook.

For my first try, I was going to make grilled chicken. I took two skinless boneless chicken breats, which had been pounded to about 1/3 inch thickness. I then cut them into 4-inch squares. I placed the chicken in a Ziploc baggie with some Italian spices and a little oil. To cook I placed a chicken fillet in the pie iron and cooked about 5 minutes per side. When done, I removed the chicken, put two pieces of buttered bread in the pie iron, put the chicken in the middle, and toasted the bread for a few minutes. After the bread was toasted, I garnished the sandwiches with lettuce, mayo and tomato. What a great sandwich!