Pie Iron Grilled Cheese and Pizza Sandwiches

One of my son's favorite foods is grilled cheese. He especially likes them made using pie irons, over a bed of coals from a camp fire. In this Instructable I will show you how I make camp fire grilled cheese sandwiches and also how to make a pizza sandwich.

Step 1: FIRE!

This Instructable requires a fire. You want a bed of coals, so start your fire about 30 minutes before you plan on cooking. Be Careful! There will be heat and smoke. Have a fire extinguisher or water hose nearby. And remember....Only you can prevent wildfires.

Step 2: Tools and Ingredients

The pie irons I use are Camp Chef brand. I have had these for over 20 years and they are still as good as new. They are cast iron pie iron....sometimes called hobo pie irons.

I used a folding aluminum table that I knew I could safely place the hot pie irons on. I also had gloves and a lighter to start the fire.

For the sandwiches, I used two pieces of bread each. On the cheese sandwich, I used two slices of colby jack cheese. On the pizza sandwich, I used two tablespoons of tomato paste, about a half cup of shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheese, and five slices of peperoni.

I used some butter to coat the inside of the pie irons.

Step 3: Preparing the Sandwiches.

The grilled cheese is easy to prepare, just place the two slices of cheese on one piece of bread, and then place the other piece of bread on top. With the pizza sandwich, put about two tablespoons of tomato paste on one piece of bread, then sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the tomato paste. If you like just cheese pizza, you can stop here. I added five slices of peperoni and then a little more shredded cheese and then placed the top slice of bread on. Actually my son placed the top slice of bread on, as he was patiently waiting to cook the grilled cheese.

Step 4: A Good Bed of Coals

You want to wait till most of the wood in your fire has burned down to coals. If there are some pieces of wood still burning, push them to the far edge of the fire and make a level bed of coals. The height you want to hold your pie irons is at about the height you can hold your hand over the coals for about two or three seconds.

Step 5: Butter the Inside of the Pie Irons.

To help toast the outside of your sandwich, and to keep it from sticking to the pie irons, you want to coat the inside of the pie irons with butter. I heat the empty pie irons over the coals and then just rub the end of a stick of butter on the warm inside surface of the pie iron.

Step 6: Put the Sandwich in the Pie Iron

You want to put the sandwich in the pie iron. Pie irons are made just a little smaller than the size of the sliced bread. They are designed this way on purpose. Place the prepared sandwiches so that all four edges are sticking out past the edges of the pie irons. When you close the pie iron up, it will pinch the edges of the bread. This makes it so it bakes the edges of the bread together and giving you a sealed "pocket" of the inside of your sandwich. This is helpful when camping, because if you are eating while sitting around the campfire, your sandwich is less likely to fall apart in your lap.

Step 7: Cook the Sandwich

Hold the pie iron over the bed of coals for about six minutes, flipping it over about once a minute. This is one of the only activities that my son will sit still during.

Step 8: Take the Sandwich Out

Open up the pie iron and take out the cooked sandwich. The finished sandwich should be lightly toasted on the outside. If it is not quite done, close up the pie iron and cook it a bit more. You might need a spoon or fork to gently pry the sandwich out of the pie iron. It will be hot!