Rome's Round Pie Iron with Steel and Wood Handles - Perfect for Campfire Cooking, Outdoor Picnics & Backpacking Trips

had carefully reviewed different brands of pie irons, and settled on this brand because it is the one used/recommended by the Wisconsin pie iron chefs who wrote the Pudgie Pie Revolution cookbook(s). (I also purchased the square pie iron, which I will review separately). And, we could not be happier! We have used this iron a few times over our charcoal grill & over a fire, & it has always produced perfect pies. But, I FIRMLY BELIEVE that what has contributed to our success was the purchase of the cookbook to go along with because it describes exactly how to prepare the food & pie irons according to what type of outer layer you'll be using. Without the cookbook, we would've been lost. This is NOT an endorsement for the cookbook - I'm simply stating a fact.SIZE: Beware that this round pie iron is a little smaller than it's cousin, the square iron. It cannot hold as much filling, so you need to be cautious of how much you put in it to avoid overflowing. This is why I rated the round iron as 4 stars instead of 5. But with that said, it can still accommodate a full piece of bread, small flour tortilla, egg roll wrapper, etc. And, you want the outer layer to flow over the top of the iron so that when you clamp it shut, that extra layer around the edge forms a seal.DESIGN: There is a clamp closer to the handle that easily opens and closes the two halves of the pie iron. The other end of the pie iron folds completely off so you can prepare each half of the iron with your ingredients.COOKING: We follow the instructions in the cookbook, but this iron only takes about three minutes on each side to produce an evenly cooked pie. And, because the latch allows you to open it while cooking, you're able to see how the outer layer is doing.CLEANUP: We use a nylon-bristled brush with warm water to clean the irons. When finished, we lightly run in some oil & sea salt. Cleanup is usually simply, unless the fillings spill out onto the iron, which shouldn't happen if the pies are not overfilled.