Dutch Oven Cooking

[Lesley]

Confession.... I've never cooked in a dutch oven and now I've volunteered to do a meal or two for a canoe camping trip. Any tips on cooking in these things? How about cleanup after dinner? My meals are going to be peach cobbler (breakfast) and chili. I've got my recipes down but what pitfalls do I need to look out for?

[dogwood]

Be sure to cook over a good bed of coals, not open flame.  Also, put coals on the lid and it'll cook evenly all around.  Dutch ovens, at times, can be a pain to clean!

[Uncle Wayne]

 I love Dutch Oven cooking. I have some really good recipes if there's any interest. I cook peach cobblers all the time in mine and finally learned to line the oven with aluminum foil. Makes cleaning much easier.  Buy the heavy duty type, it's worth the difference in price.

A good rule of thumb is to use a few more coals on top than you do on the bottom.  If you use charcoal, put 3 more on top than the size of the oven, 3 less under the bottom.  If your oven is a 12", use 15 on top, 9 under the oven.  If you use coals from a fire, use your best judgment but more on top than under is always safe for cobblers.

I've never burned a peach cobbler doing this.

[highlife]

for cleaning really nasty stuff we have used a wad of foil to scrub. or adding some water and boiling the gunk out.

the scrubbing with foil can ruin the seasoned finish but we always have some sort of grease with us to reapply.

use Uncle Waynes advice on the amount of coals ..and rotate the lid every once in awhile too.
the chili will be easy...pretend its a crock pot. yummmy


couple pics ..one we were doing ribs..with potatoes on top of the lid. it was at Houston campground and was windy so the large pieces of bark came in handy

the other is chili...yum

[toph]

Love some dutch oven cobbler...real easy to do.  I've also used mine to make pizzas, various casseroles and a breakfast scramble...hash browns, eggs (usually egg beaters if on the river), onions, peppers and a pork product or two.

Definitely line it with heavy duty foil in most cases if you are worried about cleanup.  I usually pack along a small abrasive cleaning pad for the tougher jobs and hit it with elbow grease while it's still a little warm and with hot water. 

[DirtTrailz]

For quick cleaning, we use liners. They make liners specific for dutch ovens, but slow cooker liners work too. It is trickier to use the liners with more 'soupy' type meals. Just have to ensure the sides are kept around the lip of the oven!

[Uncle Wayne]

the other is chili...yum

That looks like some really good chili!  Making me hungry.

[Lesley]

Thanks guys! Those are some great tips. I can't wait to try it out.

[Lostsheep]

Sounds like you've gotten quite a bit of advice.

A few more:
-NEVER USE SOAP on your oven. Use hot water, scrub well, and dry well.
-Always recoat with a little bit of oil when finished.
-Store with a paper towel inside and the lid sitting on a paper towel. It'll help it stay dry and not turn stale.

The caols 3+/3- is very helpful.

Once you've gotten the hang of it, you won't go back. Matter of fact, I have a spot in my flowerbed that I use for cooking at home!

[SmokeDiver]

Sounds like you've gotten quite a bit of advice.

A few more:
-NEVER USE SOAP on your oven. Use hot water, scrub well, and dry well.

Better yet, don't even clean the thing, it adds to the flavor! Just like Grandma used to do! 

[Firedog]

If you haven't already, the way we season our ovens & cast iron skillets is as follows. Build a big campfire with some good hardwood. when the fire burns down into a pretty good pile of coals place your skillets and or oven into the coals and put more wood on top of them. When you see the cast iron turn red from the fire, take a long stick or fire poker and remove from the fire to cool. Let them cool naturally. After they are cold wipe them out with a dry cloth and apply a generous coating of crisco shortening and wipe off the excess. You're done, happy cooking. Carl W.

[Lesley]

Thanks guys! The chili got turned into frito chili pie....which was awesome! The cobbler could have been less moist (soupy) but it still was super tasty. I need to get my own dutch oven. I'm a pro with a cast iron skillet, this was simply the next step.

[Lostsheep]

Lesley - if your buying your own dutch oven do thsi:

-Buy LODGE. Always.
-When you get home, reseason that bad boy.
-Look for one with a lip on the lid and feet. (IMPORTANT)
-A good standard size is 12".
-Invest in a large pair of channel lock pliers for lifting the lid afterwards OR buy a seperate "lid lifter". It's quite handy.

It's important to get one with feet so that you can get some air going under the oven and not burn the bottom of you food. Plus the lip on the lid will help keep the coals from falling off.

[AlabamaDan]

I'm not a dutch over cook, yet, but I do have a tip for cast iron that an old man taught me in hunting camp.  Ever notice that your cast iron skillet rusts on the inside if you really wash and scrub it, unless you reapply grease or something?  He taught me that you can wash it and scrub it all you want, but when you're done dry it off and then let it sit over the eye on medium heat for a little while to get the water out of the pores.  Since I've been doing that I've had no rust problems, I can wash it all I want, it stays seasoned and best of all doesn't always feel greasy.

[Lostsheep]

BL, that's the exact same lid lifter I have and can't speak enough about it. It's so simple and useful.

[AlabamaDan]

Here's a great article about dutch ovens and it talks about how to arrange the coals on the top and bottom to have specific temps like 300' vs 425'.  Interesting stuff.  I heard a Troop leader talking about a dutch oven that cooked just as well as Cast Iron but was aluminum or something and light enough for backpacking.  Y'all ever used one?

http://www.scoutingmagazi.../issues/0909/d-dutch.html

[Lostsheep]

Speaking of dutch oven cooking, anyone used theirs as a wok?

A couple of years ago, I saw a scoutmaster take a later 14-18" oven, fill with some oil, flip the lid, and he used the concave of the lid as a wok. Made some great food that way too!

Just goes to show that there is a ton one can do with a dutch oven and the knowhow.

Has someone mentioned lining it with foil or parchment paper to ease and speed up cleanup? This will really help in the longrun!

[Lostsheep]

I just bought a box of those same liners. I'm planning on using them soon to try them out. Always gone the foil route, but thought I'd try something better.

Yea, the top worked very very well!

You can see where this is going, but with oil heated inside, it can make for a good shallow fryer too. Not something I do much of, but something I have done!

[AlabamaDan]

I've seen pancakes and eggs cooked on the lid while sausage cooked inside.  Resourceful!

[Lostsheep]

Bear, I knew I liked you!

Thanks!