dutch oven cooking

[RonKent]

I would like to try dutch oven cooking outside while camping.
Does any one have great recipes for the dutch oven? Also advice on which sizes to buy. I am looking at the 4 qt or 6 qt with the legs and top to add coals...cant decide which is the best size. Only 2 of us, but want to be able to cook for more if needed.. What size have you found to be more useful?

[jim.smithjr]

Check out the Cobb cooker; not a Dutch oven in the true sense, but very similar, and works great. Even fun to use!

[wa8yxm]

You can google Dutch Oven recipies.. As I recall I have a cookbook full of recipies for it (Likely in PDF format) lying about.. But I can not upload it.

Haven not done any Dutch Oven cooking in a long time, do not have a real one.

Also check the LODGE cookware site.. They make 'em. Goog place to look for "how to use 'em" stuff.

[She and I]

Try the Boy Scouts, they use them all the time,......Camping Food & Dutch Oven Recipes
We have a 12qt,8qt,4qt. stack them and you can cook a complete meal all at once, But for 2 or 4 people a 4qt or 6qt will be plenty...Start early afternoon and just sit back...no fuss,not much mess and one pan to clean!
Richard

[RVThere]

Another Boy Scout here who has cooked apple crisp, pizza, pineapple upside down cake, corn bread, chicken marsala, etc. in a Dutch Oven.

I have a 12 quart which is about the most common size. If you are ever in Pigeon Forge, TN, Lodge has a great outlet store there.

A few tips and accessories:
- a true Dutch oven has legs so you can put coals above and below
- keep minimal coals below as most of the cooking is done from the top (make sure your lid has a lip)
- NEVER clean your oven with soap!. After you are done, you can boil some water in it to loosen any food. You can also line with wide tin foil or buy a pre-made liner (available at the Lodge store).
- long tongs are helpful to move the coals around
- a lid lifter also helps keep the coals out of the food when checking for doneness
- I also have a cooking table (from Cabelas), lid rest and a carrying case

I get most of my recipes from the web. The apple crisp recipe came with the Dutch oven. Prepare your ingredients at home and vacuum seal them in bags. Saves time and effort at camp especially if you are working out of a tent.

[Chandler Bing]

Sportsmans Guide has a great cook set for open fire cooking. We have one from Jonny Nix that we use every time we camp. We also camp with our horses and usually have many other friends camping with horses too. The more peeps and horses on the trails the better, but, great to come in and take a shower and watch tv when lieing in bed. Spoiled.

[Glassalley52]

Baked apple pie as my first attempt and it was wonderful. I have an old cast iron hibachi that has legs as my Dutch oven doesn't. There are also groups you can join - just don't remember the URL.

[Francesca]

I do lots of campfire cooking in my dutch oven, and the best change I've made over the years has been to ALWAYS bring briquets along, even when there's lots of firewood available!
They're a lot easier to work with since they give such even, predictable heat. Not so many "flames" to dodge, too.
You can throw them into an already-burning fire when you're getting ready to cook, and build up the wood fire again when you're done.
I like Walmart's briquets best because they're bigger, not to mention cheaper, than other brands.
As for recipes, anything you cook at home in the oven can be cooked in a DUTCH oven.
Experiment with your own recipes- I reccommend beginning with wet-cooked meats like pot roast.
You'll get a feel for it after awhile!
Per sizes, I have several and bring along whatever suits the group I'm with.
If you can only buy one, the 6-qt. is probably the smallest that will work for you.
Enough room for flexibility, and for leftovers.
That having been said, just last year, I added a 4 qt. as a "solo camper" unit...
An oven that small will hold enough for two people, but leftovers are scanty.
Perfect for one, though!


Francesca

[Ray,IN]

Check out this thread, one of the participants even teaches dutch-oven cooking. So far, I've mastered cooking hamNbeans without burning anything.

[w6pea]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN Check out this thread, one of the participants even teaches dutch-oven cooking. So far, I've mastered cooking hamNbeans without burning anything.

X2

I need more Coffee and Old Bushmills.

[Vicap]

Cooking Thanksgiving dinner this year was all done outside! Trash Can Turkey, Dutch Oven Apple Pie, D/O Baked Root Veggies, D/O Yeast Rolls. Fabulous and fun - we had never cooked with dutch ovens before so there were lots of High Fives between us!! We just searched the web and got the recipies (and confidence) we needed. Go for it!

[tickranch]

I've got the 12" and the next smaller size. I've found that the 12" is better than the smaller sizes for most things. I'd go for the Lodge, there are cheaper ones out there, but the Lodge ones are built good & will last forever if they are taken care of, & properly seasoned. Don't do like a guy in the old Scout Troop did, he thought you needed to put it on a hot fire to season cast iron. He'd put it on the fire until it got red hot, & couldn't understand why they kept cracking! You can cook anything in a dutch oven that you can cook in your oven in the S&B. Also remember that it needs to be pre-heated...just like the oven in the S&B. Here is a recipe that I often get requests for, and for some reason I've only been able to cook it in a dutch oven:

JORDAN RIVER MUD
Chocolate Lovers’ Delight
(12 inch Dutch oven)


1 Chocolate cake mix

Mix according to directions, and set aside.

The “MUD”….
½ cup baking cocoa
2 cups brown sugar
4 cups hot water
2 tsp. Vanilla
1tsp. Cinnamon (optional)


Topping…..

1 pkg. Chocolate chips
nuts (optional)
Cool Whip

Line Dutch oven with foil if desired, and preheat. Pour the prepared batter into the preheated oven. Mix the “MUD” in a separate bowl, and pour over the batter. Cover the oven (8 to 10 coals on the lid, 8 coals on the bottom), and bake about 40 minutes. Remove the lid about 5 minutes before baking time is up, and sprinkle on the chocolate chips, and nuts. Allow the chocolate chips to melt for a few minutes. Serve with a scoop of cool whip.

Hint: The recipe can easily doubled.

[HitTheRoad]

I will not go camping unless we have a couple dutch oven meals. They are by far the best. Im not quite sure the recipes my wife uses though, but we always make a breakfast casserole and an apple/peach cobbler. Mmmmmm

[papachaz57]

we love our dutch oven! knowing this is an older thread, i wonder if the OP got one? several good suggestions already here, but Lodge Logic and Camp Chef are the two top brands. Our set is a Browning set we got at Bass Pro, but it's made by camp chef.
we camped this past weekend at Chattahoochee Bend State Park, and on Fri night I grilled steaks, but made an apple crisp in the DO for dessert:
1 21 oz can of apple pie filling
2 packets of maple and brown sugar instant oatmeal
1 stick of butter.

pour the pie filling in the dutch oven
sprinkle the instant oatmeal on top of the pie filling
slice the stick of butter into pats, lay them over the top of the oatmeal.
having a 12" dutch oven, i put 9 coals underneath and 15 on top (the +3 -3 method) and cooked for 40 minutes. it was wonderful!

on saturday i cooked barbeque ribs in the DO:
3 1/2 lbs of ribs
1 medium yellow onion
1 medium green bell pepper
1 medium granny smith apple
1/4 cup of apple juice
1/4 cup water
barbeque sauce of your choice

slice onion and pepper, put half of each in bottom of dutch oven
cut ribs and fit side by side in dutch oven
apply small amount of barbeque sauce
cut granny smith apple, put it and the rest of the onion and pepper on top of ribs
mix water and apple juice and pour around edge of meat.
using the +3 - 3 method of coals, i cooked for 2 hours. adding coals to maintain heat at about an hour. at 1 1/2 hours i put more sauce on. they were delicious!