dutch oven essentials

[BUERICH]

i got a smallish dutch oven recently that i've used some, but don know how to use it well enough for it to realize its potential. anyone know any tips for cookin cornbread/biscuits in a dutch? also any good recipes for hogs, venison, rabbit, etc. i get out and do a lotta hunting with my dad and brother, and cousins. its always fun to come back and cook somethin over the fire. also anyone have any recommendations for a campfire coffee pot. we've got a good one at the deer lease that i don know where it came from, but it belongs to the people who own the camp, i been wanting to get one of my own.

Erich

 

[Trina]

Erich,
Here is a site that has lots of recipes and lots of dutch oven info http://www.idos.com/ I learned alot there when I was just starting out... and if you havent looked thru it, there is a thread down just a bit about camp cooking there are a bunch of really good looking recipes on there.. :thumbsup:

 

[vradin]

Erich, you can find modern coffee boilers and percs at most any outdoor supply store-[url] campmor.com[/url] has quite a few in stainless from 3 cup up to 20. If you look in any thrift store or junque shop you may find the older aluminum or copper percs, but expect to pay handsomly for these as the yuppies are grabbing them up to prettify their kitchens.

If you want more modern, get a java press. You can also get espresso makers that go right on a fire too. They both work well, but are limited to being single-use items, so you'll not find them in my camp very often.

My personal preference is an old enamel-ware boiler, holds almost 2 gallons of water, and for large groups I can keep it fully charged all day without it geting bitter, and my spun aluminum perc that I've had for about 35 or 40 years.

Now, none of these are period correct before (I think) about 1900, so if you're looking for PC stuff, better wait for some of the experts to chime in with better answers.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Erich,
Here is a site that has lots of recipes and lots of dutch oven info http://www.idos.com/ I learned alot there when I was just starting out... and if you havent looked thru it, there is a thread down just a bit about camp cooking there are a bunch of really good looking recipes on there.. :thumbsup:

This is a really cool site. Our oven has been on the shelf, never seasoned, for we didnt know what to do with it.

Do now, thanks!

 

[Trina]

Johnny get that pot of the shelf and get it seasoned, your assignment for the weekend :crackup: :crackup: I think the first thing I cooked in the black pots was a chicken enchilada casserole...mmmm it was good... I would suggest when first starting out to use charcoal briquets until you get the hang of getting the temps right.. mostly I just cook with them out at Rondy's but occasionally my family has a big dutch oven get together and we all cook a dish or two in the pots.. always good fun and good food... ::

 

[Johnny Tremain]

Oh sure one more thing for my "Honey Do" List

 

[jrdavis]

check out you local Boy Scout office they sell a really good Dutch Oven cook book along with a dandy tool to lift the lid its made of Aluminum and not correct but you could always paint it flat black.

 

[jrdavis]

Lodge web site www.lodgemfg.com they have a new book out "Cast Iron Cooking for Dummies" also see "Field Guide to Dutch Oven Cooking"
"Texas Treasury of Dutch Oven Cooking"
also a video "Dutch Oven Basics"... :front:

 

[LFord]

I have two old, round tin cake pans and use them when I bake. This lets me have one cooking and the next ready to go in the oven as soon as the first is done. Both pans and a small trivet fit inside the oven. This is my small oven(10 inch) and it always stays in my cookbox, I also have two 14 inch ovens and I have a perforated pizza pan that works great when I am not worried about being PC. This sits about a half inch off the bottom of the oven and works great for doing round bread loaves. A lid lifter is also real handy to have around. A little rack or a few clean stones makes a good place to put the lid when you take it off the oven, three or four little stones also make a handy little trivet when you want to use any other type of pan inside the oven.



A couple of basic guidelines of dutch oven cooking.

Don't keep opening the lid to check on the food

Pre-heat your oven

When baking turn your oven a quarter turn in one direction and your lid a quarter turn in the other direction when baking. This keeps any hot spots in from burning.

Get a decent sized chuck roast and brown it in the oven with a bit of fat, pull out the roast and pour in a cup or two of red wine to de-glaze the pan. Toss the roast back in with a bunch of chopped up root veggies such as turnips, spuds, parsnips, a bunch of mushrooms, some onion, a few cloves of garlic, season with salt and pepper and in about 90 minutes you have a great beef burgandy.

Do your baking at night when you are sitting around the campfire, this gives you bread for the next day and frees up the oven for other cooking.

They take a bit of practice just like anything else worth doing but once you get familiar with using dutch ovens you can make some great meals.

 

[BUERICH]

as far as fire and such is concerned we usually have a camp fire goin. usually just made outa oak or mesquite wood. when cooking do you just set the oven onto hot coals? i don think its sposed to go right in the fire, but just on parts that have coaled down? and i've herad you put coals on the lid also. i'm not super sure though. i'll be in east texas hunting hogs on old sabine bottom wma this may. its super rustic. plan on takin the dutch then and tryin some of this. thanks for the advice.

Erich

 

[vradin]

Erich,
You can put your dutch oven right in a blazing fire if ya want to, but it works more like a kettle than an oven that way. Good for prepping meat (sear and then roast) or keeping a cast cauldron of stew or soup going in the winter. Keeping just coals top and bottom lets the oven heat more evenly and keep the heat moving inside.

Use coals from your fire- I put the ovens about a foot or so from the main fire and bring coals to the oven. The coals go top and bottom, depending on what's being cooked will tell how many and where. A rule of thumb is each briquet-size coal is about 25 degrees F. If you want your oven to be about 400*, then you need 8 coals top and 8 bottom.

Check the IDOS site for more info, and practice before you get out to your camp. Do some backyard cooking in the dutch, find recipes you like and test them out. Practice, practice, practice.

vic