STEEL DUTCH OVEN

[Loyalist Dave]

Well sorta, the Bedourie Camp Oven from Australia...,
I got me one, finally.

The story goes that Dutch Ovens being from cast iron were prone to cracking as apparently the geology of Australia, a lot of the stones have some pretty hard, pretty sharp edges, ..., so it was a pounds-per-square-inch thing, and then the cast iron DO hit the rocks just right....crack!

THEN somebody made a "camp oven" from steel, like the steel from a skillet, instead of from cast iron, and problem solved...,

So it's lighter than a Dutch oven, can be used just like one, ..., is carbon steel, and you can use the lower portion for a pot and the lid doubles as a frypan. You can hang them from a tripod over the fire too.

Well since Australia was first settled in 1788, and Dutch Ovens are older than that, I figured that these things, perhaps in a slightly older form of construction, were at least early 19th century.

NOPE..., Bedourie Station in Australia is circa 1880's, and prior to that, the Simpson Hardware Co. was making all sorts of steel kitchen stuff in the 1860's.
So it's possible the first one of these was produced around the time the ACW was taking place back here in The States, but..., It's likely something from after the ACW.

Now I still intend to use it in camp, but the name brand that I have, the actual name associated with such an oven is only about a century old.

LD

 

[Treestalker]

Well sorta, the Bedourie Camp Oven from Australia...,
I got me one, finally.

The story goes that Dutch Ovens being from cast iron were prone to cracking as apparently the geology of Australia, a lot of the stones have some pretty hard, pretty sharp edges, ..., so it was a pounds-per-square-inch thing, and then the cast iron DO hit the rocks just right....crack!

THEN somebody made a "camp oven" from steel, like the steel from a skillet, instead of from cast iron, and problem solved...,

So it's lighter than a Dutch oven, can be used just like one, ..., is carbon steel, and you can use the lower portion for a pot and the lid doubles as a frypan. You can hang them from a tripod over the fire too.

View attachment 61879

Well since Australia was first settled in 1788, and Dutch Ovens are older than that, I figured that these things, perhaps in a slightly older form of construction, were at least early 19th century.

NOPE..., Bedourie Station in Australia is circa 1880's, and prior to that, the Simpson Hardware Co. was making all sorts of steel kitchen stuff in the 1860's.
So it's possible the first one of these was produced around the time the ACW was taking place back here in The States, but..., It's likely something from after the ACW.

Now I still intend to use it in camp, but the name brand that I have, the actual name associated with such an oven is only about a century old.

LD

Them turnips won't know the difference!

 

[Brokennock]

Are coals going to stay on that lid okay? I ask because it looks very smooth and doesn't have the dishes surface of a dutch oven to hold the coals

 

[3Setters]

I've never seen a steel DO. But then again, all DO's I've used have 3 legs and a lipped lid for using with charcoal. I have a cast iron DO and gasp!!, an alumimun DO.

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Are coals going to stay on that lid okay? I ask because it looks very smooth and doesn't have the dishes surface of a dutch oven to hold the coals

Yeah, it's not the same as my cast iron DO with a lip, and three legs, but they will stay on top. The very first DO's in history, the user put the domed lid upside down on coals and got the iron very hot, then placed the lid on top of the oven to bake. The lip is a 19th century improvement in design.

The technique tends to be a bit different in Australia too. I've seen some videos and they have A LOT of rocks. Some of the techniques are to heat up rocks with a fire, then use the hot rocks alone, under and on top. It's obviously not as good as a DO design..., as the company that sells the Bedourie also makes a "camp oven" out of steel....the lid on that has a lip for holding coals.

Luckily, I'm a yard-sale-hound, and I scrounged two years ago a pair of circular grills with tiny legs. I use the 8" grill at my home, in the bottom of a kitchen cook pot for steaming veggies, pot stickers, seafood..., but the 10" one just sat on the shelf. NOW the 10" circular gill rests inside my new Bedourie and will hold pies and breads off the bottom when baking. I also have a steel ring that fits inside the Bedourie (no idea where that was scrounged), that will rest on the lid and do a better job of securing the coals. The lid lifts off quite well with the bail. I shall have to try it with coals instead of hot rocks.

LD

 

[appalichian hunter]

Suggestion take the second steel ring and have someone weld it to the lid a few small beads should hold it in place. That way it will hold the coals better and there will be no chance of them falling into the pot or worse yet down your leg. While your at it why not have 3 small L shaped legs welded to the bottom. Just take some 3/4 in. wide flat stock bend it like a z and attach to bottom with a few weld beads. Should not cost much to do that. You could do the same thing for a handle on the lid.

 

[Lone Carabiner]

I have a stamped steel skillet about 8" diameter which a lid from a cast iron pot fits fairly snugly atop/ it has shaped pouring spouts (? I suppose right term)
formed into the rolled bead edge. evidently made for frying bacon, rendering fat and who knows what else? and it has absolutely no pitting on the cooking surface (possible nickel content?) made Pre CW time. performs admirably for a 4 man camp. covering with the lid does great for baking when covered with coals.
one of my favorite pieces of kit. sorry no pik capability.

 

[azmntman]

I have one. Its HUGE. Only thing I ever cooked in it was a massive portion of SUPERBOWL Chili. Twas excellent though some were moaning and groaning the next day with so called heartburn?? (I like my foods spicy!) As I recall it cooked exactly like my regular ones.

 

[Zonie]

The biggest problem I can see with it is, it will be very sensitive to how much heat gets put into it.
With a heavy cast iron oven, dumping a bunch of coals on top of it or scraping away some of the burned out coals around the sides and moving some new, hot coals up around the base or on the lid will increase the internal heat but it will do it slowly and evenly.

With the thin steel walls and top on this steel oven, adding new coals around the bottom or onto the top will cause local areas to get very hot, almost instantly. Also, the sides and lid will cool off quicker as the coals burn themselves out.
That means the cook has to be more careful with what they are doing when they are using this kind of oven.

 

[griffiga]

I've never seen a steel DO. But then again, all DO's I've used have 3 legs and a lipped lid for using with charcoal. I have a cast iron DO and gasp!!, an alumimun DO.

I inherited an aluminum one from a neighbor 12 years ago when her husband passed away, but have yet to use it. For anyone that has, do they work OK?

 

[kansas_volunteer]

A friend of mine in Australia told me the thin steel ovens tend to let food burn. They aren't as reliable as heavier cast iron ovens.

 

[3Setters]

Griff, my aluminum DO works well, but I'd say it needs less heat on the bottom than cast iron. It will also heat up and cool down quicker than cast iron. I've made a lot of monkey bread(goes over great at a picnic), and mountain man breakfasts in the aluminum DO. I've also been told to much heat can warp it a bit, something I never tested out.

 

[George]

There's no way to know what they looked like, but Dutch ovens of light metals were offered for sale in the day.

The Pennsylvania Gazette
May 12, 1737
PEACOCK BIGGER, Brazier, in Market Street near the Sign of the Indian King: MAKES and Sells all Sorts of Copper Work, viz. Tea kettles, Coffee- Pots, Warming-Pans, Copper-Pots, Saucepans, Dutch Ovens and Stew-Pans, Brass Kettles and any other Sorts of Copper Work when bespoke: He tins and mends old Copper Work and sells Tinwork at reasonable Rates, and gives ready Money for old Copper and Brass.

THE SOUTH CAROLINA GAZETTE; AND COUNTRY JOURNAL
February 24, 1767
CHARLES-TOWN
Just imported….tin and pewter cullenders, tin Dutch ovens , cheese toasters, candle extinguishers, horn lantborns

Cooking with a Dutch oven made of other metal than cast iron is certainly a skill you can learn.

Spence

 

[Loyalist Dave]

A friend of mine in Australia told me the thin steel ovens tend to let food burn. They aren't as reliable as heavier cast iron ovens.

Thanks for the tip; I shall be cautious.

Your friend is quite correct, but I think this was known when the Bedourie became popular. Here in The States we had folks that could bake in a kettle [lidded tin pot] as well as a device called a sheetsteel oven. There were also two-piece, steel, box like containers that could be placed into a typical wood, two-burner stove, as baking could be done in the stove firebox when the fire had been allowed to get down to an old bed of coals. In all the cases where steel is used, folks had to be more alert to burning of the food. This is mentioned in Horace Kephart's Camping and Woodcraft. circa 1906

It's interesting how similar in design the American sheetsteel oven is to the Australian Bedourie.

LD

 

[SOLANCO]

We bought an enameled cast iron DO years ago. It is one of the most used utensils in our kitchen. Soups, stews, pasta sauce, chili, braises.