Any Dutch Oven fanatics out here?

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Pappy

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I have a couple of them and have never taken the time to cook in them. One is a 10" and the other a 12" if I remember correctly.
I used to hunt with guys that were very good with them. They would prep the evening meal when they came back to camp after the morning hunt and get it going just prior to leaving for the evening hunt. Dinner was done by the time they returned.
Have been to Bass Pro and tasted the mmmmm good cobblers they make outside. Would love to learn a bit about them.
 
Fanatic? No. But yes we use them on fishing and hunting trips. I have LOST a phenomenal peach cobbler dish that was cooked over the coals from a wood fire. Man that was awesome!

I have 2 dutch ovens, a smaller 4 or 6-quart I believe, with the feet on it so you can place right over the coals. I use that the most on my primitive hunts (flintlock season). I have a bigger one, but it's heavy.

Just watch using tomato or an acidic-based dishes in cast iron, as it kills the seasoning and you'll likely have to re-do the entire seasoning process. Otherwise as far as recipes, we just wing it, just adding stuff into it like one would into a crock pot, less we leave the oven on the coals whilst out in the woods or field or on the waters.

I don't think I've been too helpful, but will part with that I use the on-line info from Lodge Mfg company to do the seasoning or re-seasoning and it's been the most reliable method for me.

https://www.lodgemfg.com/use-and-care/seasoned-cast-iron-use-and-care.asp

I just did a quick on-line search and this intro looks pretty good! It should be, it's from the Boy Scouts!

https://troop172newpaltz.com/food-skills/

A few tips from that site:


  • * Never, and I repeat, NEVER allow cast iron to sit in water or allow water to stand in or on it. It will rust despite a good coating.
    * Never use soap on cast iron. The soap will get into the pores of the metal and won’t come out very easy, but will return to taint your next meal, though.
    * If soap is used accidentally, the oven should be put through the pre-treatment procedure, including removal of the present coating.
    * Do not place an empty cast iron pan or oven over a hot fire. Aluminum and many other metals can tolerate it better but cast iron will crack or warp, ruining it.
    * Do not get in a hurry to heat cast iron, you will end up with burn’t food or a damaged oven or pan.
    * Never put cold liquid into a very hot cast iron pan or oven. They will crack on the spot!
 
I love cook with a Dutch oven over coals. I do nothing but desserts in mine. Here is a pineapple upside down cake.
22ad01abc8f36e12d9511ecbb22346d1.jpg
the crowd favorite. Apple cobbler.
989bb33ecbb34b931e6f6d7dd609647f.jpg
cheesecake.
f80749d549695981c25b4759b70e5657.jpg
and last a blackberry cobbler cake thing.
f02d3c4553e4befcf57b41963f7c2427.jpg



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I own a few dutch ovens (all inherited) and have never used a one of them. I love my cast iron skillets though, especially for making cornbread or home/skillet fried potatoes. All those deserts look fantastic and it's making me hungry just looking at them. :shock:
 
Glad you asked. I have been cooking with cast iron for almost 40 years. I learned from some horse packers. We have tent parties in the cooler months, often in winter and cook everything on a fire. I have cooked for up to 50 people with an average sized campfire. It is more fun and less work to cook for around 25-30. By now I have a stack of DOs, but one is an original I got from my great uncle in Wyoming. It is from the 1930s. We sank a canoe on the John Day River many years ago in a friend's boat. I threw a rescue line to the boat and dragged the oven and the lid across the bottom of the river to get it back.

We are going on a raft trip next week in Oregon. I will be cooking in a Dutch a lot of the time. One night I will bake a cake or a cobbler. Cooking with Dutch Ovens is not that hard. Some people seem to collect the equipment without using it. Like CW Welch says: "If you can't smell it, it is not done. If you can smell it, it is done. If it smells burnt, you over cooked it."
 
When we go to the Glamis sand dunes to run the sand toys it's one big party/campfire at night. The only things I see cooked in the Dutch ovens are cobblers. I think they just dump a few cans of fruit in and cover it with bisquick, pancake powder or somthing? Anyway they wip it up super fast and it turns out awesome. Sportsmans Warehouse holds free seminars if you have one near you. I know they do one on Dutch Ovens and they sales staff are schooled on them. I'm a weight weinie and throw my gear on a scale that resides in the shop. I carry an aluminum pipe wrench for example. The weight vs benifit of cast iron has not been justified.
 
Cooking in a Dutch is very forgiving. Most people use too much heat at first becuase they don't believe that they work as well as they do. You can cook everything in a Dutch Oven, pizza, Chinese stiry fry. bread, soup. stews and everything in between. I have cooked a lot of buffalo in mine and served it for Thanksgiving at least 12 times. Our tradition is that the men cook outside on the fire and the women cook in the house.

My aunt came down from Alaska. She is a great cook and has sent many recipes to Alaska Magazine. When she saw a meal for 35 people on one fire she was amazed. It is how people cooked on the Frontier for hundreds of years. It is still one of the best ways to cook.
 

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