Dutch oven cooking.

Homesteading & Country Living Forum

Help Support Homesteading & Country Living Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Magus

The Shaman of suburbia.
HCL Supporter
Neighbor
Joined
Dec 13, 2017
Messages
18,241
Location
Look behind you in that dark corner.
By popular demand.
If you have a wood stove or intend to use it in the great outdoors, you're already ahead of the game. I'd keep Pyrex on the range top or in the oven as it's fragile, but it has advantages over cast iron. It's awesome at making bread, cake, and those giant 1" thick cookies!, that and You don't have to season it before you store it!

Speaking of seasoning, let's cover that first!
Wash and scour the oven, then place your oven and lid over any constant source of heat and heat it up so that if you touch it, you're burned! Now, there is some controversy about the next step. I use corn oil because it's easiest, and I don't have to melt anything, but granny swore by unsalted lard, Mother used butter, My other granny said they were stupid and used cottonseed or sunflower oil because by her logic it was light and seeped into the pores of the iron, but it smoked something horrible and made your house smell like roasted peanuts! But anyway, use a clean, unused paintbrush to paint on the seasoning of your choice, remove from heat, and let it half-cool, return it to the heat and repeat, then using an "S" hook or lid grabber and let cool. It is now ready for a winter of service!
I would be remiss if I left out Uncle Fred's method, build a hardwood fire and turn it upside down on the live coals.
Now, to the fun stuff! Your Dutch oven is your great granny's crock pot! Anything you can do in a crock pot, you can do in a Dutch oven! Now, being honest here, from October to mid-March, my Dutch oven rarely left the top of my wood stove and when I went to the woods, it seldom left the cooking rack! It was the go-to for always having a warm bite to eat! When I was home, I always had some variety of beans, black eyed peas, or soup going on the cool side of the stove. on occasion, I'd flatten a chicken, wrap it in foil on top of a piece of granite countertop to keep it from burning, and steam-roast a chicken or Cornish hen. A 6"X6" piece is plenty big, and they're free at the local counter shop! Let's check out some tools you might not have before we cook. No worries, anyone with a torch and a vice can make them. The "S" hook is pretty much what it sounds like. Using a piece of 1/2" X 12" rebar, sharpen one end like a screwdriver to get it under the bail easier and then bend it into an "S" shape. The lid hook is simpler, a 1/2" X12" piece of the same rebar with a point ground onto the end to lift the lid. DO NOT TRY TO CARRY THE OVEN USING THE LID HOOK! You'll spill dinner and probably get some 3rd degree burns, so DON'T!
A fire ring if you use it on the stove top to help reduce sticking and burning. I had mine made at a steel shop out of 8" X 2" steel pipe, but many made for Woks are just fine. A good set of cookout tools come in handy, too.

Before we get to recipes, one last thing: never, EVER pour water into or over a hot Dutch oven! We were caught in a sudden downpour once, and it rained so hard that it burst our Dutch oven! If you have to add liquid, preheat it or pour it into the middle while stirring. It might take an extra step, but it's better than looking at a century-old family heirloom with an irreparable crack and your dinner leaking into the fire! that's enough about tools and safety, I think; time to dig up my cookbook.
 
For me, the beauty of a Dutch Oven is for baking (hence it's name Dutch "oven" and not Dutch "pot"). My Dutch ovens rarely rarely see anything liquid in them, like soups, stews, chili, etc. Any old cast iron pot can be use for that purpose. I use my Dutch ovens for baking bread, cake, pies, rolls, etc. I heat my DO with campfire coals, others use charcoal.

One Thanksgiving a few years ago, the electricity went out. We could not use the oven (ours is a gas oven but still needs electricity to run the oven). My wife panicked. I fired up the charcoal Weber grill and baked the turkey on that. Then, I let the fire burn down in the firebox and baked her pecan pie in a Dutch Oven inside the firebox.
1742062295433.png


1742062356114.png
 
Does yours have a rim for piling on coals? I can't tell from this angle.
Just curious, how long did it take on that pie? I normally leave bread in for 5-10 minutes and then
let it cool to room temperature to finish it off.
Yes, all of my Dutch Ovens have a rimmed lid. It would near impossible to bake anything with campfire coals without a rimmed lid.

For even baking and browning, I turn the entire DO 1/4-turn clockwise and, at the same time, turn the lid 1/4-turn counter-clockwise. I do this about every 5 to 10 minutes.
 
I used cast iron for all of it - different ones for different purposes. I have a 150 “porridge pot” - it has a funny foreign name I can’t remember but it’s great for such things.
My number 12 DO, I’ve actually only used a time or two. Looking forward to having a firepit here I can work in 😋
 
I used cast iron for all of it - different ones for different purposes. I have a 150 “porridge pot” - it has a funny foreign name I can’t remember but it’s great for such things.
My number 12 DO, I’ve actually only used a time or two. Looking forward to having a firepit here I can work in 😋
1000001450.jpg

😉
 
Navy beans and pigs feet:
In a DO, bring 1 gallon of water to boil, add 1 tablespoon of salt, 1 ground red pepper, 1 large diced onion, and two smoked pigs' feet, and bring to a simmer. Add 1/2 a lime juice and two cups of beans and boil on low heat for two hours, stirring often. Ham hocks can be used instead of feet.

Tater surprise:
Put 1/2 inch of bacon grease in the DO and bring to a sizzle. Add three cups of diced potatoes, 1 diced onion, 1 sliced Jalapeno or Serrano pepper, and 1 cup of chopped Polish Sausage or 1 Lb. of fresh hamburger. Stir-fry until the potatoes are crispy outside and soft inside, using a spatula; dish it up and cover with shredded American or Cheddar cheese, goes well with Salsa and or sour cream.

Steamy bake chicken.
Place your granite steaming block into the pot and pour in two miller or natural lite tall boys, beer with hops tends to make the meat bitter to some, set the DO to one side. using a double wrap of tinfoil, place one chicken draped in bacon with stuffing or vegetables and wrap tightly, place on top of your steaming block and cover. once it has boiled dry, remove from high heat and let stand for half an hour. check the area around the hip for pink flesh near the bone, if its pink, it needs heated back up and let sit for fifteen minutes more.
 
Just so folks know new Lodge and old Lodge pieces aren’t the same. They quit milling the insides and now are pretty much garbage. Well not garbage but they require a hard disc to make them functional.
If you're using your DO as an oven to bake things in, it really doesn’t matter how rough the finish is. With that said, our DOs are around 40 years old and are as smooth as a baby's butt. I haven't looked at a new DO in decades, so I really have no idea what the new quality is.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top