Dutch oven cooking.

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Magus

The Shaman of suburbia.
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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.
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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 😋
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😉
 
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.
 
We have a couple like that. But what I'm looking for has a bail for hanging over a fire.
If you ever go through Moscow on your travels north, might stop in at NRS. Hubby got me a nice one from there. Came with the stand also. The brand is GSI Outdoors. It has the bail too.
 
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.
 
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.
I use little "scrubbie" pads that attach to a drill to smooth.out my cast iron. I get them from the auto parts store. They are about 3 inches in dia
 
We have a couple like that. But what I'm looking for has a bail for hanging over a fire.
I never noticed! I must have been between blackouts, or I never would have linked it. That thing is pretty much for oven and stove top only. :(
Hmm. I wonder if I could put a bail on a frying pan? Oh well.

The recipe of the day is a variation of the old favorite, chipped beef on toast. You army guys know it as S**t on a shingle! I call this chicken s**t on a shingle!
Boil up half a medium-sized chicken, save the broth for the gravy, remove the meat from the bones, and stir fry it in the DO until it's covered in brown spots. Dip the meat back up and brown 1/4 cup of flour in the remaining grease, add half a cup of the broth, stir until thickened, add two cups of milk, the meat and a can of mixed vegetables, remove to low heat and stir 5 minutes, serve it over dark grilled Texas toast, if you seasoned it just right it tastes like a pot pie.

I'm not a big dessert eater, but this is kick butt! I just call it cobbler.
In a gallon pot, stew four good-sized peaches and four good-sized apples until they are done. Add two cups of unbleached sugar and water to about an inch above the fruit, stir well, and make dumplings using your favorite recipe. Slowly drop them into the pot and simmer for 5 minutes, remove from heat, and let sit covered for ten more. It's edible now, but you can transfer some to a Pyrex plate and brown it in an oven.

Brick trout.
Lay your steaming block in the bottom of your oven and pour in a tallboy of natural light beer.
Gut two oven-sized fish I like whitefish and catfish, but trout has the best flavor, and I use it if I can.
Scour the outside of the fish to remove any loose scales. if you time it just right, skin and all will just peel off like a banana when cooked, or just skin them, but I find skin-on holds in flavor. Stuff the fish with 2 green onions, 4 1/4" thick lemon wedges, and a sprinkle of basil. Wrap them in aluminum foil and put them over medium heat for 4 hours. You can also add potatoes and carrots for an evening meal or put them on at midnight to go with eggs in the morning. if you do the morning route, they will be dry and flaky and mix right into the eggs!
 
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I have a brand new Lodge Dutch oven somewhere in my junky garage. Can't find it anywhere. I have a larger Lodge, but it is so heavy, I don't like messing with it. My plan is to clean my garage this Spring and get all of my tools, etc in their proper place. Maybe when we use the wood stove, I will have the Dutch oven to cook some beans or soup in.
 
I had to look up that word 😂. Nope but you made me look back and see. It’s a Scotch porridge pot. I guess the Scotch part was the funny name 🤪. But here’s a pix after I cleaned it up. It was rusty- they had a flower pot in it 🙄
View attachment 175575View attachment 175576
The guy at the salvage yard gave me two pots like that for free. Are rusty but not pitted
 

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