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Cooking With Dutch Ovens

Seasoning a Dutch Oven

Dutch Oven Cooking Tools

Cooking Areas

Controlling the Heat

Storing your Dutch Oven

Photo courtesy of Chuckwagon Supply. Order everything you need to get started in Dutch Oven cooking from http://www.chuckwagonsupply.com

Seasoning a Dutch Oven

The only way to successfully cook in a Dutch oven is to properly season it. When you by a new Dutch oven it usually has been coated with a waxy material to protect it. Peel the label and wash the pot well with mild soapy water, a steel wool pad, or SOS. pad is really the way to go here. Rinse thoroughly and dry it quickly. You will be surprised how quickly a Dutch will rust if you don't dry it immediately. Grease the Dutch oven with a thin coat of vegetable oil (Crisco works well) or lard using a cotton cloth. Remember to do all surfaces inside and out. DO NOT USE BUTTER, MARGARINE OR SALAD OIL.

The entire surface of the oven needs to be coated. Place your Dutch in your home oven at 350 degrees for one hour. Be prepared! This may cause a slightly unpleasant odor and some smoking may occur. Turn off the oven and when the Dutch oven is still warm, not hot, wipe out the Dutch oven and ensure a thin layer of oil is on all the Dutch oven. You will notice that your oven is now golden in color, but continued use of the Dutch oven will form a patina or real black surface. This is evidence that an individual uses and cares for their Dutch oven. The blacker the pot, the better. A high gloss lacquer shows that the Dutch Oven is well seasoned. The flavor of the food is enhanced the more the Dutch oven is used.

If your Dutch oven rusts or discolors or has a metallic taste this is a sign your seasoning has been removed. Repeat the seasoning steps. Re-season your Dutch oven after storage over the winter. If you haven't used your oven for a while, and it smells rancid, just repeat the seasoning process.

Dutch Oven Cooking Tools

There are many tools and gadgets to assist in Dutch oven cooking, you will probably be around many Dutch Oven chefs that have their own personal favorites, so listen to them, have them demonstrate how to use the various instruments, and you will discover your own personal favorites. The most important of all of them are the lid lifters. There are many different types but they all basically do the same thing, they get the lid off and keep you from getting burned.

We suggest that you obtain these items specifically for cooking with a Dutch oven.

Charcoal (the good stuff) Kingsford Don't mess with cheap stuff because it really is.

Tongs, long pair (available at restaurant supply stores).

Spatula, a stainless steel spatula is best.

Steaming rack

Coffee can with air holes, or a briquette starter available in any hardware store.

Shovel, a folding camp shovel is best.

Leather gloves, insulated.

Heavy hot mitts

Whisk broom

Tin or Aluminum pie plates

Paper towels

Heavy Duty Aluminum Foil

Serving utensils

Lid lifter, long one for removing the oven from the heat, and a short one for removing the lid to serve the food.

Cooking Areas

Dutch oven cooking can be done almost anywhere. The backyard is the most convenient place to cook in your Dutch ovens. Cooking in the backyard allows you to use your skills more frequently.

You can make a fire pit in the backyard. It may be made from cement, a steel rim culvert set into the ground with rock or gravel surrounding it, an old rim of a wagon wheel, a 55 gallon drum cut in half or a brick Dutch oven barbecue pit. You can cook right on your patio so long as you cover the concrete with aluminum foil or sand. You may build a wind break with cinder blocks. A charcoal stand can be used. There are gas grills designed for Dutch ovens. They are sold at many department stores and start at around $99.00. These grills may have one, two or three burners and use propane tanks.

Controlling the Heat

	Start with moderate temperatures when cooking with your Dutch oven. The design of the Dutch aids in the process of steaming. Start cooler and increase the heat if necessary. You may love a black pot, but not burned black food!
	Cooking coals can be from natural coals like you get from a camp fire, or from charcoal briquettes.
	Use high quality briquettes placed underneath and on top of the oven to give off consistent heat.
	Here is a list of the average quantity of charcoal briquettes for Dutch oven cooking:

Dutch Oven Size

8 inch - 8 on top, 5-6 on the bottom

10 inch -13 on top, and 7on the bottom

12 inch-15 on top, and 9 on the bottom

14 inch-17 on top, and 11 on the bottom

16 inch- 19 on top, and 13 on the bottom

As you can see, when you are first experimenting with Dutch Oven cooking, take the size of your oven, for example a 12 inch, add three more briquettes to the top (15), and subtract three from the bottom (9). This will of course vary from food to food, wind conditions, and outside air temperature, but it is a good place to start, and you will eventually get a feel for temperature requirements with a little practice.

High altitude lowers the cooking temperature. Therefore, the cooking time increases. Outdoor temperature affects the cooking temperature. Warm breezes or winds will raise the cooking temperature. Cold winds will of course lower the temperature, increase your cooking time, and may require that you use more briquettes. Breezes will heat the upwind side of the Dutch oven, so rotate the Dutch oven occasionally. You may make a windbreak with bricks around the cooking area.

Humidity will also lower the temperature, so add more charcoal briquettes. Sunlight will also increase the temperature while shade decreases the temperature.

For soups, stews, or liquid dishes, more heat is needed on the bottom of the Dutch oven than the lid .

Meat, Poultry, potatoes, vegetables, and cobblers require an equal distribution of heat on top and bottom.

Cakes, breads, biscuits, and cookies require most of the heat to be on the top of the oven, with very little on the bottom.

General rule for baking: Place 1/3 of the coals below, and 2/3 or the coals on the top of the Dutch oven. For boiling, deep frying, or stewing, place 2/3 of the coals below, 1/3 on the top of the oven.

Storing your Dutch Oven

Store your ovens with the lid slightly ajar. Keep them in a warm dry place, and keep a paper towel or a newspaper inside to help absorb any moisture that builds up.

Information on this page was obtained from aa7pu.

Please send questions or comments about this web site to Gill Gilliland, gill@gilliland.net.