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Dutch oven / French oven? Questions


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Is there a difference? I see some of them listed as Dutch ovens and some listed as French ovens.

 

Now I am going to ask a really dumb question......what do you cook in one? I got a 5.5 quart nice one about 2 months ago at a yard sale for a really inexpensive price.

 

I don't know what to do with it.

 

:tongue_smilie:

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We usually use ours in our backyard on our firepit. Mostly we make dutch oven stew which has bacon, chicken (cut up), potatoes, onions, and carrots, we also make cobbler. We usually cook it for about an hour. You can cook so much in them. And fyi you do not wash them with soap and water, only water. You should check out a book from the library.

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I think "French Ovens" come from companies with french sounding names (Le Creuset comes to mind)... As far as I know they are the same.

 

We cook the same sorts of things in dutch ovens that you can in crockpots - which is to say almost anything. Stews, soups, chili, chicken parmesan, sticky chicken, baked pork chops, chops with stuffing, roasts....

 

gosh, I am making myself hungry!

 

ETA: And Dessers! Cobblers and cakes and cookies and pies and ..... drool drool....

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See, that is what I am wondering.....I love my crock pot, so, why not just use that?

 

Is there a particular reason for using a Dutch oven over a crockpot other than time? Does it crisp better for example?

 

I suppose I can't use the enamel one over an open fire? Or could I?

 

Dawn

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I love mine. Iuse mine alot and find that I can brown the meats on the stop top and then put it in the oven to finish cooking. I use it for stews, roasts, pepper steak, chilis and soups.

 

I think it cooks better than my crock pot, although I do use the crockpot fairly often as well.

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Any time you "brown an onion/garlic/spices" in usually makes a "fond" which is the brown coating at the bottom...the not quite burn stuff. The "fond" is where the flavor it. Then deglaze the pan.... pour a little liquid (wine, stock, water). Anytime a recipe calls for any of that... so a tomato sauce, stew, pot roast....soups, that's what would be good for a dutch oven. What I was taught from our kitchen store in town is that a dutch oven is round and a french oven is oval. Some companies don't follow this and just want to sound classy and call a dutch oven a french oven/casserole (that part was my opinion). Cobbler, and bread pudding are also great things in a dutch oven. I make chile in ours. This weekend I made italian beefs in it too. I love to cook so I use ours several times a week in the winter! Yum!

 

ETA- forgot to add that one reason to use a dutch oven vs. a crockpot is that you don't get the "fond" with a crockpot. I realize most people don't care,...but I just thought I mention it. Also, in general, a good dutch oven will do a better job braising. And I think there are actually some bread recipes that use a dutch oven, though I've never tried.

Edited by IATeachingMom
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I think "French Ovens" come from companies with french sounding names (Le Creuset comes to mind)... As far as I know they are the same.

 

We cook the same sorts of things in dutch ovens that you can in crockpots - which is to say almost anything. Stews, soups, chili, chicken parmesan, sticky chicken, baked pork chops, chops with stuffing, roasts....

 

gosh, I am making myself hungry!

 

ETA: And Dessers! Cobblers and cakes and cookies and pies and ..... drool drool....

 

This. I use one practically every day. I wouldn't use one with enamel on the outside over an open fire.

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Is there a difference? I see some of them listed as Dutch ovens and some listed as French ovens.

 

Now I am going to ask a really dumb question......what do you cook in one? I got a 5.5 quart nice one about 2 months ago at a yard sale for a really inexpensive price.

 

I don't know what to do with it.

 

:tongue_smilie:

 

Well, if you are whipping up a casserole in Amsterdam, I would go with the *dutch oven* option. :D

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Ok, I am trying it out.

 

I put some bacon in the bottom and cooked that with chopped onion. I cooked the ground turkey in that.

 

Then I added chicken stock, tomato sauce, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, salt, worcestershire, oil, turmeric, chili peppers and paprika.

 

I then added chopped potatoes, carrots and celery.

 

It is all in there.

 

Will tell you how it turns out!

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Ok, I am trying it out.

 

I put some bacon in the bottom and cooked that with chopped onion. I cooked the ground turkey in that.

 

Then I added chicken stock, tomato sauce, sun dried tomatoes, garlic, salt, worcestershire, oil, turmeric, chili peppers and paprika.

 

I then added chopped potatoes, carrots and celery.

 

It is all in there.

 

Will tell you how it turns out!

Yummy! Is that a type of ragout? You most definitely have a *French oven*, then. I love mine and will try your recipe this week. :)

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New method. brown all of the pork loin in enamel dutch oven. Fond stays brown, making great base for gravy. All pork loin browned at once. Put dutch oven in 350 oven for 30 minutes. Take out. Meat is done, "jus" (gravy base) in bottom of pot. Remove meat, make gravy on stove, put on plates. Wash with warm soapy water. Done. One pot, no scrubbing, superior product.

 

:0)

 

:iagree:

 

I love my enamel Dutch oven! I also like it because it is pretty difficult to burn anything in one. Tonight I am going to try this in mine. :D

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