camping Any Dutch oven cooks out there?

[Alessandra]

I want to try some cooking in a dutch oven -- the camp type that you use outside and heat with coals.

 

Two questions (I'm sure I'll have more later, lol):

 

-- What size should I buy. I know I want Lodge, 12" size (most recipes seem to be for that size). But should I get regular or deep? I'm looking at recipes, and they seem to be divided between the two types.

 

http://papadutch.home.comcast.net/~papadutch/dutch-oven-recipes.htm

http://papadutch.home.comcast.net/~papadutch/dutch-oven-intro.htm

 

-- When a recipe says to pour off excess fat, how do you do that? Those ovens are heavy! And, if you are at a campsite, where do put the fat? (We will be practicing at home, but I am curious.) Also, where do you put the used coals, if you are camping?

 

Any other tips/ideas would be welcome!

 

[Lady Marmalade]

I love Byron's Dutch Oven recipes!!  We haven't tried a ton of them, but the ones we have tried have been great.

 

We really liked the Pineapple Dr. Pepper Beans, the Cherry Crisp Cobbler and the Easy Peach Cobbler.  I didn't like the Easy Peach Dump Cobbler, but I should have known better because it calls for cake mix and lemon-lime soda.  It tasted too artificial for me.

 

We use our dutch oven only when camping once a year.  We're hoping that DH will find some time over the next year to build a nice fire pit in the backyard, and then we'll utilize it more.  My oven is a deep oven- the 8 quart one, I believe.  I like the extra headspace so that I don't have to worry about spilling over the edge.

 

As to the coals... We don't use the actual briquettes that a lot of dutch oven cooks do.  DH totally wings it by scooping hot coals from the center of the fire and kind of spreads it on.   He'll make a little "nest" for the Dutch oven to the side of our actual fire.  He learned simply by doing.  When he put the oven right into the hottest part of the fire, the outside would burn bad before the middles were done. 

 

For handling the cookware, DH bought a pair of welding gloves.  Someone may make specific mitts for cast  iron cooking, I don't know, but he found a pair at a decent price, and those are what we take camping.  Works great!  There's also a cast iron lid hook that you can buy to help maneuver things around the fire.  We bought ours at a local Scheels store for about 10 bucks.

 

For things like pouring off the fat... well... where we camp it is really rustic- tons of forest right around us, so we usually just pour things like that off into a spot in the woods.  If it were something like a lot of bacon grease, we might pour it into a soda can or some other can we've opened up (like a baked bean can).  But most often, we just leave stuff like that in the pot.  We're camping, we live it up once a year.  :)

[Lady Marmalade]

Oh, and I know you said you were looking at Lodge, and yes, they are great, but Cabela's cast iron works great as well.  Friends of ours have this set:

 

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Five-Piece-Starter-Set/714769.uts?WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

 

That's a fabulous price for all those pieces- and it even comes with the lid lifter I mentioned.

[MomOfOneFunOne]

AMDG

 

OHMYGOODNESS I just love my dutch oven.  We also got the arm for cooking in the fireplace so we can use it at home and camping.  

 

I don't have the welding gloves but my daughter and I got pretty badly burned a couple of trips ago and will get them now.  I used a thick cloth for a potholder without realizing that it was damp.  The heat charged right through.  It was so heavy that when I dropped it, it flipped the grate it had been on and burned us both.  I felt awful.  Please understand that this was a careless mistake on my part and I still love my dutch oven!  I just wanted to emphasize that they are hot and heavy and the combination needs care.  I, of course, knew that but it didn't prevent a burn.  

 

Also, when we use it at home for making chips over the fire I always had my daughter stay well away till I got the oil out of the fire and into the kitchen terribly paranoid of an oil burn.  I never had an accident with oil and I'm grateful for that.  You can't be too careful with hot oil . . . really, any kind of hot.  

 

As far as disposing of oil goes we pour it off into some kind of waste container and throw it away in a trash bin.  I always wait to pour off making sure I'm doing it when I can handle the pot very comfortably.  We don't eat meat so if that effects oil and disposal, I don't know what to advise. 

 

 

Now, having said all that, please know I really like my dutch oven and the way it cooks!  We make all kinds of soups/stews and baked items.  It cooks biscuits perfectly.  I love it for camping but I really, really, love it for the fireplace.  It is so nice to have a nice big fire and a pot of stew or bread or chips or something cooking over it.  We'll clear off the coffee table and set it like the table, put on some music or put in a movie and have such a nice evening. For bread items in the fireplace I have to keep turning the pot to keep the heat even but that is a fairly small price to pay and once I get those welding gloves, I'm sure I won't  mind at all.

 

I love my dutch oven and hope you enjoy yours!  Oh, I'm pretty sure mine is deep and I recommend it.  

[MomOfOneFunOne]

 

As to the coals... We don't use the actual briquettes that a lot of dutch oven cooks do.  DH totally wings it by scooping hot coals from the center of the fire and kind of spreads it on.   He'll make a little "nest" for the Dutch oven to the side of our actual fire.  He learned simply by doing.  When he put the oven right into the hottest part of the fire, the outside would burn bad before the middles were done. 

Yes, this is what we do, as well!

 

For handling the cookware, DH bought a pair of welding gloves.  Someone may make specific mitts for cast  iron cooking, I don't know, but he found a pair at a decent price, and those are what we take camping.  Works great!  There's also a cast iron lid hook that you can buy to help maneuver things around the fire.  We bought ours at a local Scheels store for about 10 bucks.

Wow! Note to self: buy these /\.

 

 

AMDG

Thanks for the note on welding gloves.  I am sure that will be helpful!

[Hikin' Mama]

I've done some dutch oven cooking. I dump oil into the firepit when I'm camping. We have a fire every night and so it all burns up. I also dump the ashes from my charcoal there. I use thick leather work gloves when I'm using my dutch oven, and I've never been burned. I also use a pair of pliers to take the lid off.

 

I've tried some recipes from the Byron's site that someone mentioned above. I have a friend that does lots of dutch oven cooking and they use recipes from Dutch Oven Dude. I've never tried them myself, though.

[Alessandra]

I love Byron's Dutch Oven recipes!!  We haven't tried a ton of them, but the ones we have tried have been great.

 

We really liked the Pineapple Dr. Pepper Beans, the Cherry Crisp Cobbler and the Easy Peach Cobbler.  I didn't like the Easy Peach Dump Cobbler, but I should have known better because it calls for cake mix and lemon-lime soda.  It tasted too artificial for me.

 

Those recipes sound great! In the recipe, Byron says to use a regular (that would the 6 qt) 12" dutch oven. But do the recipes work well in the deep 12" one -- it doesn't take too long to cook or anything???

 

We use our dutch oven only when camping once a year.  We're hoping that DH will find some time over the next year to build a nice fire pit in the backyard, and then we'll utilize it more.  My oven is a deep oven- the 8 quart one, I believe.  I like the extra headspace so that I don't have to worry about spilling over the edge.

 

I was sort of leaning towards the 12" deep one. It seemed more versatile. But I was thrown off when Byron said the regular 12" was the first he would recommend. But since you are using the deep one for so much, it gives me confidence.

 

As to the coals... We don't use the actual briquettes that a lot of dutch oven cooks do.  DH totally wings it by scooping hot coals from the center of the fire and kind of spreads it on.   He'll make a little "nest" for the Dutch oven to the side of our actual fire.  He learned simply by doing.  When he put the oven right into the hottest part of the fire, the outside would burn bad before the middles were done. 

 

I'll be using briquettes for now, as we are just in our back yard. I don't think fires are allowed here (suburbs).

 

For handling the cookware, DH bought a pair of welding gloves.  Someone may make specific mitts for cast  iron cooking, I don't know, but he found a pair at a decent price, and those are what we take camping.  Works great!  There's also a cast iron lid hook that you can buy to help maneuver things around the fire.  We bought ours at a local Scheels store for about 10 bucks.

 

What a great idea! I see lots of them on Amazon at a reasonable price. I'll check my hardware store first.

 

For things like pouring off the fat... well... where we camp it is really rustic- tons of forest right around us, so we usually just pour things like that off into a spot in the woods.  If it were something like a lot of bacon grease, we might pour it into a soda can or some other can we've opened up (like a baked bean can).  But most often, we just leave stuff like that in the pot.  We're camping, we live it up once a year.  :)

 

 

 

Thank you for all the wonderful advice!

 

Do you pick up the (heavy) Dutch oven and pour off the fat, or do you ladle the fat out with a spoon?

[Alessandra]

Oh, and I know you said you were looking at Lodge, and yes, they are great, but Cabela's cast iron works great as well.  Friends of ours have this set:

 

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Cabelas-Five-Piece-Starter-Set/714769.uts?WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

 

That's a fabulous price for all those pieces- and it even comes with the lid lifter I mentioned.

 

I have so much cast iron already, but you have reminded me that I really want to take a day and see a Cabala's. I wish the nearest one wasn't two hours away. I have heard that they are a lot of fun.

[Alessandra]

AMDG

 

OHMYGOODNESS I just love my dutch oven.  We also got the arm for cooking in the fireplace so we can use it at home and camping.  

 

I don't have the welding gloves but my daughter and I got pretty badly burned a couple of trips ago and will get them now.  I used a thick cloth for a potholder without realizing that it was damp.  The heat charged right through.  It was so heavy that when I dropped it, it flipped the grate it had been on and burned us both.  I felt awful.  Please understand that this was a careless mistake on my part and I still love my dutch oven!  I just wanted to emphasize that they are hot and heavy and the combination needs care.  I, of course, knew that but it didn't prevent a burn.  

 

Also, when we use it at home for making chips over the fire I always had my daughter stay well away till I got the oil out of the fire and into the kitchen terribly paranoid of an oil burn.  I never had an accident with oil and I'm grateful for that.  You can't be too careful with hot oil . . . really, any kind of hot.  

 

As far as disposing of oil goes we pour it off into some kind of waste container and throw it away in a trash bin.  I always wait to pour off making sure I'm doing it when I can handle the pot very comfortably.  We don't eat meat so if that effects oil and disposal, I don't know what to advise. 

 

 

Now, having said all that, please know I really like my dutch oven and the way it cooks!  We make all kinds of soups/stews and baked items.  It cooks biscuits perfectly.  I love it for camping but I really, really, love it for the fireplace.  It is so nice to have a nice big fire and a pot of stew or bread or chips or something cooking over it.  We'll clear off the coffee table and set it like the table, put on some music or put in a movie and have such a nice evening. For bread items in the fireplace I have to keep turning the pot to keep the heat even but that is a fairly small price to pay and once I get those welding gloves, I'm sure I won't  mind at all.

 

I love my dutch oven and hope you enjoy yours!  Oh, I'm pretty sure mine is deep and I recommend it.  

 

Hmm, I love biscuits. I have the feeling that I will end up having a pyramid of Dutch ovens, lol.

[AK_Mom4]

Usually just spoon out the fat.  Or leave it in if the recipe seems to be improved that way :lol:

 

Favorite camping recipe - sticky chicken: 1 small bottle catalina dressing, 1 package dry onion soup, 1 small jar apple jelly.  Mix together and pour over chicken drumsticks and thighs in dutch oven.  Cook chicken thoroughly (about 45 minutes ish).  Absolutely delicious and very kid friendly!

[Alessandra]

 Boy Scouts do Dutch-oven cooking all the time.  A local Scout store (or online) would have great recipes for this.  Also, I would recommend reading their description of a good camping D.O.  The shape matters because you might want to bury the thing in coals and if the lid is too slopey, the coals slide off.  Also, they sell lid lifters and all that. 

 

Actually, I've been wanting to do Dutch oven cooking for a long time, because of scouts. I still salivate at the memory of peach cobbler at a Boy Scout camp and a wonderful ground meat + beans with biscuits on top that I had at a Girl Scout camping training.

 

When ds went to scout camp this summer a number of boys took Cooking MB (new Eagle requirement), but it seems the teacher was terrible. So ds does not want to do the mb at camp. We are not really working it, but I would like to get him started with some more cooking, both indoors and out, simply because I believe that it is an important life skill.

 

I definitely will get a Dutch oven with a lid that has a generous rim.

 

Btw, I forgot to quote your second post, but I go to that site all the time, and I did check it out. I also want to have ds make a box oven. We did that at Girl Scouts, and I am still astounded that you can cook a nice cake in a Staples file box!!!!

[Alessandra]

Usually just spoon out the fat.  Or leave it in if the recipe seems to be improved that way :lol:

 

I was hoping someone would say that. I would hate to spill food on the ground by accident when I pouring off fat.

 

Favorite camping recipe - sticky chicken: 1 small bottle catalina dressing, 1 package dry onion soup, 1 small jar apple jelly.  Mix together and pour over chicken drumsticks and thighs in dutch oven.  Cook chicken thoroughly (about 45 minutes ish).  Absolutely delicious and very kid friendly!

 

Mmmm. I am saving this recipe. THX!

[Alessandra]

I've done some dutch oven cooking. I dump oil into the firepit when I'm camping. We have a fire every night and so it all burns up. I also dump the ashes from my charcoal there. I use thick leather work gloves when I'm using my dutch oven, and I've never been burned. I also use a pair of pliers to take the lid off.

 

I've tried some recipes from the Byron's site that someone mentioned above. I have a friend that does lots of dutch oven cooking and they use recipes from Dutch Oven Dude. I've never tried them myself, though.

 

If I were actually camping, I would worry about bears and Leave No Trace. But for right now, I'll be near enough my own garbage cans (thank goodness) to throw everything away.

[Lady Marmalade]

Thank you for all the wonderful advice!

 

Do you pick up the (heavy) Dutch oven and pour off the fat, or do you ladle the fat out with a spoon?

 

A little bit of both.  If the liquid is pretty high in the pot, and DH doesn't think he can safely maneuver it without spilling, he'll ladle it out until it's at a level he's comfortable with.

 

As to the deep/regular, the only thing we've ever had issues with getting cooked through is the Pineapple Baked Beans I mentioned.  However, when we made that, I doubled the recipe and we were using a borrowed dutch oven that was really big!  That was a HUGE vat of beans! 

 

Thinking on it though... Without actually having done it, what do you see yourself making the most with a Dutch oven?  If you're thinking soups, stews, beans, etc, deep or not deep isn't going to matter as much, and I would want a deeper one.  If you think you might be leaning towards more actual baking in the oven, then you might want to consider the regular size.  I'm thinking about a batch of biscuits that are getting cooked well from the bottom, but not so much from the top because you have so much extra headspace. 

 

I think you need both.  :)  I do love Dutch oven cooking.  I wish I had more opportunities to do so!

 

[Alessandra]

A little bit of both.  If the liquid is pretty high in the pot, and DH doesn't think he can safely maneuver it without spilling, he'll ladle it out until it's at a level he's comfortable with.

 

Sounds like a plan.

 

As to the deep/regular, the only thing we've ever had issues with getting cooked through is the Pineapple Baked Beans I mentioned.  However, when we made that, I doubled the recipe and we were using a borrowed dutch oven that was really big!  That was a HUGE vat of beans! 

 

Thinking on it though... Without actually having done it, what do you see yourself making the most with a Dutch oven?  If you're thinking soups, stews, beans, etc, deep or not deep isn't going to matter as much, and I would want a deeper one.  If you think you might be leaning towards more actual baking in the oven, then you might want to consider the regular size.  I'm thinking about a batch of biscuits that are getting cooked well from the bottom, but not so much from the top because you have so much extra headspace. 

 

I think you need both.  :)  I do love Dutch oven cooking.  I wish I had more opportunities to do so!

My thought, too. But I will start with just one.

 

Oh, that is good advice about the size. I am thinking more about the main part of the meal. I mean, who would want just biscuits? It sounds like I could go with the deep one for now.

 

What do I want to make? Well, the first thing is a Hungry Man casserole, something like this:

 

http://www.food.com/recipe/hungry-man-casserole-323510

 

I've had it in a D.O., but I have to look up the exact recipe. I also want to do a peach cobbler at another meal.

 

You are so helpful!!!!!!!

 

 

 

[Alessandra]

I thought you all might like this link to potties (South African cooking pots).

 

http://potjiepotusa.com/history

 

http://www.potjiekosworld.com

[Lady Marmalade]

 

Oh, that is good advice about the size. I am thinking more about the main part of the meal. I mean, who would want just biscuits? It sounds like I could go with the deep one for now.

 

What do I want to make? Well, the first thing is a Hungry Man casserole, something like this:

 

http://www.food.com/recipe/hungry-man-casserole-323510

 

I've had it in a D.O., but I have to look up the exact recipe. I also want to do a peach cobbler at another meal.

 

You are so helpful!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

That casserole looks perfect for a Dutch oven.  :)  And the peach cobbler will be life changing for you, I promise.  Pure heaven out of that pot!

 

There's a whole sub-culture of people cooking in their Dutch ovens and sharing about it!  Here's another recipe website with tips that I have bookmarked: http://www.dutchovendude.com/dutch-oven-recipes.asp/

 

I know I've stumbled on a whole selection of youtube video demonstrating Dutch oven cooking as well.

 

[MomOfOneFunOne]

That casserole looks perfect for a Dutch oven.  :)  And the peach cobbler will be life changing for you, I promise.  Pure heaven out of that pot!

 

There's a whole sub-culture of people cooking in their Dutch ovens and sharing about it!  Here's another recipe website with tips that I have bookmarked: http://www.dutchovendude.com/dutch-oven-recipes.asp/

 

I know I've stumbled on a whole selection of youtube video demonstrating Dutch oven cooking as well.

 

AMDG

 

Oh, ya'll . . . if you scroll all the way down at the link above there are three pictures.  Is that the "deep" one?  It's the size I have.

[Alessandra]

That casserole looks perfect for a Dutch oven.  :)  And the peach cobbler will be life changing for you, I promise.  Pure heaven out of that pot!

 

There's a whole sub-culture of people cooking in their Dutch ovens and sharing about it!  Here's another recipe website with tips that I have bookmarked: http://www.dutchovendude.com/dutch-oven-recipes.asp/

 

I know I've stumbled on a whole selection of youtube video demonstrating Dutch oven cooking as well.

 

 

Thank you -- I had not seen that site. It will be fun to browse through it. Someone did peach cobbler at one of ds's Boy Scout campouts --mmmm.

 

I have been looking at you tube videos -- saw some Texas park rangers (TexasParksWildlife) who cooked with multiple, stacked ovens -- so cool!

[itsheresomewhere]

The foil liners are great. Even better when you are cooking something that is difficult to clean no matter how seasoned the pot is. Fudge cake is awesome made in the Dutch oven.

[Alessandra]

I ordered the 12" deep Lodge D.O., plus the Lodge lid stand, and the camp chef 14" lid lifter.

 

And a pair of welding gloves.