Dutch Ovens

Mama Bear says I need to buy a couple dutch ovens for making soups, cassaroles and bread over a campfire or as a option, charcoal if availiable.

What size, rimless or with a rim, good points, bad points, handles, no handles ?

Thanks

Ug

lodge....

Now you made me hungry! More Oreos!!!

My wife has one -- I know nothing about it except it's in my kitchen. She just seasoned it the other day - that's how I know.

I'll get the specs from her tomorrow.

This is the one I have.

https://secure.lodgemfg.com/storefront/ ... oduct=4044

Nice value for the money. A fry pan, a deep skillet for doing my favorite, fried chicken, and a Dutch oven.

I bought it while on vacation in Pigeon Forge, TN and can honestly say I've used it on average 3 times a week for almost a year.

This one was rated very well by America's Test Kitchen. According to them, almost as good as the Le Creuset ($279). You can get it from Walmart for under $50. If you have it shipped to your local Walmart and pick it up there, I think you'll save on the shipping.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tramontina-6. ... d/11989387

All that food..you guys forced me to buy one with all those pictures of Fe seeping into the food.

Anyone do over coals?

I'm thinking of warm wheat loaves, with a glazy butter rum coat. Anyone have a good and easy wheat bread recipe ?

A couple of years ago I bought a dutch oven by Lodge at Cabela’s and a cookbook “Lovin’ Dutch Ovens”. I bought the style with the raised rim around the lid because that is what was recommended when cooking with charcoal so that you can place coals on the lid without them falling off. The book has a lot of great information and a lot of recipes and cooking tips but I have to say I have yet to use it to make anything. It just seems to me to be too much work and trouble. You can use them inside your oven with the added benefit of being able to control your temperature more precisely. Lately I have found crock-pots more my speed.

Uglysquirrel wrote:All that food..you guys forced me to buy one with all those pictures of Fe seeping into the food.

Anyone do over coals?

I'm thinking of warm wheat loaves, with a glazy butter rum coat. Anyone have a good and easy wheat bread recipe ?

Shouldn't be leaching Fe unless you're using acidic stuff like tomatoes in them. If it's well seasoned it might not leache any Fe. I've got an array of fry pans and dutch ovens. I season mine ontop of the Vigilant - it goes really fast! The Lodge porcelined cast iron dutch ovens work great and you never have to loose iron inot your food

It doesn't get any better. My grandparents used them, my parents, and my wife and I now over the course of many years. There are some nice new ones out there, but if you can find a used one (flea market, etc.), I think the quality of the castings as well as the machining are better.

We have two--one with flanged lid and legs that was my dad's for outdoor use, and one for oven or stovetop use that was my mom's. Two of my buddies each have one, so when we get together we have four to work with. We've taken our boys camping a few times and done pot roasts that cannot be equaled cooking inside. What I like to do for the longer cooking times is start my fire about two hours ahead of time, and actually have two fires going. One fire is in the firepit for the cooking area. A second fire becomes a 'feeder fire', which is constantly producing coals. When the first fire burns down to coals you can begin cooking. The second fire will keep producing additional coals away from your immediate cooking area which you can shovel under and over the oven to replenish the coals that die out. The smoke flavor of oak or apple is unbelievable. The challenge is not with getting enough heat, but with not getting too much heat. We've been able to purchase some nice roasts, several inches thick. You can flour the meat, sear it on all sides in butter, add vegetables and spices to your liking, and reduce the heat. Let it roast for 2 1/2 or 3 hours and the meat will literally fall apart. It might be good to use a meat thermometer to double check. The flavor is unbelievable. We've also done pies, cakes, biscuits, and cobblers. The raspberry-pear cobbler is real good. . . . can't wait for some warmer weather!

Seasoning and cleaning the ovens can be a challenge. If you can season them outside you'll make everyone happier. You can use vegetable oil, and you're basically burning it onto the iron--that's why they end up black, it's a layer of carbon. You might want to repeat this a couple of times when your oven's new, but then you won't have to do it all that often. As far as cleaning, the best thing is hot water. It loosens most things you'll cook in the oven. I just add water when we're done cooking, bring it up to a hot temperature, then scrape everything out as much as possible. Let the water soften and loosen food that's stuck on. If you use a brillo or other aggressive pad you'll remove the seasoning. The green scratch pads seem to be okay, but go easy. On the odd occasion you might need to use a little soap. Some purists never use soap because it supposedly gets into the iron. Once you get used to using them, they open up a very enjoyable range of opportunities.

I never use soap. Just do the water thing and maybe a plastic scraper. I try to do it while the oven burner(electric stove) is still hot. That way I can place it back on the burner and let the residual heat dry the pan. Even after I towel dry it, I still like to make sure it's bone dry.

Then, according to the care instructions, I lightly oil it with olive/safflower/canola oil and buff it dry before I put it away.

If I don't do the water trick, then I just wipe it with a paper towel and put it away.

bought a Cabelas Outfitter 10" dutch with cover rim, legs, etc.

The interesting point here is that the shipping label said it came from Camp Chef.

So seems Cabelas is using them as their manufacturer for at least some of their cast iron.

Good purchase, you won't regret it. You just have to get started, and go through a bit of a learning curve, and then you'll love it. One thing I didn't mention earlier, you can definitely cook with charcoal--the heat output is great, it's easy to control, you can buy it in a bag, etc. You just won't get the smoked flavor you get from hardwoods. You don't have to have anything exotic, even oak gives great flavor to things cooked in the oven. Also, when it's time to clean oven, one other trick is to actually incinerate whatever is burned on the over. It'll turn to powder and you can scrape it out. Just don't get the thing too hot. My parents used cast iron skillets all the years I was growing up, and when my dad got the urge to make some 'buckwheat flapjacks', we all had a 'treat', if you will (kinda dense, but it was all good). But when he was done cooking he would turn up the heat, burn off anything stuck to the skillet, and basically fill the kitchen, LR, . . . with smoke--little bit of hillbilly going on there. My mom didn't bat an eye. Anyway, have fun!

swededoc wrote:It doesn't get any better. My grandparents used them, my parents, and my wife and I now over the course of many years. There are some nice new ones out there, but if you can find a used one (flea market, etc.), I think the quality of the castings as well as the machining are better.

We have two--one with flanged lid and legs that was my dad's for outdoor use, and one for oven or stovetop use that was my mom's. Two of my buddies each have one, so when we get together we have four to work with. We've taken our boys camping a few times and done pot roasts that cannot be equaled cooking inside. What I like to do for the longer cooking times is start my fire about two hours ahead of time, and actually have two fires going. One fire is in the firepit for the cooking area. A second fire becomes a 'feeder fire', which is constantly producing coals. When the first fire burns down to coals you can begin cooking. The second fire will keep producing additional coals away from your immediate cooking area which you can shovel under and over the oven to replenish the coals that die out. The smoke flavor of oak or apple is unbelievable. The challenge is not with getting enough heat, but with not getting too much heat. We've been able to purchase some nice roasts, several inches thick. You can flour the meat, sear it on all sides in butter, add vegetables and spices to your liking, and reduce the heat. Let it roast for 2 1/2 or 3 hours and the meat will literally fall apart. It might be good to use a meat thermometer to double check. The flavor is unbelievable. We've also done pies, cakes, biscuits, and cobblers. The raspberry-pear cobbler is real good. . . . can't wait for some warmer weather!

Seasoning and cleaning the ovens can be a challenge. If you can season them outside you'll make everyone happier. You can use vegetable oil, and you're basically burning it onto the iron--that's why they end up black, it's a layer of carbon. You might want to repeat this a couple of times when your oven's new, but then you won't have to do it all that often. As far as cleaning, the best thing is hot water. It loosens most things you'll cook in the oven. I just add water when we're done cooking, bring it up to a hot temperature, then scrape everything out as much as possible. Let the water soften and loosen food that's stuck on. If you use a brillo or other aggressive pad you'll remove the seasoning. The green scratch pads seem to be okay, but go easy. On the odd occasion you might need to use a little soap. Some purists never use soap because it supposedly gets into the iron. Once you get used to using them, they open up a very enjoyable range of opportunities.

Swededoc, so much info in so little package, thank you.

Well, we went and did it again--bachelor party, outdoor style. Six chickens over an open fire, lamb shank roast and additional veggies in two dutch ovens, venison burgers in skillets, then baked apples in foil and two peach cobblers in dutch ovens for desert (35 guys). Oh, and several side dishes. A lot of work, but always worth it.