There is something so delicious and therapeutic about opening up the lid to a Dutch oven. It’s almost like closing down a session of yoga but with a tasty treat ending. For those of you who don’t know what a Dutch Oven is, it is a cooking device that (I believe by law in 38 states) is a mandatory item for a camping trip or outdoor cookout. There are many different kinds, with all sorts of variations but the basic concept is a heavy duty pot with a lid that is cooked by adding heat to both the bottom and the top of the oven. But that is just the basic concept, which is why we are going to take a closer look at Dutch Ovens in this month’s Goin’ Rural blog!
Now if you clicked that hyperlink above, you can clearly see what I meant with their being all sorts of variations and different kinds. You got small ones, medium ones, large ones, some with legs, some without legs, different handles, lips on the lids and what have you! Like any other possible future passion, I suggest starting in the middle when acquiring your first piece of equipment. Picking out too large of a pot might be a challenge and a smaller pot might limit you on some of your possibilities. Grow your Dutch Oven stash as you grow your skill (and love) for this delicious form of cooking.
Most Dutch Ovens are cast-iron. Which means they are heavy, well-built and give off incredible flavor. Of course you will need to do some “preventative maintenance” on your cast-iron before using. This is known as “seasoning”. Seasoning your cast iron is well worth the work because it will make your items last longer and taste better. First just basically scrub the Dutch Oven clean, using warm water and NO SOAP. Once confident with that, use an oil or solid shortening to coat the inside of the Dutch Oven. Now put the Dutch Oven inside a regular oven that is set at 300 degrees for an hour. This will cause smoke so make sure your doors/windows are open and the smoke alarms are taken out. After that hour, let it cool. Once cooled, the Dutch Oven should be wiped clean of any excess grease. You may have to do this a couple times, but just keep going until your Dutch Oven has a solid black coating on the inside. Viola!
As stated earlier, you actually cook the ingredients that you have inside your Dutch Oven by adding heat to the bottom and the top. You can use wood chips but many use charcoal briquettes as they have a more “standardized” rating to them. Meaning you know about how long a certain amount of certain sized briquettes should burn for, whereas wood chips are wood and can vary quite drastically. Usually you shoot for an inside cooking temperature of 325 degrees. But how many briquettes do you need? Time for some fun math equations!
Take the diameter (D) of the Dutch Oven. Using that number, the bottom number (B) of briquettes should be the diameter minus 3. And the top number (T) of briquettes should the diameter plus 3. So that would look like:
B = D -3 and T = D +3. So as an example a 10” Dutch Oven would be: B = 10-3 and T = 10 +3. You can take it from there.
There are hundreds, if not thousands, of recipes out there for Dutch Ovens. Some you can find in a good book and others can be found online (Like on Pinstabook or whatever). There are also plenty of YouTube videos on the subject. Things to remember are that those Dutch Ovens get extremely hot! Have a good set of gloves and a safe area to cook at. This is an outdoor-only thing of course. Got a recipe that you are dying to share or try? Post it in the comment section below. Until next time!
Giddy-Up!!
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