Dutch Oven?

[Bramble]

Hi all

Just been reading the thread on cooking on a logburner and everyone was talking about cast iron pans and huge casserole dishes.

I'm thinking Dutch Oven?
anyone used one? if so what did you think to it?

I know they can be used in bushcraft/ camping for cooking over open campfires etc, but would one work on a logburner?

Thanks

[Millymollymandy]

What a coincidence! I've just been googling pear jam recipes and one said to cook in a Dutch oven and I haven't got a clue what that is so will watch this thread with interest.

[Green Aura]

Our Dutch oven has legs - great for standing next to a fire but not so good for on top of a stove. IMHO

[Annpan]

River cottage website sells dutch ovens which is basically a heavy cast iron pan with a heavy lid.... the lid has a lip around the top, I assume so that you can put hot coals, etc, on top of it....

[Millymollymandy]

I've just googled images so anything from a Le Creuset type of cast iron casserole to ones on legs, which I guess are the ones that are suitable for cooking on a wood burner to prevent burning. However ours doesn't have a flat top as it's not a cooking on type of one - way too powerful/hot anyway.

[wulf]

I've got one as part of a cast iron cooking set my parents gave me when I got married. In fact, I've got two - a small one (probably 1l capacity) and a bigger one (5l ? maybe a bit more).

For me, the key features would be the all metal construction (so you can pop them in the oven), the lid (so you can seal everything in) and the way cast iron takes a while to heat but then holds temperature extremely well. I've not come across a lid you can cook things on rather than cooking things under though.

I really like them as cookware and they often get pressed into use on the stovetop as well as in the oven (great for something like ratatouille, where you are softening the first ingredients, getting the later ones hot and then turning down to a low simmer - the cast iron construction is perfect for that).

Here's the small one, after being used (in the oven) to cook a steak and kidney pudding:


Steak and Kidney Pudding by basswulf, on Flickr

Wulf

[Bramble]

Thanks for the input everyone and thanks for the photo Wulf, yes that's the kind I was thinking of.
I know you can get them with and without legs. I was thinking of maybe one without legs as would get the heat better although I did wonder about scorching.
I was also thinking if I got one without legs I could maybe put something inside in the base to stand things on and use it as an actual oven, try cooking with the warm air inside, if that makes sense?
anyway it's a few months until we potentially move into the place I'll need to put this to the test in yet, so got a while to shop around for one. (I've explained about that in my hello post)
I've also been looking at log burners with built in ovens on the net. (small ones not much bigger than a logburner)
The people renovating the place we're potentially moving to haven't bought the logburner for it yet, so I'm thinking that maybe if we offer to pay a bit towards it we might be able to talk them into getting a small on of those.
We'll see.