Get the best out of my Dutch Oven

[Green Aura]

And no comments about pulling the duvet higher I suppose?

[Dr.Syn]

Apart from an oven from Holland what is a Dutch oven? The only thing I have come across was in the Black Country Museum where a lady claimed the implement she was using was a Dutch oven It was like a cylinder with the front cut out It was made of metal and items such as bacon slices were hung on hooks and the whole thing moved close to an open fire.

[Green Aura]

It's a cast iron cooking pot with a tight fitting lid, long handle and feet. It's usually hung over a campfire from a tripod.

I've got one which we sometimes use on the beach on Midsummer's Eve - keeps the soup going til the early hours. But I don't use it nearly enough - I've seen recipes for baking bread, cakes etc and a full dinner. All the sites I've seen have been from the States where they seem to have turned this type of cooking into an art form.

[MKG]

Women!

A Dutch oven is a cast-iron casserole. Simple as that. The American version has little legs added so that it can easily stand above a small fire. If you happen to have a Le Creuset casserole, you have a Dutch oven.

And you use it .... ermmmm ... like a casserole.

Mike

[Dr.Syn]

Thanks - I'm a wiser man now

[MKG]

The thing is though Mike I don't usually stick my casserole dishes in a fire pit, so I was hoping for some hints on controlling temperatures, best fuel to use etc etc

Well, assuming that you really do want to put it in a firepit, temperature control is achieved by moving it. But then you shouldn't be putting it over a roaring inferno - the best situation is over glowing coals. The whole point of a Dutch oven (and a casserole) is get it hot and keep it hot for a long time. Cast iron does this by its very nature - it takes for ever to cool down.

The best fuel (if you're outside) for doing this is charcoal. However, a wood fire which is fed judiciously and regularly will do the job. The down side is that while you're tending the fire, everyone else is having fun and getting pissed. Each to their own, though.

An alternative is to get the thing damned hot, then remove it from the fire and pack it in straw and leave it for an hour or two.

Mike

[baldybloke]

Google Byron's Dutch Oven Recipes. It's an American site but with loads of things to try.

[Millymollymandy]

So that's what it is! Well, we just use ours as a...... casserole pan. Make stewy type things in it on the hob. Hadn't realised there were any other uses for them. Mind you ours don't have legs.

[Lost-in-the-Day]

One tip I've heard is that as well as having coals underneath the fire you want to place a few on top of the lid as well to help keep the heat distribution even throughout.