Dutch Oven cooking

[Bill Mc]

Anybody do this?

[ncboman]

We use ours all the time.

ncboman

[Altjaeger]

We use the kitchen variety often. I have a good three legged cast iron I need to learn to use. The one time I have I turned things to charcoal.

[ncboman]

Our's is the kitchen variety too I guess. It's old.

I doan have one with legs. :rolleyes:

ncboman

[DancesWithKnives]

In addition to kitchen models, I have a big dutch oven with legs and the rimmed coal-retainer top. I've used it car camping to make stews and sometimes cornbread (the Marie Callender cornbread mix worked best).

I've seen some river rafters work magic with dutch ovens but I'm not that dedicated.

DWK

[Bill Mc]

Up to now, I've just made cakes but today, I tried out my new 12 quart oven. Made a good pot roast with onions, carrots and potatoes.

Turned out very good. And that was my supper.

In my neck of the woods, we're having a "DOG", that is a dutch oven gathering. I hope to lean a few new things and expand what I can cook.

Especially now since I have a 10 and a 12.

[dave-t.]

My folks do reinactments and rendezvous a lot, and my mother cooks ina dutch oven a lot. She also does cooking demo's and classes at the Daniel Boone home in St Charles MO. There is very little that you can't cook in a dutch oven.

That said, I don't use mine nearly as much or as well as my mother does. I should pay closer attention I reckon.

[StringJumper]

I do okay with the aluminum one in the kitchen teamed with the electric oven but I am not so good at the cast iron outdoor variety. Except for one bulletproof recipe.

Mix a Betty Crocker type of yellow or white cake mix with a can of Sprite. Dump a can of canned apples (or peaches or blueberries, etc) in the dutch oven. Pour the cake mix over the apples/peaches. Put 10 charcoal briquets under the over and 12 on top. Let cook for 40-50 minutes until the top starts browning.

Simple. Easy. Yummy. :p

I also learned that if you cook a stew, the cast iron oven is not a good overnight storage vessel for the leftover stew. Unless you enjoy re-seasoning your oven. :(

[Marty]

In my neck of the woods its called a "Camp oven" but its the same thing.

Love cooking in it on a cold day. Dont cook it in the fire. Trick is to get some good coals going. Use a spade to put some coals on bottom, but the real trick is to put coals on top. More important than the bottom coals. Cooks everything but in a braised sort of way. Still lovely though. Cleaning is a mofo. Spray on oil works good for that. But I have had roast chook, duck, beef lamb and veg in it. As well as damper and hot x buns at easter.

Be aware of chinese made ones. Not sure what they are made of but im pretty sure it aint 100% cast iron. It is pretty idiot proof. Just cook it on coals from the fire and not the fire itself.

[StringJumper]

In my neck of the woods its called a "Camp oven" but its the same thing.

Love cooking in it on a cold day. Dont cook it in the fire. Trick is to get some good coals going. Use a spade to put some coals on bottom, but the real trick is to put coals on top. More important than the bottom coals. Cooks everything but in a braised sort of way. Still lovely though. Cleaning is a mofo. Spray on oil works good for that. But I have had roast chook, duck, beef lamb and veg in it. As well as damper and hot x buns at easter.

Be aware of chinese made ones. Not sure what they are made of but im pretty sure it aint 100% cast iron. It is pretty idiot proof. Just cook it on coals from the fire and not the fire itself.

One of the guys in our Scout troop lines his oven with tin foil. When he is finished he throws away the tin foil and wipes the exterior with paper towels soaked with vegetable oil.

[Bill Mc]

I use charcoal brickets. It's much easier to control the heat.

For roasting, half on bottom minus 2, alf on top plus 2. For baking, 1/3 on bottom and 2/3 on top.

I think the formula is multiple the size of the over by 2. that how many brickets to use.

IE, I have a 12. I use 24 brickets more or less.

Baking temperture chart from Lodge (http://www.angelfire.com/md2/bsatroop721/DO_cooking_temps.pdf)

[Altjaeger]

I use charcoal brickets. It's much easier to control the heat.

For roasting, half on bottom minus 2, alf on top plus 2. For baking, 1/3 on bottom and 2/3 on top.

I think the formula is multiple the size of the over by 2. that how many brickets to use.

IE, I have a 12. I use 24 brickets more or less.

Baking temperture chart from Lodge (http://www.angelfire.com/md2/bsatroop721/DO_cooking_temps.pdf)

My mistake the one time I used mine was too much heat. I was taking coals from a hickory and oak fire at deer camp. I had about 5 lbs of pulled pork from a feral hog ham that had been frozen wrapped in foil. Thawed but cold I put it in the oven and set it on a solid bed of coals and covered the top with more. In 90 minutes when I uncovered it the meat was dried, black and charcoal. So much for it being foolproof!:o

A 25 mile run to town and $30 of BBQ brisket later all was well. I guess its about timeto get the oven out and try again.:D

[DancesWithKnives]

It sounds like all you need is one of those heavy-duty hooked lid lifters so you can check the progress periodically.

DWK

[Altjaeger]

Definately a tool to add to the kit. :)

[Bill Mc]

Yes a lid lifter is required. :) and gloves. and an extra long pair of tongs to distribute the charcoal.

To evenly to control the heat, Move the whole oven 1/4 turn, then move the lid back 1/4 a turn. Do this every 15 minutes especially if you're baking.

Use gloves to lift the bail on the oven and a lid lifter to move the lid.

[ncboman]

You guys are getting my curiosity up.

Is the food worth the trouble?

ncboman

[Bill Mc]

NC, travel down to Georgia on May 30th and attend our "DOG"

That's a Dutch Oven Gathering which will be held near Calhoun, Ga. Go to Woody's and lok in the Gathering forum.

My wife finishd off that pot roast I cooked last week. I heard no complaints.

[ncboman]

Long way to travel but sounds like some good eatin will be had. :)

I'm probably going to a closer event that weekend;

1st Annual Nahunta Swamp Ooga Booga
(http://paleoplanet69529.yuku.com/topic/22536/t/PICS----PROFILE-Nahunta-Swamp-Primitive-Skills-Gathering-Kna.html)

near Goldsboro, NC.

wonder if anybody will have a dutch oven? :rolleyes:

ncboman

[Marty]

It sounds like all you need is one of those heavy-duty hooked lid lifters so you can check the progress periodically.

DWK Yup. And also a brush to brush the coals and ash off the top when lifting the lid to take a peek. But not a brush with plastic bristles or they will melt. You need birch bristles or whatever the heck its called.

[Bill Mc]

I don't use a brush, just lift the lid carefully. If you brush off the coals, you just have to put them back.

[Mod 12]

I do something in the dutch oven about once a month.
My favorite is steak and guinness pie but do it in the old
no-name dutch oven and top with biscuits. Tonight I'll
put the leftover vegetable soup in the dutch oven, make
a gravy, top it with mashed parsnips, and bake in the oven.

From the old huntamerica I had a long going thread on cat-
head biscuits. I love baking powder biscuits with any manner
of gravy, jam, or maple sirup; or strawberry shortcake.

Here is an old biscuit recipe I found recently and is just excellent.
It needed a whole cup of milk - I used buttermilk - and you
should adjust to get a proper consistency. I also did not use the
sugar. I only use sugar when making a sweet biscuit for shortcake.

These can be made in a black skillet, dutch oven or cut and baked
on a cookie sheet.

Man, I love cooking with iron.


COWBOY BISCUITS

2 Cups Flour
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Tablespoons Crisco, Lard or Butter
2/3 Cup Milk

Preheat oven to 450, even though real chuckwagon cooks used a Dutch oven and
glowing coals for baking biscuits. Mix dry ingredients and cut in shortening until mixture has a texture sort of like corn meal. Add milk and use a fork, spoon or your hand to combine. Put the dough onto a floured surface and roll around until all sides are coated and no longer sticky. Place ball of dough into a well-greased cake pan or iron skillet and pat it down to an even thickness. Grease the top surface with butter or margarine.

Using a soup can, baking powder can or even a small glass; cut one round biscuit right in the middle of the pan. It should then look like a bull's-eye or the insignia on the wing of a Spitfire. For the western history buff, that center biscuit is known as the "Cook's Biscuit".

The tip of an egg turner works just great for the next step but it can be done with a table knife. Cut through the dough between the center biscuit and the rim of the pan in 8 equally-spaced places, making a total of nine biscuits.

See how much simpler that was than trying to cut individual round biscuits which are no longer round once they are shoved together in the pan.

Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until nice and brown on top.

Nine biscuits should serve four people, unless you happen to have some honey or a jar of Mexican strawberry jam to go with them, and then they will probably only serve two.

Old Coot - why is hibiscus considered Mexican in jam? I'll go to the Mexican bodega and see if I can find some, but have a quart from Canada I've not opened.

[Mod 12]

Here is a thread I did on another cooking forum - chicken and cowboy biscuits done in my old dutch oven.
I go by Johnny West - :

http://ricksrealpitbbq.freeforums.org/chicken-and-cowboy-biscuits-t1222.html

I just did this last week.

[Mod 12]

Here is the recipe that I got from The Soup Monger who lives in Scotland and is a moderator on Jerzee Devils.

Steak and Guinness Pie

2 pounds of beef steak (blade, topside, gravy etc. - I use sirloin -), chopped into cubes (or as much as you want to last you the winter)
flour seasoned with salt and pepper
2 onions
optional veggies: Mushrooms, parsnips, carrots, etc.
750 ml bottle of Guinness (or your favourite stout, but then it isn't a Guinness pie) - that's a big beer and I only use the standard size bottle -
1 can of tinned tomatoes
salt and pepper
a couple of bay leaves
4 cloves of garlic
oil

Whole meal Pastry

Flour the beef, shake off excess and fry it off in small batches in a casserole dish or saucepan till browned.
Then, fry off onions, garlic and any veggies you want to add. Add the beef back and deglaze the pan with some of the Guinness. Add the tinned tomatoes and enough of the Guinness to just cover the meat, stir well too ensure that nothing has stuck to the bottom. Bring back up to temp, when just boiling turn the heat back down to a gentle simmer and put the lid on. Check back occasionally to ensure it isn't drying out and to give it a stir. Add more Guinness or some water if required. After approx. 2 hours when the meat is tender turn off the heat and let the mixture start to cool.

Line a pie dish with pastry, add the beef mixture and top with more pastry. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C (350 degrees F.) till the pastry is cooked and golden brown.

I do this a bit different and make it like a stew - I follow the recipe but leave it all in a dutch oven and put the biscuits on top to brown off. I also mix some arrowroot with the a little beer to thicken the "gravy".

Eat, and enjoy with some beer.

I don't make the pie pastry but top with biscuits like we did with the chicken dish above.
I use the dutch oven but am thinking of doing the pie pastry and fixing it in a cast iron
skillet. A friend from Montreal told me of this.

Also on my list is to do a tourtiere in a cast iron skillet.

If you ever get to Whistler go to Duhblin's Gate Pub at the Pan Pacific Hotel. They have a killer beef pot pie. The executive chef is Gatehouse and used to post at huntamerica a lot. He's a good guy.

[Mod 12]

The other day I was on the life cycle at the gym and was channel surfing
the bike's TV and caught this on the Martha Stewart show - oxymoron -
watching cooking shows while working out.... any way, this gal fixed this
and it looked good to me. It uses cast iron, too. I have a thing I do in the
dutch oven that is more like caccatori. I fry the venison or elk steaks in
evoo and then layer in tomatoes, sliced mushrooms, onions, herbs &
garlic; then bake till all is tender - serve with linguini and parmesan on
the side. My kids (men now) sop the juice out of the pot with crusty bread.

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/steak-pizzaiola-mad-hungry

Can you imagine doing something like this over the coals at hunting
camp?

[Mod 12]

Here is another interesting biscuit recipe from Lodge.

http://www.lodgemfg.com/recipe-sourdough-biscuit.asp

[Mod 12]

This is one I want to try this summer on one of my trout outings.
Like my dad said, "If you want rabbit stew, the first thing you need
is the rabbit."

I don't mind taking iron in the car but you sure wouldn't want to back-
pack it....

Kettle Grilled Fish

Ingredients-:

1 fish, approx. 2 lbs., cleaned
Lemon juice
Whole lemon, sliced
Onion, sliced
Salt and pepper
Thyme
Oregano

Instructions-:

Sprinkle fish with lemon juice; insert onion and lemon slices in cavity. Sprinkle with
seasonings. Let marinate several hours. Grease kettle grill well. Place fish on grill when
coals are red. Cover. Cook 10 minutes on each side. Fish will have smokey flavor.

I'll have to research what a kettle grill is.... ? Either way, it sounds good.

[Mod 12]

Here is a good link and once you explore it
there are all kinds of interesting recipe for
your dutch oven

http://usscouts.org/usscouts/cooking.asp

[Mod 12]

The Mrs made a bread pudding in a #8
Griswold last night. I'll need to figure out
how to post pics here.

http://ricksrealpitbbq.freeforums.org/just-desserts-t179-100.html