Let's Talk About Dutch Oven Cooking: Update

[fzburk]

I've never cooked in a Dutch Oven, but have enjoyed some great foods from them over time.

Without trying to insult any area or group, using a DO to me is too much weight and space. I kayak mostly in a sea kayak that has limited gear carrying capacity. Adequate clothes, gear and water are my main focus. A DO take away some essentials in my longer trips.

The times I've been on trips that had DO, it was either a raft supported trip, or one or two people had a canoe that was used as the 'barge.'

For me to invest the time and money to use a DO a couple of times a year doesn't make much sense.

I'll always be a willing taster for those who want to practice their DO skills.

Mark

[Tim Eubanks]

If I was to start over, I'd get an aluminum DO, 1/3 the weight. Most of our camping has been out of a Suburban so weight has never been an issue. Anyone who saw me unpack or pack up at Rendezvous can attest to that.

Future river camping will be out of a raft, so again weight will not be that big a factor. One dutch oven would suffice for several people.

[Deuce]

I'm also a big fan of the anodized aluminum. In addition to being a lot lighter it doesn't require the same amount of care.

[Yarbrough]

I concur that there are many many ways to camp and they are all fun. Backpacking is just as different as canoe camping as backpacking overnight in Arkansas is just as different as multiday backpacking out West is. The food decision for me is always based on time, ease and what method of carrying said food. When backpacking overnight in Arkansas I take real food and sometimes beer and the weight issue is not a problem because you are never going that far. If the backpacking trip is multiday the dreaded freeze dried stuff comes out.(the mere sight of a "Backpacker Pantry" stand up foil pack has the same effect as smelling tequila on me)

I got no problem sticking a 20# DO in the bottom of my canoe, not everyone feels that way. When canoe camping the time of the year plays a part. In summer when the sun stays up till 9 and you may still be on the river at 7:30 the DO's don't make sense due to time. In the summer I usually camp sans fire and focus on stars. In the winter when you are off the river by 4 and a fire is a given the DO is choice! It doesn't matter how long it takes because you are going to stand around feeding that fire no matter what. That goes double if you are going to camp two nights in the same spot.

If I am being a hostess I try to be the hostess with the mostess and cooking a leg of lamb in the DO is impressive. If I am just meeting some dudes out in the middle of nowhere and we are all independent it's not worth it and what does it matter.

Car camping? Why not! There are so many cool and remote locations here in Arkansas that a high clearance vehicle will get you to. I never feel like I cheated when simply pulling the four wheel drive lever to get to a beautiful spot I know nobody else will be at. It's all good.

Time, weight, method, season, looking to impress or not all play a part to me.

[Moniker]

I discovered a pack of Dutch Oven liners in one of my D.O.s Labor Day weekend.Forgot I had them,what a great invention.
Saves a lot of cleanup.

[Moniker]

I've had a dish in the DO cook off for the last 3 years and it does mean cutting play time at the ledge short but that's not a big deal for me as it is for many.

After taking classes at Canoe School for two years I kept going back for several years to visit,party,try to help out where I could and cook.This weekend is about the students and instructors so I do'nt mind staying off the river to help out if I can.
A lot of the particapants in Rendevous and Whitewater School have to drive a long ways and make arrangements to get time from their schedules to make the event so I sure can't disparage their methods of camping,I'm no stranger to motel/hotel rooms and I have been known to rent a cabin.Sometimes I take for granted the paddling oppurtunities I have within a hundred mile radius,for that I apoligize.I can see how a D.O.might not fit well into their plans.
Even though I have'nt been to Rendevous in a long time I never know when I might decide to come back to win the grand prize for best D.O. dish ever created so I would like to see it continued.

[darkaly]

Well now, Moniker, that might just be the year when I suddenly develop an amazing talent for Dutch oven cooking and come from behind for an underdog's first prize! •grin•

I say keep the cookoff too, Deuce. Sounds like it's a tradition that shouldn't be set aside just yet. Here's a thought - if some of the chapters did a DO thing or two during the rest of the year, maybe more people would learn how to cook in Dutch ovens, and maybe that in turn would increase participation in the event when Rendezvous time rolls around.

[Deuce]

Great discussion guys and gals. Thank you very much!

[darkaly]

Can we also discuss the near-total failure to respond to the 'call for taunts' preceding this years dutch oven cookoff?

I was very disappointed in our lackluster participation in smack talk. I'd hate to see this become a lost art.

It's important to our heritage, don't you think, Deuce?

[Deuce]

Can we also discuss the near-total failure to respond to the 'call for taunts' preceding this years dutch oven cookoff?

I was very disappointed in our lackluster participation in smack talk. I'd hate to see this become a lost art.

It's important to our heritage, don't you think, Deuce?

That discussion would need its own thread, but in point of fact I'm so disappointed I just don't have the heart.

[okieboater]

Well, I did not attend the vous this year for obvious reasons. Don't know if Roger did or not.

However, I will get in touch with Roger aka Rahark and see if we can both be there for next year.

Between Roger and myself, we do have post graduate degrees in smack talk and B/S. Guaranteed........

Maybe we will just show up to judge and not enter the competition so you young DO wanta be kiddos will have a chance to win!!!!!!

:myday"

[Roger]

Dave, I didn't make Vous this year for lesser reasons than your's and expected as much. Thus, I did not engage in the usual smack talking that leads up to the event.

Think my first DO Vous Contest was in the middle '90s and we had two entrants. Greg Churan and me. We both cooked the same two dishes. He won main dish and I won dessert. Go figure. Next thing I know? I'm in charge of next year's contest.

Had a few more cookers the next year and the next. What I find is that it runs in short cycles as some who get exposed to it for the first real time might show up the next year.

As for the cooking instrument itself, I don't find it limited to the camping experience since I cook outside a lot during certain times of year to avoid heating the house. Plus, I have a DO in my classroom where we will use it as a learning aid when we cook some dump cobblers on a cool autumn morning. Cobbler goes to cookers and teachers!

Back to the smack? Is there some rule that says I have to keep coming back and proving my ability to take home the prize in these events?

[Moniker]

Well now, Moniker, that might just be the year when I suddenly develop an amazing talent for Dutch oven cooking and come from behind for an underdog's first prize! •grin•

And the trash talk begins.

[bullseye144]

I very much enjoy Dutch oven cooking, just not lugging around and cleaning them. I ran week-long overnight camps with AR state parks for middle school aged kids every summer for a few years, and we did most of our meals solely out of 4-5 Dutch ovens, so at this point I'm pretty good with a DO but sick of all of the extra work.

If I camp on my own, I stand by my little MSR stove and non-stick pot. If I never scrub another insanely heavy 14" deep cast iron Dutch oven again I will be okay with that. I will eventually dig my personal 12" oven back out, but it needs a whole lot of TLC, derusting, and a couple rounds of seasoning to be used, and haven't felt motivated that all that work would be worth it...yet.

[Deuce]

Susan, I understand exactly where you're coming from, and you sound like a prime candidate for anodized aluminum. I won a ten inch a few years ago and liked it so much I bought a twelve inch. They're so light and easy to care for it almost feels like cheating. I have a box full of cast iron ovens, but I rarely use them any more unless I need to cook a ton of food or want to bake bread or something.