Question For The Dutch Oven Guru's Out There?

[okieboater]

Ryan,
Same feelings from me on trips. We have not been lucky lately. Hopefully, that will change next season with more water every where we go.

I find that I seem to cook better in the 12 inch across the top Dutch Ovens. For me, easier to control the heat.

Cooking in the big DO's (at least for me) is a challenge for heat control.

One of the things another of my DO cook buds (Bobby Stout - man we have helped each other turn out some nice meals over the years) taught me is the benefit of every 5 - 10 - 15 minutes of rotating the bottom of the DO one way and the top the other to equalize out the heat transfer pattern. Your choice on time and amount of rotation, just do what works for you. I do this rotation procedure most of the time. I find it especially beneficial when cooking in the larger sized DO's probably due to the larger size making heat transfer from the coals not very uniform. What this procedure does is cook the food more evenly. A good thing.

[prophet]

ryan, i'll eat out of your dutch oven any time.

[Ryan Center]

ryan, i'll eat out of your dutch oven any time.

That just doesn't sound right!

[Tim Eubanks]

Big Ryan
Great find. Try this: no more kitchen oven for you. Anything you can cook in a gas/electric range can be done in your DO. Pizza, squash casserole,bread, lasagna,chicken parm, anything. Get some charcoal and get cooking. Then when you get the chance you'll have it figured out.
Bring your best game to Rendezvous if you're up to it!

[Deuce]

Bring your best game to Rendezvous if you're up to it!

What he said. Can't believe nobody has taken my bait. DO cook-off is gonna be epic this year. You guys need to jump into this thread http://forums.arkansascanoeclub.com/vie ... =1&t=21973" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; so we can get the smack talk goin', then more important, you need to come to 'Vous so you can back it up.

[Jim Krueger]

All this Dutch Oven conversation is interesting. Sometime during most rendezvous I've attended over the years there has been someone cooking in Dutch Ovens, as well as cooking competitions. I think I will pay more attention in future to what's being cooked and techniques.
All of my adult life I have enjoyed cooking in general but have never persued camp cooking as anything more than an extension of kitchen cooking or backyard grilling, I may have to change my ways. When I started college forty years ago, and moved to the family farm, my Aunt Virginia gave me a Dutch Oven that must be over a hundred years old by now. The Dutch Oven she gave me is 10" X 4" and one of the smooth bottom ones for using in the oven rather than on the ground outside. I used this Dutch Oven yesterday when I brought a batch of her recipe of baked beans to the Surf&Turf lunch, as I have every year at S&T. Considering all the years I've had this Dutch Oven the finish still looks and preforms very well.
This discussion leads me to a find I have stored out in the shop. Several years ago Marlo and I were cleaning out her moms house when I came across a Lodge Dutch Oven, still in it's original box. When I quizzed Marlo about it she said her Dad purchased it from The Herders Co about 1970 when they were in the father-daughters camping era. At any rate, this Dutch Oven is one of the camping models w-feet and lipped, flat lid. The DO has a #12 embossed on the lid and is 12" X 4". At the time I found it I thought it might be fun to try cooking in it sometime but never have over the years. It appeared to me to be brand new and never used but when I went out to the shop and looked at it just now I see the lid still looks light gray and unseasoned as does the exterior of the oven but the interior of the oven looks like they did cook something in it a time or two. Perhaps it's time I give it a proper seasoning and try and use it sometime.

Best Regards
Jim

[Deuce]

Jim, I'm glad to hear you say that, because I have something lined up for folks who are interested in DO cooking but have never really pursued it. Come to Rendezvous and bring that big beautiful Lodge camp oven. You won't regret it.

[okieboater]

Jim, Lodge and others make a little stand that will allow you to cook over charcoal with that little pot you now use for beans only. Sometimes called lid stands I use mine for cooking as well in a couple of small DO's I have that have no extension legs on the bottom.

Ryan, Some background on why most folks discourage sand blasting rust off old Dutch Ovens. It is my understanding that many / most of the older DO's were hand cast which means uniform thickness was some times difficult to maintain. So heat control can be a bit difficult due to thickness of the cast iron heat transmission. And, aggressive sand blasting can make the DO even thinner which means much worse heat control. Cutting down on the process quality and amount of cast iron in the pot is the first thing on the list for cost cutting when sales drop and cost lowering triumphs over quality.

The good thing about Lodge Dutch Oven construction is they use modern processes for uniform thickness and I am told Lodge DO's have thicker bottoms than most other units on the market. I only buy new Lodge DO's for this reason plus Lodge lids seem to have very good machined edges for a uniform closure and spin. I have no money interest in Lodge products but for me their work is head and shoulders above the others I see on discount shelves. ACC'ers headed to the Ocoee may stop off the interstate in South Pittsburg TN for a visit to the Lodge Outlet. Every thing made by Lodge plus tons of other gadgets for cooking outside. Here in Tulsa we have Academy Sports big box stores. They often have great buys on Lodge and Rubber Maid coolers. Buying a Lodge what ever cooking unit is something that with a little bit of care last for generations. Rare for today's manufactured goods.

[okieboater]

For what it is worth.

Dust Bowl Chapter has for several Novembers put on a DOG aka dutch oven gathering at local state parks.

All are invited. Chapter pays for the charcoal. Each DO cook provides ingredients and prepares their special dishes or tries out a new recipe.

Give the chapter Prez a email and if a would be DO cooker wants help, bring the fixins and we will provide a Dutch Oven and a cooking coach. Or, just watch and ask questions.

Typically we have tables full of DO delights, cakes, main dishes, sides -- what ever. We have never run out of food!!!

We cook in the morning and eat around 3 pm. We will clean up and save left overs for a night big camp fire plus snacks. Some may camp at the park.

One year we invited a local Boy Scout Troop and they had a great time and did some work towards their Merit Badge qualifications.

It's a hoot.

[Roger]

Ryan, would like to think that 20 years from now your children will know that Daddy boo-booed THEIR hand-me-down DO!!! But seriously, try not to do that since Andy (oops, Dave) has pointed out the negatives.

But for future info:

"Taking advantage of common household cleaning products, items many of us have laying around the garage, kitchen or laundry room, and some science, you can clean parts from a single bolt up to an entire trailer frame through a process known as "electrolysis"."


http://antique-engines.com/electrol.asp" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Now, about making good with your friend!!! Fork over some more $$$$$$$'s!

[paddledog]

ryan, i'll eat out of your dutch oven any time.

I have several friends that gather almost every Saturday night for some poker playing and the host is always smoking various stuff.

There is lots wrong with this post......

We need water......

[okieboater]

AMen PaddleDog, AMen.

[Roger]

I've never seen grown men so impassioned over a piece of cookware...

Owl, it's not just any piece of cookware!!! Something that works almost as efficiently as it did when produced over 60 :myday" years ago is a rarity these days. You got anything like that in your possession now?

DO cooking on a western river trip is a luxury due to the need to manage the ashes and the weight of the unit as opposed to cooking with gas. But one can do it.

Glad the waste management dude recognized something of value even with all the rust since he could have just scrapped it for the recycle value!!

And Deuce, I have taken a vow of no trash talking about the Vous DO Challenge!! Now, I need to go check my ironware arsenal.

[okieboater]

A bit of addition to what Roger posted:

My opinion here, but due to Henry Fords creation of our leading Charcoal brand's pressed briquette, heat control today is extremely easy. I have done DO cooking with wood coals from the camp fire and it can be done but takes a lot of work to do right. I under stand many of the old timers in wagon trains or mountain men days used dried buffalo chips. I have never used them but understand they burn pretty good. My heart goes out to those real cooks and especially to those chuck wagon cowboy cooks. Imagine turning out a bad DO of biscuit to a bunch of hungry cowboys with pistols on their belts!

DO cooking does take a little bit of extra effort, but anyone can do it. And, tasty food is always a treat on a river trip or any trip outside.

[Deuce]

A bit of addition to what Roger posted:

My opinion here, but due to Henry Fords creation of our leading Charcoal brand's pressed briquette, heat control today is extremely easy. I have done DO cooking with wood coals from the camp fire and it can be done but takes a lot of work to do right. I under stand many of the old timers in wagon trains or mountain men days used dried buffalo chips. I have never used them but understand they burn pretty good. My heart goes out to those real cooks and especially to those chuck wagon cowboy cooks. Imagine turning out a bad DO of biscuit to a bunch of hungry cowboys with pistols on their belts!

DO cooking does take a little bit of extra effort, but anyone can do it. And, tasty food is always a treat on a river trip or any trip outside.

Coals from the fire were all I ever used until recently. I still prefer them to charcoal, but probably just because that's what I'm accustomed to.