Too many outdoors men and women shy away from Dutch Oven cooking. They've no doubt seen photos of beautiful Dutch Oven food and have maybe even tasted some and loved it...only to fear its too complicated.
Well, that is a complete myth.
Dutch Oven cooking is really pretty simple. In fact, the Boy Scouts of America do a ton of Dutch Oven cooking, and that involves boys from about 11 years old to their 18th birthday, and those young men produce some amazing food. And I know the TV show,
"Tougher than a Boy Scout" highlighted the great skills Scouts learn in the Scouting program, the good news is that Dutch Oven cooking is one of the easiest to learn.
Here are some suggestions gleaned from Dutch Oven cooking primarily through the Boy Scouts.
Purchase a Quality Dutch Oven
A quality, 12" three legged Dutch Oven made by Lodge goes for about $60. Sure, there are collector and rare ovens for much more, but the food coming out of them is no better.
Get Support Equipment
You'll need just a few pieces of equipment to help with Dutch Oven cooking. Here's a basic list:
1. Lid lifter
2. Lid rest
3. Welders Gloves
4. Charcoal chimney
5. Oil pan (helps with Leave No Trace cooking)
Season the Dutch Oven at Home
Dutch Ovens must be seasoned. While many come new "pre-seasoned", its really a myth. Plan on seasoning your Dutch Oven at home where it is much easier to do in your kitchen oven compared to over a campfire. Consider two rounds of seasoning, and you'll be good to go. There are many web sites that show you how to season your Dutch Oven. Here is the method recommended by Lodge:
http://www.lodgemfg.com/use-and-care/what-is-seasoning
Look for Recipes
The Web is a great place to find recipes to cook in your Dutch Oven. For those just starting out, I highly recommend the recipes that can be found on web sites associated with the Boy Scouts...Remember, if BSA starts teaching 11 year old boys how to cook in a Dutch Oven, the recipes must be proven, simple, and good to eat. Here's a few BSA related web sites on Dutch Oven Cooking.
MacScouter has a bunch of information on Dutch Oven cooking, and the information here is what I started with and often refer to.
http://www.macscouter.com/cooking/dutchoven.asp
Boys' Life Magazine is now on line and there is a compilation of Dutch Oven recipes.
http://boyslife.org/outdoors/outdoorart ... n-recipes/
Give it a Try
Once you know what you want to make, give it a try at home or at camp. You can technically cook using campfire coals, but that gets tricky as far as temperature control. To address temperature control, many Dutch Oven users use bagged charcoal briquettes and spread them between the top and the bottom of the over based on rules of thumb or the recipe (some recipes tell you how many coals to use). Here is a table that gives briquette counts by desired temperature.
Clean Up
Clean up is not too bad if you seasoned your Dutch Oven. After serving, put a little water in the oven and put it back on heat to steam. The steam and warm water will loosen up most stuck on food. Then, use a nylon pot scrubber. Don't use soap...it is not needed nor is it desirable.
Put a thin coat of vegetable oil on the Dutch Oven and put it to the heat to bake on a bit.
