Now this is a collection.
http://www.camp-cook.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1055



Great site for camp food gear/recipes

 

my ex girlfriend never liked it when i gave her a dutch oven....

 

That is alot of dutch ovens for one person to own!

i have seen more than that in one place though, but they wernt all one persons...

 

Reading up more on these, it seems the Lodge brand is the best.

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My X wife and I use to cook with cast iron skillets and pots back around '81 t '83 until we bought a nice stainless steel cook set for the home.

I guess many use these Dutch oven out when camping, and they work very well.
The Lodge brand also come pre seasoned.

 

yes, lodge is the best dutch oven, i dont even know anyone that has anything else

they are very good for baking in the woods
you can make pies in them too!

 

Lodge has a cornbread festival each year in South Pittsburg, its a great time to go their, a lot of good cornbread. hmmmmmmmmmmmmm cornbread.

 

I have a 10" and 12" lodge, plus a 10" and 12" Lodge cast Iron skillet. Love them all.

I did see this the other day and I really like it:
http://www.snowpeak.com/lux/kitchen/dutch/28do.html

 

My dad's into cooking with a Dutch Oven in a HUGE way. He has several sizes and uses Lodge exclusively. He's a nut about it!

I always loved camping as I grew up because we ate like kings! You name it, he's probably cooked it with a dutch oven. Pizza, ribs, stews, Apple and Peach Cobblers.

...mmmm, now I'm hungry.

 

Can you effectively cook with one of these too on top of a stove, or must you use charcoal?

I am going to have to scope out recipes first to see if it is even worth me getting a small one.

I think most of these dutch ovens are for making a large meal for many persons.

I read that one guy put in 30 eggs, a few lb of bacon, a lb of cheese, some vegis, and a few other things, and he had a meal for over ten, plus leftovers for breakfast the next day.

 

a 12" will cook meals for 2-4 hungry dudes.

On the stove they are ok....... but you have to keep the heat down. plus they have those pesky legs which are a bit of a pain to deal with when you have one over a burner. the other thing is having the coals on the lid give that "oven effect" which you would not get on a burner.

I am going to seriously check out the snow peak one, they call it a "Japanese" style for some reason, but it looks like a slick set up. The cool thing is it does not have "Legs" so you could easily put it over a burner, but it also comes with a little stand, so if youcan easily put charcoal under it. Plus it has a fry pan and the whole kit "nests" together.

From a lot of personal experience, if you are going to do the dutch oven thing, you have to be prepared to be in camp for a while, they are not a "Quick and easy" cooking process, convenient, yes, yummy, heck yes.

I squeezed a 5 pound ribeye roast into my 12" over the summer, but I had to cut the bone off, and do trimming and fitting, and it was really too big for the oven. In retrospect I should have had a 16" minimum, or cut the roast in half and gone with 2 12"s. (sounds like car stereo stuff) For a larger group (4-8) or small group plus teenage boys, go with the 16" plus.

For a family, a 12-14" is best. They are not all that expensive so get a 12, try it out, see what you think. Before you know it you will have a collection like the guy(or gal?) in the first post.

It becomes an addiction though..... my Dad has a baby 8" one used strictly for warming bacon. plus a bunch of others.

Also- my dad keeps one really clean for baking only, it is seasoned a little different IRRC, I think with crisco. The other ovens are for the stews and meat. You don't have to do this, but in the field dutch ovens don't always get the best attention when it comes to maintenance. I had a few funky biscits in boy scouts with chunks of meat (jerky really) in them from the night before...

 

Thanks for the info Duncan.
Here is a good read on how to select them too from an outdoor cooking site I found.
http://www.camp-cook.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=24

http://www.camp-cook.com/

 

Found a good book too that comes recommend.
http://www.exploroz.com/Shop/Books/M...Camp_Oven.aspx

These are recipes from "down under."

 

If you are going to use them to cook at home, it would be better to use them in the oven, also they make them without the legs

 

I would like to pick up a 10" one, and do some practicing in it at home, then try it out camping some time.

I will look online first at that camping food forum and see what all recipes might be there than interest me.

 

That is cool...I used to have one with a handle! Like a skillet has...I now have a 15 inch, 10 inch and an 8 inch. I prefer the type like he has in the center with the heavier lid with a lip. It holds the coals better and keeps them out of your food when you are checking it. You can stack them too while cooking to utilize the coals better.

You can cook ANYTHING you would cook in a oven in them. I make biscuits from scratch, enchiladas, cobblers, muffins, cakes, brownies.....all on the camp fire......talk about your good camp cooking. My wife made chicken pot pie in it that was to die for...especially on a cold night!

GOOD TIMES!

 

You can use any recipes that you have, cobblers and cakes are mostly what i have used them for

the way you figure out how many charcoal bricks on it is i think, not sure its 25 degrees per brick, and you distribute it on top and bottom depending on what you are cooking.
also, you need to rotate the lid a 1/4 turn every 10 min

hope this helps, and good luck with your dutch oven-ing!

 

We got one from Freight Harbor, a lot cheaper. It so rocks to cook with, things that are ok on the stove rock in the dutch oven. Charchoal works well but so does camp fire embers. The first time we cooked with it and had cornbread while camping, can't beat it. We had to season it ourselves but thats super easy. Use a cast Iron frying pan. Can beat cast iron when it come to fravor and the more you use it the better the flavor of the pan.

 

I use my Lodge outside with the camp posts, and have a smaller pot I use on my stove and in the oven in the house. Once you start playing with it, things start comming out better and better.

 

One has not yet lived untill they have had a cobbler from a dutch oven after a long day of wheeling.