Any Way I can Rescue My Dutch Oven?

[silver-shark]

Ann

 

Kingsford is a very famous manufacturer of charcoal briquettes here in the US. Their's are the ones that I use regularly. These briquettes are the same ones that one would use to barbequue or grill meat.

 

You can also use hot embers or coals from a fire to cook with, although these are somewhat unpredictable relative to the amount of heat they put out. I would not cook over an actual fire, as this would create too much heat for most things.

 

There are ways to judge how hot you're cooking during the process by what is happening at various intervals. Many dutch oven cookbooks will list these ways.

 

The key to baking, which is what I do most often, is in having about 2/3 of the briquettes or coals on top of the lid, and the remaining 1/3 beneath the dutch oven.

[Fat Old Guy]

Over here we use charcoal as the heat source for a dutch oven. Charcoal comes in large bags of "briquettes" which are small, regularly sized pieces. When charcoal is ignited and has reached the stage where the briquettes are glowing red, they are often referred to as "coals."

 

Charcoal, as you probably know, is wood that has been heated in the absence of oxygen, just leaving the carbon.

 

I don't know if you'd want to try to carry bags of charcoal back on a plane. I see a great potential for a disaster.

 

There is usually a number on the lid of the Dutch oven, that is an approximation of the number of coals needed under the Dutch oven and on the lid to maintain a temperature of 350 F. If memory serves, if the lid says "13", you put 12 on the lid and 13 under the oven. This assumes fresh, glowing coals.

 

Using actual coal, as dug from the ground, is an unknown territory for me.

 

I'd guess that if you cannot get charcoal in UK, you could build a campfire and wait until you have glowing coals and use those with your Dutch oven.

 

Visit http://www.kingsford.com/ for more information about charcoal.

 

 

 

 

[ASM7]

Really gunked up dutch ovens are easily cleaned by just throwing them in the fire and burning the mess out. Remember to reseason the oven using the manufactures instructions. The more you use it the more seasoned it becomes, then the inside surface is almost stick free.

A hint for not burning the top of breads, cakes or cobblers is to add the top coals about ten minutes after the bottom ones. This allows the food to cook more from the bottom. I prefer not using foil because the oven never gets seasoned the way I like it.

[oilman02]

You may want to go to:

http://campfirecafe.com/ these people cook over an open fire with very good results. They also have a show on RFD-TV that illustrates their methods and the grill they use.

Bob

[UKAnn]

Thanks everyone for your help. My DO has been cleaned and re-seasoned and has been saved! It's not spotless, but then again I don't think it's meant to be - it now looks like a well-used DO.

 

We can get charcoal of course in England, that we use for our BBQ's - I will experiment baking with that before next camp. It hardly seems possible that a few coals beneath and and on top would be enough! By the way my DO is a Lodge size 10. Thanks again.

 

Ann.

[SagerScout]

It didn't occur to me to ask - does your DO have legs? If not, use stones or a lid rack to keep the weight of the oven off the coals below. It tends to starve them for oxygen, and makes hot and cold spots. I also had a problem once in a park where there was a very deep ash bed in the fire ring - the oven just sank into the ashes and this smothered the coals. A flat and firm cooking surface really helps.

 

Be careful when choosing stones, sedimentary rocks can detonate.

 

The Dutch oven was a favorite of the western settlers in the US as it allowed cooking with so little wood - and wood can be hard to find in many areas of the US.

 

And if you are baking, more coals go on top than on bottom.

[Fat Old Guy]

I just did a Google search on "Dutch Oven" an was rewarded with over 18,000 hits. There are even "Dutch Oven" societies such as the International Dutch Oven Society and Lone Star Dutch Oven Society.

[UKAnn]

SagerScout - yes, my DO has three little legs - I was aware this would be a better option for campfire cooking. I've done searches on Google in the past and come up with thousands of recipes so I think there's plenty to keep me going.

 

Thank you all for all the help you have given - it's much appreciated - aren't there some wonderful people in the world!

 

Ann.

[Twocubdad]

If all you cook in you oven is desserts, you're not going to get the really nice heavy black finish you're looking for. That comes from the carbonization of fats on the surface over time. With cobblers and cakes you're more likely to remove the finish than add to it. Occasionally you need to cook something really greasy (or use the oven as a deep-fryer) to add to the finish.

 

Go to www.lodgemfg.com for a good web site on Dutch oven use. Lodge is probably the best-known manufacturer of Dutch ovens on this side of the pond.

 

Actually, I've found the best way to maintain the finish on my ovens is to loan them to our Cubmaster a couple times a year. When I get them back the finish looks like the top of a Steinway piano!