Tips & Tricks of the Dutch Oven

[Gags]

GK - My old roommate is from outside Boston. He also called it "american chop suey", usually onions, ground beef, tomatoes (crushed or diced can) and elbow macaroni. Must be a New England thing? I grew up in NJ - chop suey was just something funny sounding off the take-out menu (is it even on a take out menu? maybe that's my next research project).

 

But for DO "tips", and the one that made the biggest difference to me, was realizing that it really is an "oven". We would make cobbler all the time growing up, but would often get it stuck to the bottom or worse. (Our leaders were all younger - probably didn't do much cooking at home!). Then I discovered that you needed to "bake" the cobbler, which means heat it from the top, and not cook it from the bottom. Goodbye burnt cobbler!

 

Like the other poster mentioned, I've never used briquettes with a DO - too long get them going, and it's more fun shoveling coals onto the lid. Also can confirm the smell test - if you suddenly start getting whiffs of apple or peach, it's just about done.

 

So here's my "tips":

1. When using coals from a fire (for cobbler), I usually place a layer on both top and bottom. However, I don't "refresh" the layer on the bottom - you want some heat for uniformity, but the main heat source is the top, not the bottom.

 

2. Get a lid lifter specifically for a DO. Pliers kind of work, but your risk of "ash-fall" into the food increases greatly.

 

3. For longer cooking times, give the DO a 1/4 turn, and also the lid a 1/4 turn. This prevents "hot spots" from forming - (this is probably more important with charcoal, where it's more concentrated heat).

 

4. Heavy Duty aluminum foil is your friend. Keep regular "thin" foil in the kitchen at home. Keep the "cheap" foil like you find at Dollar General or other discount stores that are nearest your campsite on the shelves, in the store.

 

5. There's no shame in lining a DO w/ foil. You're trying to minimize clean-up, not enter the IDOS Baking Contest.

 

6. DO's are GREAT on a propane stove - especially the coleman's that are "boxier" due to the white gas set up - the DO sits right on the grate, and with a little trial and error, you'll find a good position where the legs of the DO "lock-in" to the stove grate, making it extremely stable. You now have a good pot for stews, chili, one-pot breakfast (potatos, eggs, cheese, ground sausage - use the flipped lid to heat up the burrito shells!) etc.

 

7. Leather fireplace gloves are also your friend.

 

8. Long handled tongs are good if using charcoal. A collapsible camping shovel is good for shoveling coals. But if you have the space, a long handled landscapers / garden shovel is even better for not having to get too close to dig those coals out.

 

9. Bisquick - Measurements aren't always the easiest to do in the woods. Last time we made cobbler, we just mixed the powder with water until it was "doughy" - the result wasn't flaky buttermilk biscuits, but it was definitely tasty and good enough for cobbler or probably even dumplings. That may be my preferred method going forward.

 

Guess since I made it this far, I'll go for a 10th

 

10. Beware cooking tomatoes (as in fresh or right out of a can) - the acid in them ate right through the seasoning on my DO, which probably wasn't seasoned enough. I didn't have this problem re-heating pre-made tomato sauce, though.

 

For your presentation, maybe bring samples of what you can season with - crisco, vegetable oil, olive oil, vegetable spray, mineral oil (I think Lodge sells a specific oil for this). And pass around a well-seasoned DO - that's what people will remember and compare their attempts against - pictures on the web don't work nearly as well as holding one.

 

My old troop is in the area tonight visiting the Jamboree - may need to go meet them for desert and whip up a cobbler or two!

 

YiS,

 

Gags

[moosetracker]

Gags - thanks for all the neat tips. I have heard that tomatoes can eat the seasoning on a DO.. I wondered as I have a very well seasoned Cast Iron skillet at home that I do speghetti sauce and it never effected it.. But I am not one for chunks of tomatoes, so that's why I probably never hit the problem..

 

Something similar is add about 1/4 cup of water to a rice dish where you are not putting in precooked rice. Somehow all the water needed does not go into the rice and you end up with crunchy rice. This does not seem to be the case if just adding enough water to cook uncooked pasta with a dish. There you still add the water as directed.

 

I have done dutch oven on propane when I started a dish and it started poring.

 

One time while doing DO at home not at camp.. I started a DO outside it started pouring, I brought it in and put it in the oven, the power went out.. I then put it on the BBQ, we ran out of gas.. (Didn't have a propane stove set up at home.) I think we ate out that night.

[GKlose]

About prepping in advance -- one thing I found is that I don't much prefer chopping onions at home, in advance. The odor would permeate the ziplock, and it seemed as if the onion wilted a bit. Flavor was probably fine, but it doesn't take that much time to chop an onion.

 

When I'm at home, making a beef stew, I tend not to buy pre-cubed beef. I prefer chuck, and the local market tends to carry "beef stew" made out of round. So I will typically buy a chuck roast and cube it myself, in the size that I prefer, removing silverskin and such along the way. Yes, it takes longer, but I think it is worth it.

 

So if I were making a beef stew at camp, I'd prep the beef at home, and probably freeze it in a ziplock.

 

Full disclosure time: for my Woodbadge course last fall, on our second weekend, when we were doing patrol cooking, I was grubmaster. So I did a lot of prep at home. Yes, it occupied two evenings prior, but honestly I think we ate better and had faster cooking times overall than some of the other patrols. I made seasoned ground beef, for lunchtime burritos, some sweet and sour chicken for dinner, and did the apple crisp trick that I mentioned above. A patrol mate made some awesome chicken soup, and froze it, and we had that the second day for lunch. Nice, for a crisp fall day.

 

Guy

[Eagle92]

I'm also in the no soap ever camp. All you need to do is scrub the heck out of it with some room temp water, then scrub some more, THEN use boiling hot water to sanitize.

[Scoutfish]

One thing i have learned from cooking out or when away: Onion powder is "just about" as good as using real onions. No, not perfect, but as close as you can get while notusing the real thing: No cleanup, no stink, no mess!

 

If you are going to make a cake..you can buy dutch oven liners at Wal-Mart . Yeah, It is "cheating" until YOU are the one scrapping the DO out - then it's not cheating! LOL!

 

I have used soap. I do it only when absolutely necessary though. But here's the thing: just because you are using soap...it does not mean you have to scrub like the devil!

 

But usually, just boil water for a few minutes and wipe clean and dry with a clean rag or towel.

 

 

OOne last thing: I completely agree about pliars: Using a DO lid lifter is way, way better! The lid will not slip, or tilt, thus no "special seasoning" in your food!

AND the handle is designed to keep heat transfer to a minimum!

[John-in-KC]

I'm also in the no soap, ever, camp. If i want to be really, really sure a DO is clean, I'll start by filling the whole thing with water, let it get to the boil, and boil the water 10 minutes. That won't kill everything (only autoclaving will do that), but it gets a lot of stuff down in the pores. Then, I re-season it. When I season a Dutch, my home oven goes to 550F, and it stays there for 2 clock hours, then I let the oven cool to stone cold.

[evmori]

If you are using more than one DO, you can stack them! After you get all your coals in place, wrap the stack with aluminum foil (shiny side in). This gives you the chimney effect.

[The Blancmange]

Sorry if this seems like changing subjects, but I have a related question that doesn't merit its own thread. I'm fairly new to DO cookery, and have a minor problem when seasoning the oven. When I am wiping the oil on, I use a paper towel which very quickly starts leavings little bits of towel on the oven. Do you use a rag? I hate to waste a rag for this. Better quality paper towels?

[moosetracker]

Blancmange - I use the paper towel, and get the paper towel fuzz. But once the oven cooks, it is not much too much trouble to wipe any leftover fuzz out, a dry soft cloth will do that. don't need water. You can even do that once you put that very light buff of oil after the pot is clean, because with the paper towel you should work the oil in so it is not damp to the touch, therefore it wont put any more oil on your rag then normal kitchen clean up would.

 

But, others do use a soft cloth, but I am like you. It is a waste of a good soft towel, which wont clean well, nor soft again. And you still could get fabic lint anyway.

 

I have been tempted to try the blue "workshop" paper towels as they are stronger, but not as soft, so I do not know how well they absorb & release the oil.

 

Evmori - Thanks for the "shiny side in" tip.. I have the DO table, with windshild, so never did the alumnium wrap, but wanted to show it.. I did not read anywhere that it must be shiny side out, I would have probably done it out just because it's prettier..

 

About stacking ovens, I have done so, but just guestimate about the amount of coals between ovens. So far I haven't ruined the meal, so my guestimates are ok.

 

I plan to talk about stacking, but my only advice is..

 

"There are many variables when it comes to stacking dutch ovens, different pot sizes, different temperatures, the pot on top will trap some of the heat, that would have escaped faster had it not been there.. Now, remember the larger Dutch Oven that will be on the bottom will have more coals on top then bottom. Then you place a smaller one on top, that requires a lot few coals then what is placed on that lid.. Therefore what I do is line the coals on the top lid toward the outside ring of the lid, with few if any under the bottom of the smaller pot, and I also will reducing the coals on top of the larger pot by 2-3 coals..

 

I am surprise you stack and wrap (even without wind), as I am always trying to reduce the potential buildup of too much heat between the stacks.. Seems you try to increase the heat by wrapping.. So what is the logic behind your method?

 

Anyway that is my suggestion, but it is all from my trials with no failures, yet.. Does anyone have a different or better way to gauge the coals between the stacked pots?

[Gags]

Ed - found this on Wikipedia and elsewhere:

"While many believe that the different properties keep heat out when wrapped with the matte finish facing out, and keep heat in with the matte finish facing inwards, the actual difference is imperceptible without instrumentation. The reflectivity of bright aluminium foil is 88% while dull embossed foil is about 80%."

 

While the "shiny side" may offer some additional reflection, it looks like it's less then a 10% difference.

 

Blancmage - I don't worry about the "fuzz". I often just use a napkin to spread the olive oil or crisco on my frying pans. Once it dries, unless you have a really "rough" surface, I can't see that much being left that won't wipe out once it's dry and cooled out of your grill. I'm just too cheap to use a more expensive shop towel than a napkin.

 

--Gags

[artjrk]

cleaning tip: A ball of aluminum foil works well as a scouring pad to get some minor stubborn baked-on mess. Also a wooden Spatula works well for larger messes. And neither harms the seasoned coating.

[moosetracker]

I concur with the wooden spoon.

 

I used to use aluminum foil for cleaning out DOs and thought it worked good. Then I was told "Don't do that" because it does scratch the seasoning. So I stopped. I have since seen things on the internet saying "Don't do that"..

 

Personnally though, I never did have a problem with it when I did it. I kind of thought the foil crumpled if you pressed to hard rather then scratched.. So I can't say yeah or nay to that one. Just there does seem to be differing opinions on that..

[Engineer61]

I don't know if anyone's noticed, but the key to stopping rancid pot seems to be the oil you season it with.

 

Had issues with my 18" iron skillet....found it went sour with soybean, canola and sunflower. Corn oiled it.. and it's been fine since.

 

Nothing like playing with a chemistry set.

[ScoutNut]

Never had a problem with canola, but I prefer olive oil.

 

 

[evmori]

I know the difference is minimal, Gags, but every little bit helps.