Information on Dutch Oven Cooking

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How do you control the heat in a Dutch oven?

There are several ways to test the temperature of your Dutch oven. I will go over some of these ways, but the one main way to test the temperature is to lift the lid. If the food is not cooking enough add some heat. If it's cooking too fast take off some heat. Remember, it's much easier to raise the temperature of cast iron than to lower it.

Here is one way to test the temperature of a heated oven:

• Place a teaspoonful of flour in a small pie pan and put the pan inside a hot Dutch oven.
• Place the lid on the oven and leave it for 5 minutes.
• If the flour has not turned brown the oven is less than 300 degrees.
• If the flour is light brown, the oven is about 350 degrees.
• If the flour is dark brown, the oven is about 450 degrees.

Note: If the flour is dark brown after 3 minutes, reduce the heat, the oven is too hot to cook with.

There is another good way to test the temperature. It could be called the 2-3 briquette rule. Using this rule, you take the size of the oven and place that amount of briquettes on the lid and place that amount under the oven.

Then take 2-3 briquettes from the bottom and move them to the top. This technique will maintain a temperature of 325 to 350 degrees. Refer to the table below for common oven sizes. For every 2 briquettes added or subtracted to/from this the net change is about 25 degrees.

These temperature changes are for the Rocky Mountain area, where the cooking altitude is about 4000-6000 ft. If you live in lower or higher area, check these settings with an oven thermometer to make sure they are OK. I mention this because temperatures inside a Dutch oven are effected by altitude.

There are a couple of other things to remember about temperature control.

The first is that you should rotate your oven a third of a turn every ten minutes. And then rotate the lid a third of a turn the other direction. Next if you are baking bread, rolls, or cake remove the bottom heat after two thirds of the cooking time. It will finish cooking from the top heat. This will keep it from burning on the bottom.

Use this chart as a starting point and adjust from there!

What can be cooked in a Dutch oven?

Anything that can be cooked in the oven in the kitchen at home can be cooked in a Dutch oven. And, food cooked in a Dutch oven will taste much better.

How do I clean my Dutch oven? I've heard you just scrape it out and turn it upside down in the fire.

That is how the early pioneers and mountain men cleaned their ovens.  A Dutch oven can be cleaned like that, but it burns out all of the seasoning.
Scrape the oven out, and boil an inch or two of water in the oven to steam it out. This also gives you time to eat with your guests.
After the oven has steamed a while, scrub it with a green scrubby pad or a soft wire kitchen brush and pour out the water. Then wipe it dry and coat it lightly with a high temperature vegetable oil while the oven is still hot. Place a wadded up newspaper or a couple of paper towels inside the oven so they hang out a little. Then place the lid on the oven and put it away. The paper helps keep the lid slightly ajar for air movement. It also collects moisture to keep the oven dry.

How do I Season and Care for my Dutch Oven

When you purchase a new Dutch oven, or any cast iron product, you must first remove the protective coating. It is placed there after manufacture to protect from rust. The best way to remove this is with hot soapy water and a wire scrubber. I prefer to scrub it two or three times, rinsing after each time to feel if it is still there. After the cleaning, rinse with hot water to clean off the soap.

Next, it needs to be dried till there is no moisture left on the oven. The easiest way dry a Dutch oven is to put it in a warm (160ish) kitchen oven for 30 minutes or so, then let it cool enough to handle it.

Now you are ready to begin the seasoning process. I prefer lard or white shortening and not oil. Oil tends to make it very sticky afterwards. Using a paper towel, apply the shortening or lard to the inside and outside of the oven until all is coated. Put some extra inside the oven.  Do the same with the lid.

Put both in a 425 degree kitchen oven and bake for one hour. Then, using tongs and a paper towel, swish the excess seasoning inside the oven around coating the entire area and lid.

When the time is up, remove from the oven and swish the excess seasoning on all the inside to coat and let sit in the oven until cool. Using a paper towel, wipe the inside of the oven to coat again all inside surface and then wipe all the excess out to just leave a thin coating on the oven.

Now you are ready to start cooking.

It is best to begin with foods which require a lot of oil such as deep fried foods or bread as they tend to continue to coat the oven. After each use wash only in very hot water to clean. If you cooked bread in it, wipe a light coating of seasoning on and you are ready to go again. It does not require washing out. If you cooked something which stuck to the oven, put oven back on the heat source and heat until it boils and use a plastic spoon to remove the stuck food.

Dump out the water and rinse with hot water at least twice, wipe out with a paper towel and then apply a light coat of seasoning to the oven and you are ready to cook again. If you are going to store your oven, place a paper towel inside the oven to help absorb any moisture. Almost any seasoning will become rancid if you leave it for a long time. If you are going to store your oven or not use it for a long time, simply store it without the lid and apply a light coat of mineral oil and it will not become rancid. Store in a location where it is protected from moisture and dust.

If the oven gets rusty, you can clean it up by soaking the rusty area in Coca Cola for an hour. Then scrub with wire scrubber only where it is rusty. Then, rinse it out and re-season that part of the oven again by applying a coat of seasoning and heat to 425 degrees for 30 minutes. You are now ready to begin cooking with it again.  There are times when, during the process of seasoning it, too much seasoning is applied and a build up occurs and, after a while, it will begin to flake off.  The only remedy here is to clean off the flaking material and start over again or just continue to cook in it as it is.

A well seasoned Dutch oven is a prized possession and will last a lifetime and can be passed on to your family as an heirloom which will function as long as it is taken care of properly. Enjoy every minute of your time while cooking in these wonderful ovens. They provide so much wonderful food and wonderful times when they are properly cared for. This requires a minimal amount of care after each use.  The biggest sin in using the Dutch oven is to use it and then not clean it for days or even weeks. There are actually people who do that, requiring the oven to be seasoned again.

One more note:
Be careful with high acidic foods as they will eat away at the seasoning on the oven.

Links

Dutch Oven Recipes

Black Pot Demos

Jim Speirs' Scouting Page Dutch Oven Recipes http://www.justdutchovenrecipes.com/index.shtml

Sourdough FAQ page: http://www.nyx.net/~dgreenw/sourdoughqa.html

Byron's Dutch Oven Cooking Page: http://papadutch.home.comcast.net/

Ol' Buffalo Camp Cook Book http://www.three-peaks.net/dutch_o.pdf

Lone Star Dutch Oven Society http://www.lsdos.org