Guide Rod

Steps for Cooking With A Dutch Oven

Open fire cooking doesn’t mean you must do without baking or roasting. It is possible that your favorite recipes are given an enhanced flavor when using this method. A rimmed lid and feet on the bottom are characteristics of the Dutch oven made for open fire cooking.

METAL UTENSILS SHOULDN’T BE USED
Don’t use a metal utensil on a properly seasoned cast iron pot or pan. Use wooden utensils as metal will remove the nice coating you’ve worked so hard to put there.

THE FIRE
Build a hot fire using hard wood at least an hour prior to the time you wish to begin cooking. Stay away from using soft wood or retailed charcoal for your fuel. Pine is an example of resinous, cool-burning, soft wood that produces a quantity of black soot when burned. Not only is this residue bad for humans, it leaves a flammable coating on chimneys, and coats your cookware with soot. Because chemical additives and binders are used in the manufacturing process of charcoal, I don’t use commercial briquettes in my cook fire. Learning how to build a hardwood fire will keep you from dealing with either of these difficulties. Check to be sure you’ve gotten a good bed of red hot coals laid. Use a sturdy piece of curved iron as a lid lifter and have a thick cloth or potholder available to protect your hands from the heat.

PREHEATING
Use a clean cloth or paper towel to coat the inside of your pot and lid with olive oil. Set the lid onto the pot and set it near the fire to warm while you prepare your ingredients. This is pre-heating your Dutch oven just as you would a modern standard oven. Pre-heating your pot will allow the oil to penetrate as the iron warms and allows the food to properly cook. Securing the lid will keep ash out of the interior of the pot. While your pot is warming, you may wish place any onions or peppers that your recipe calls for into the container where they can gently simmer and provide a flavorful layer beneath the rest of the ingredients.

ADDING THE FOOD
Assemble the ingredients for your recipe. Seasonings are important; don’t forget them. Move your heated Dutch oven a comfortable distance from your fire. Use a curved piece of metal to remove the hot lid.

The remaining ingredients should be layered into your oven at this point. If rice is part of your recipe, add it and the water or broth at this point. Add any additional vegetables. The last ingredient I add is my meat as the juices from the meat will help season the vegetables/rice/potatoes beneath it. Be mindful of the depth of your pot at this point as you don’t want your food to touch the underside of your pot’s lid. If you are baking bread or a desert, place the batter/dough/ingredients into the pot just as you would before placing it into a regular kitchen oven. Place the lid back onto the pot.

ADD THE COALS
Use a shovel to move some hot coals to the edge of the fire into a small pile. This method is less hazardous than attempting to set the pot over leaping flames or into the middle of the fire pit. Set your Dutch oven on onto this small bed of coals and then begin to shovel hot coals onto the pot’s lid. When you have an even layer of coals are resting on the lid and beneath your pot, sprinkle ash over the lid and around the sides of the bottom. You are banking the fire. It allows the coals to retain their heat as they burn slowly because they aren’t exposed to too much oxygen.

The length of your cooking time should be comparable to the time recommended for a conventional oven. Use a shovel to scoop the live coals off of the lid of your Dutch oven when cooking is complete. Remove any remaining ash and dust from the lid using a whisk broom. Lift the pot by its handle, using a protective pad. Remove the pot from the hot coals and move it back from the fire. Lift the lid with a sturdy piece of curved metal and set it to the side. Check your food. If the food is ready, serve with a wooden spoon. If not, replace the lid, return the pot to the small bed of coals it sat on previously, replacing more coals onto the lid. When a few more minutes have passed, you can repeat the process, checking for doneness.

It’s okay if your first effort results in a few burnt edges. You will soon get the hang of it. A few burnt edges will quickly be overlooked by those that have been enjoying the aroma of your food during cooking. Leftovers seldom remain. Your guests will be more than ready to eat.

CLEANING AND STORING
After removing the food from your Dutch oven, wipe residue from the inside using a soft sided scrub pad, paper towel or wooden spoon. A well seasoned pot won’t require much more than a gentle wiping. Reheating your pot by sitting it next to the fire will help remove any stubborn bits of glued on food. Don’t submerge your Dutch oven in soapy water or put it through a dishwasher. Heating the metal in hot water and detergents will strip it of its protective seasoning. Re-apply a protective coating of oil to your oven after each use. You will know you’ve done a nice job when you can see your reflection in the bottom of the pot. Cover the pot with its lid for storage.

INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE?
Learn about HARD CORE survival in the wilderness with the DVD training on PRIMITIVE WILDERNESS SKILLS, APPLIED. It’s a great gift for the survival enthusiast on your list and it’s available at The Bulk Herb Store online. Also there is a new book called THE VISION by Debi Pearl which offers the reader loads of information on herbal remedies.