A Dutch Oven Is The Symbol Of Great Food And Fun; The Cornerstone Of A Performing Kitchen.
With very few exceptions, a Dutch oven and a campfire can duplicate any home recipe ever made. These iron Dutch ovens are extremely durable, and some have lasted for over 100 years. Nothing holds a consistent, even temperature better than the heavy metal of this commanding pot. When indoors, it can go from stovetop to oven without losing a beat.
Cast iron cooking has endless possibilities. Imagine crispy fried chicken, or spare ribs roasted to perfection. Taste the mouthwatering flavor of deep dish pizza, cheesy scalloped potatoes, or beef stew with fresh baked rolls. Desserts are no less tantalizing. Thick chocolate cake, honey-butter scones, or even the enjoyable peach cobbler just tastes better when cooked on seasoned iron.
The Lodge manufacturing company, a quality cast iron maker, categorized two types of ovens by calling the rounded top, flat bottom oven with no legs, a Dutch-Oven. The oven with a flat lid and a flat bottom with legs they call a Camp-Oven. Both types can come with an original finish, that must be seasoned, or in a popular pre-seasoned state, that can be used right out of the container.
Seasoning, the process that allows oil to be absorbed into the iron, makes the cooking surface non-stick and rustproof. Seasoning is always a work-in-progress. The more you use your oven, the better the seasoning gets. If you season it yourself, your piece will start with a gold-caramel color, which is very normal. Eventually, through use, it will achieve the desired black “patina” which makes cooking a cinch.
However, if it’s time you need to save, Lodge has the answer in a successful new line of pre-seasoned cast iron. Called the Lodge Logic and Lodge Pro Logic, this series of pre-seasoned cookware is totaling over three quarters of Lodge cast iron sales. This inventive series uses an electrostatic oil spray process combined with high temperatures. It’s resulting “patina” leaves an attractive look and superior performance to self seasoning, and it is ready to use immediately, saving you time to do what matters most; flavor-full cooking.
Whether Camp or Dutch Style, Finding a Quality Ironware Oven is only a few clicks away, and will Benefit you Like No Other Pot Can.
come in several sizes to handle various loads. But before you buy you should examine several areas for quality. Look at the handle or “bail” as it’s sometimes called. It should be a thick gauge of wire and be strongly attached through the tangs molded on the oven. Quality ovens will allow the handle to rest down on one side and at an angle on the other for ease of moving. Check the oven to see if it has a small tab at the top lip. This tab makes it convenient to pour liquids, but small enough not to interfere with cooking. While flat bottom, dutch style ovens can be used outdoors, they are generally intended for indoor cooking, while the legged, camp style ovens are for outdoors.
For camp style ovens, make sure the handle on the lid is a loop that you can easily hook with a campfire tool. And check the lid to be sure it has a ridge on the top edge so coals cannot slide off. Check the legs on the bottom. The legs are essential so that air may circulate around the coals. Although there are three and four legged ovens available, use a three legged one for outdoor cooking, as it is more stable on rough ground.
The amount of food you need to cook will dictate the size of your oven, but the chart below will help guide you.
Size Volume Food Types Servings
| 8 " |
2 qts. |
Desserts, Vegetables |
2-4 |
| 10" |
4 qts. |
Bread, Rolls, Cakes, Cobblers |
4-6 |
| 12" |
6 qts. |
Main Dishes, Meats, Cobblers, Desserts |
6-10 |
| 14" |
8 qts. |
Meats, Potatoes, Doubled Recipes |
8-14 |
| 16" |
12 qts. |
Any large group dishes |
12-20 |
Some basic tips for using your oven will also help you get started towards the tempting, flavorful world of cast iron cuisine. A general rule for most outdoor cooking is 2/3 of the charcoal briquettes on top and 1/3 of the coals on the bottom. Evenly space your bottom charcoal briquettes in a circle, ½" inside the diameter of the oven. Place charcoal on the lid of your oven in an all-over the top checker-board pattern with about 2-inches of space between each briquette (15-18 coals under a 12" oven). For a useful temperature chart, see our recipe section.
A quality brand charcoal will hold heat for about one hour of cooking. If your recipe calls for more than 1 hour to cook, change to fresh coals after 45 minutes. Some inexpensive charcoals burn unevenly and can extinguish in the middle of cooking. Factors like wind, altitude and air temperature can affect the cooking temperature in your oven as well.
To help avoid charcoal hot spots when cooking, separately rotate your oven and lid in opposite directions, a quarter turn every 10 to 15 minutes.
Pre-warm any liquids for recipes that require additional moisture during cooking. Adding cold liquid to a hot oven could crack the cast iron. On occasion, you'll need to remove hot grease or other excess liquids from your oven. An easy solution is to siphon out the excess fluid with a turkey baster. Leather gloves, a lid-lifter, long tongs, and an ash shovel are very useful tools to have when moving your oven or adjusting hot charcoal briquettes.
