Favorite dutch oven recipes

[JStarbrite]

Let's get some of your favorite dutch oven recipes. Here's mine:

This recipe was originaly for game, but works very well with chicken.

Garlic Chicken

Put as much chicken that will fit in the bottom of a 10" or 12" dutch oven. Salt and pepper both sides.

Prepare a mixture of half vinegar, half white wine (or water). Pour over chicken until only tops of chicken is not covered.

Add at least 10 cloves peeled whole garlic and abour 5-6 bay leaves. Pour 1/4 cup oil on top (more if using game)

Cook 1 hour or until top of chicken is brown and all vinegar/wine is cooked off. If top is brown and vinegar/wine is not evaporated off, remove lid

Remove chicken. Discard bay leaves but not garlic.

Add 2-4 cups cooked rice. Stir to combine flavors.

Enjoy

[dieguy]

I would have to say Dump stew and cobbler, cannot remember the recipe i will get them out when i get home and post them.

[gunrod]

When I was younger and in the Boy Scouts I used to love to make pies in the dutch ovens. Place 3 bottle caps on the bottom of the oven, place some fruit in a ready made pie crust with a tin plate and place it in the oven on the bottle caps (the bottle caps keep the plate off of the bottom of the oven preventing the bottom from burning). Place the oven right on the coals and place some coals on top of the oven. Check it frequently since the cooking time will vary. Cakes and cookies can be made the same way.

[Hunt4Ever]

I'm working on a recipe for cinamon rolls. I started with someone's recipie out of a book and I am modifying it to be even tastier! I should have it down by this weekend. I need to have it figured out by the holiday weekend.

I'll post it when I'm done.

[JStarbrite]

Oooo! Cinamon rolls! Can't wait for that one!

Gunrod, last time I baked a pie in a dutch oven I couldn't find any bottle caps (the metal ones). Used 3 small pebbles instead. Anything to get the pie tin off the bottom and let the air circulate.

[jpollman]

I want a Dutch Oven !!

I looked at a nice setup at Costco the other day and almost picked it up but didn't. I WILL have one soon.

At last years Durand outing, Moe's mom made an Elk roast in hers that was TO DIE FOR !!! I used to watch a show on PBS on Saturday morning that used to have a new recipe every week for Dutch ovens. Looks like a great way to cook. I'm going to try it SOON.

[JStarbrite]

Get one with 3 legs, they balance better on uneven surfaces. Make sure that the lid fits tight and has a rim to accommodate coals. Get or devise a tool for lifting the lid securly when it is hot.

Then decide on what size. I use a 10" because I rarely cook for more than 4. A 12" is better for pies and larger crowds.

Follow the directions to season. Never use soap to clean a dutch oven. Just heat some water and scrape any stuck food with a spoon. Dump the water, dry with paper towel and apply coat fresh cooking oil. Great for camping!

[jpollman]

I'm pretty sure the one I looked at had three legs. I'm almost SURE it has a lip on the lid to hold the coals. I think it might be a 12" but not sure. I'm going to go back in a few days and look again. It was a nice set with a Dutch oven and a griddle with one more item I think and it was only about $24 . Not a bad price.

I know how important seasoning can be. I have a cast iron skillet that I use . It took a while but I've FINALLY got that thing seasoned perfectly. Once it's seasoned they work GREAT !

[gunrod]

The pebble thing is good too but it is hard to find three the same side so your pie tilts slightly causing the filling to spill some and burn. Cinnamon buns sound great on bottle caps or pebbles.

Now I'm hungry. Time to find some junk food.

[Ron L]

IIRC, the recipe for dump cake is a can of fruit filling, a box of cake mix, and a stick of butter. Add them in that order, slicing the butter on top of the dry cake mix. Somehow, it cooks up and tastes great.

[Salmonsmoker]

jpollman,

I have several Dutch Ovens of various sizes and have been using them as my primary cookware for many years. Recently, my Wife bought me a new 12" Lodge. It cost more (at Wall-Mart) than the set you mentioned. It also has more Iron in it that the lighter sets. That is the difference.

The way the low cost sets are made is by using less iron in the casting. They are lighter, thinner. The problem with this is, when heated (I use mine over the campfire or with charcoal), they can warp or crack. The thin metal heats unevenly causing hot spots where food is burned.

My 14" Lodge weighs around 30 lbs empty. The 12" Lodge weighs around 20 lbs. empty.

From my experience - pass on the kit, spend a few $$ more and get a good heavy-duty Dutch Oven that will do the job.

One of my favorites in my 14" is Irish Soda Bread, posted in April 01. I brought it forward into this forum. In camp, on the campfire, homemade bread, wonderful treat. Two full loaves will fit in the 14" and bake in about 45 minutes.

Salmonsmoker

[HemlockNailer]

AMEN ON BUYING LODGE COOKWARE..............

You can't go wrong with buying the best.

Here are some good websites for recipes etc......
\
www.ceedubs.com/dutch_oven_recipes.htm and www.heinsohn.com
When this prints out the www. is underlined and takes out the space dashes between the words dutch_oven_recipes... be sure to use those.


Also Lodge has a website www.lodge.com?

[Salmonsmoker]

Ron L,

The recipe for dump cake: it sounds like the cake mix would need some more liquid. Have you ever tried it?

At the Durrand Outing last summer Moe's Mom made a Pineapple Upside Down cake that was excellent however, I did not see how she did it. I tired one here - but the cake mix (Jiffy Yellow Cake)called for an egg and milk. When I followed the recipe, the cake-batter was a little thin. Maybe a no-egg type of mix....need to do some experimenting.

If the dump cake works, it will certainly simplify camp cooking.

Salmonsmoker

[PrtyMolusk]

Howdy-

Have 2 somewhere in storage :mad: that I need to find. Also found several way cool websites. I'll post 'em all on a seperate thread later, but here is a great one for beginners and advanced alike. It's a Boy Scout releated site, packed with info....
www.macscouter.com/cooking/DutchOven.html
Check it out.....

[Hunt4Ever]

Here you go. I tried a new version of the recipe this morning. These turned out better. The original recipe did not contain raisins. It came from a book called Cooking the Dutch Oven Way. (just trying to give credit where credit is due)


Brown Sugar Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits

2 Cups Jiffy Baking Mix
.75 Cups Milk
.25 Cups Brown Sugar (very tightly packed)
.25 White Sugar
2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
2 Tablespoons Cooking Oil or Melted Butter
Baking Raisins (not regular raisins, they are too dry)
.5 Stick of Butter or Margarine
Pecan pieces (optional, but very good here)
Almond slices (optional, but very good here also)


1. Blend the mix and milk. Roll or pat out until .25 inches thick. You are going to roll this up in a minute, so try and make sure it is somewhat square.
2. Mix brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon, and oil.
3. Melt the half stick of butter and spoon or brush it on the dough.
4. Spread the sugar mixture evenly over the dough.
5. Evenly sprinkle baking Raisins, and nuts on top.
6. Roll dough carefuelly like a jelly roll. As you roll, brush butter on the newly exposed dough.
7. Cut the roll into .75-1 inch pieces and CAREFULLY place in a well greased Dutch oven. Pour or brush any remaining butter on the tops.
8. Bake 375, 20-30 minutes, or until done.
9. Serve warm with hot coffee.
10. Let someone else clean up


If you do this recipe in the oven, do not use the lid. Using charcoal, use about 5 briquettes on the bottom and 7 on the top.


Try it, you’ll like it.

Oh, by the way, preheat your dutch oven while your getting everthing ready. If you don't, baking time will at least double.

[JStarbrite]

Put these rolls right in the dutch, or do I put them in a pie tin and keep it off the bottom?

Man, I can smell it now! Cinnamon rolls cooking in the dutch with a pot of coffee cooking on the fire!

[Hunt4Ever]

Put them right on the bottom of the dutch oven. Now, let me qualify that, I have only tried this in an oven and ot over coals yet. I am going to do that over the holiday weekend. I will place them directly on the bottom of the oven there also. If it doesn't work, I'll let you know.

[Salmonsmoker]

In my instructions from Lodge, they suggest (when using charcoal) rotating the DO 1/4 turn, and then rotate the lide 1/4 turn in the opposite direction, every 15 minutes to get better heat distiribution.

When using that technique, I have not had any burned food even when it is right on the bottom.

The number of briquettes will depend on the size of the DO. 5 on the bottom and 7 on top is probably about right for a 10 inch. For the same temperature in a larger DO you will need more briquettes. They have a chart in the Lodge instructions. I will look them up and post some suggestions.

Salmonsmoker

[PrtyMolusk]

Howdy-

Come h*ll or high water, I'm going to try cooking a meal this weekend in a DO.

What I need to know is how most of you insure a steady supply of fresh, hot briquets to keep your ovens stoked.

A small grill (ala 'Smokey Joe') to which you continually replace what you have removed, always leaving a couple from the previous batch as a starter?

A charcoal chimney, which you fill and re-light for each batch?

Also, how many briquets do you light for this purpose? It seems it would be awfully wasteful to light a whole chimney every half-hour or so.....

Thanks for all the help I'm sure to recieve........

[FREEPOP]

I have a suggestion for a substitute for the bottle caps. Why not cut three equal lengths of copper tubing. You could then wire them to the handle so they don't get lost.

Just a thought.

[Salmonsmoker]

OK. Here's the numbers.

For an 8" round Cast Iron DO

TEMP Under Top

250 - 300 2 4
300 - 350 3 5
350 - 400 4 6
400 - 450 5 7


For a 12" Cast Iron DO

TEMP Under Top

250 - 300 3 5
300 - 350 4 6
350 - 400 5 7
400 - 450 6 8

NOTE: The above numbers are under ideal conditions. Cold weather, wind, rain, Sun, Charcoal quality, charcoal dampness:
all can cause these numbers to change. You have to experiment. If you are using another size, you have to adjust the numbers.

One batch of briquets will last for about an hour. In my chimny, it takes about 15 minutes to get a second batch ready. That means that 45 minutes after the start of cooking, I need to start another batch: the amount that I need, not a whole chimny full.

I hope this helps.

Salmonsmoker.

[JStarbrite]

Make sure you use nothing but KINGSFORD coals. The cheap stuff won't last. I just add more coals 1/2 way through the cooking time if I know that cooking time is going to be over 1 hour.

[Salmonsmoker]

PrtyMolusk,

I use a chimney - actually two of them for big groups. (Charcoal lighter fluid leaves a bad taste in the food - even if you wait until the charcoal is mostly burned up - so I never use that.) In my Chimney, it takes about 20 minutes to get coals ready. Once the first batch is under/over the DO, they will they will hold the temperature for about an hour - so half an hour after starting to cook, I start another batch of coals in the chimney.

I tried leaving a couple of hot coals in the bottom of the chimney to start the next batch. That works but the next batch was ready before I needed them. Probably could work out the time on that but it is easier to just start another batch in the chimney 20 minutes prior to when I will be needing them.

When cooking over the campfire - if I will be needing a lot of coals and will not have time to keep a fire going long enough to generate them - I put some briquetts around the edge of, or under my campfire and scoop them out as needed.

Salmonsmoker

[NMGypsy]

Originally posted by Ron L
IIRC, the recipe for dump cake is a can of fruit filling, a box of cake mix, and a stick of butter. Add them in that order, slicing the butter on top of the dry cake mix. Somehow, it cooks up and tastes great.

Ya forgot the crushed pineapple, not drained - 1 can - put it on the bottom layer, then the pie filling (cherry), then the cake mix (dry) ... then slice the butter/margarine and cover the top of the whole thing ... my favorite cake!

NMGypsy

[Salmonsmoker]

Any fruit will work. If using canned fruit, include the liquid. If using fresh fruit, you will need to add some sugared water.

Salmonsmoker