Dutch Oven recipes for summer and winter

[Marianne]

This is all very interesting. I don't have said spider Dutch oven. Our wood stove is a newer steel clad one so it never gets too hot to cook on. I do cook on it, making skillet bread, and slow cooker type recipes.
I do have two cast iron wood stoves around here though, so hopefully we'll get use them in our next place.

Weird, we got the new one because we were told we'd never get insurance on the house using the old cast iron stove, but then I never told our insurance guy that we even installed one! Since we burn responsibly, clean and inspect the chimney pipes every year, etc, I figured we probably wouldn't burn our house down with one anyway.

Okay, back to thread topic!

 

[Henrietta23]

I have one too but haven't done much with it. I have a couple of cookbooks I've picked up. If you're looking for anything in particular I'll take a look. I've also found lots of Cub Scout and Boy Scout outdoor cooking sites with tried and true recipes that work outdoors!

 

[Farmfresh]

You are right about seasoning with the veg oil = gummy. Lard IS best, but I do seem to get by with the olive oil as well. Mostly I just try to keep it lightly coated all of the time with something.

Good idea about the horse shoes!!

 

[JRmom]

I cook in cast iron almost exclusively. Anything you would cook on top of the stove (soups, stews, etc.) plus anything that you would bake in the oven (whole chicken, roasts, casseroles), can be cooked using a Dutch oven. I've even baked bread in mine.

 

[Boogity]

A way that I have found to be good for seasoning cast iron is what I call the layering method. I use this on new AND for re-seasoning old cast iron after a hard scrub.

I only use bacon drippings. Apply a light coat of bacon fat to the entire inside surface (I use a small paint brush for this and basting) and place into a pre-heated 350*F oven. At about 30 minutes check to see if the fat has started to turn brown. This is good. After a thorough browning of the first coat, re-apply more fat and brown it. I do this about three or four times. By browning I do not mean to allow it to flame or become black and crusty but allow it to go completely through the "golden" stage and into the very dark brown (almost black) stage.

I have found this type of seasoning produces an excellent non-stick cooking surface that lasts almost forever.

Cleaning of cast iron cookware for me is limited to:
1. Remove any crusty residue with fingernail or plastic scrubbie
2. Put about 1/2" of water in and heat over stove or fire
3. Just before a full boil remove from heat and allow to cool a little
4. Pour out water and wipe briskly with a terrycloth wash cloth or paper towel (never any soap)
5. Wipe a very light coat of bacon grease onto the clean surface
6. Store in a well ventilated space

Two of our cast iron pieces are over 80 years old and they are like new. One is a 11" round griddle that gets used all the time and one is a very large kettle. I'm pretty sure the kettle was a rendering pot. We use it for family gatherings and either make bean soup or venison, beef, pork, or chicken stew over an open fire. I'll bet that sucker holds 20 gallons and weighs 80 pounds. Heck, the lid probably weighs 30 pounds. Once it is put on the tripod over the fire that's where it stays for a looooong time. I remember one time we had a hunting club meeting at our place and we made venison stew. It completely filled the kettle and cooked for 11 hours. We had to use the loader bucket on the tractor to get it off the tripod. Obviously that kettle does not get used often.

 

[Farmfresh]

I found a kettle like that at a garage sale once. They wanted $50 that I did not have.

 

[Boogity]

I found a kettle like that at a garage sale once. They wanted $50 that I did not have.

Wow! $50 would have been a great deal. I've been offered $400 for ours. I think the fact that we have a lid for ours is a little unusual though.

 

[Farmfresh]

I know. That has been a long long time ago and I am still not quite over the sadness of missing that deal.

Heck little Dutch ovens usually cost more than that.

 

[savingdogs]

Well this one was only 25 dollars but it is small. Small but should work great for our family, there are only four of us here and my older son may not be here long, might soon be just three people I'm cooking for. I think you guys would have snapped up this little cooker too though.

 

[rhoda_bruce]

Oh now ya'll did it. Now I have to get something new. Well, we have frequent outdoor fires all year long, when we do a yard clean-up, so if I can contain the fires in a little pit, surrounded by bricks, I can sometimes park a dutch oven on top. I'm sure it would be fun.