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Dutch Oven Cooking
Spaghetti
COOKING IN A DUTCH OVEN

You can cook anything in a Dutch Oven that you can cook at home in the oven or on the stove top! You really don't need special recipes for the Dutch Oven. All that you need to do is learn some basic procedures and how to control the heat. If done properly, you can place the food in the oven and enjoy yourself while your dinner cooks.

CONTROLLING HEAT
Use charcoal if you are just starting to cook in the Dutch Oven. If you are the cook, DON'T FORGET TO BUY CHARCOAL. For a hot Dutch Oven, place the number of hot coals underneath equal to the diameter of the oven. Place double that number on top. For a 12 inch oven, 12 underneath and 24 on top. This will give you a hot oven of about 400 degrees. To reduce your oven temperature, reduce the number of coals 1 bottom and 2 top for every 25 degrees. If it is very cold and/or windy you will need to add a few extra coals. Always preheat your oven before you add the food. Your coals should last about an hour. If your cooking time is more than an hour, or if the coals are burning fast because of the wind, you must have extra hot coals ready to keep the oven temperature consistent.

SPECIAL TECHNIQUES
BAKING - If you are using a baking pan, use an oven rack or some small metal items (washers) under the pan to allow a hot air space between the oven and the pan.
TOP BROWNING - If you need to brown something, concentrate the top coals in the center of the lid.
STACKING - If you are cooking in more than one oven, you can stack them. If you stack two 12 inch ovens, place 12 coals under the bottom oven, 12 coals on top of the bottom oven, and 24 coals on top of the top oven. You can stack several ovens. Remember that only the top oven gets the double coal amount on top. This technique saves coals. Place the items that you do not need to open during cooking on the bottom.
FRYING - You can turn the lid upside down and use it as a griddle for eggs, toasted cheese sandwiches, French toast, etc. Suspend the lid over the coals using rocks, logs, or a lid rack.

AN EASY RECIPE FOR BEGINNERS
Line a 12 inch Dutch Oven with foil. Preheat the oven with 10 coals on the bottom and 20 - 24 coals on the top. Pour in two 1lb. cans of peaches. Bring to a boil. Sprinkle one box of yellow cake mix over the peaches (ignore the instructions on the box!). Sprinkle 1/2 cup of sugar and one tablespoon of cinnamon on top. Press the mixture gently with a spoon to slightly moisten the ingredients. Cover and bake for 20 - 30 minutes. You can double this recipe in a 12 inch oven. REMEMBER - IF YOU CAN COOK IT ON TOP OF A STOVE OR IN AN OVEN, YOU CAN COOK IT IN A DUTCH OVEN!

Helpful Dutch oven hints!
by Jeff Currier

Question #1:
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! 

Oven     Briquettes    Briquettes
size       on top      on bottom
 8"        8 - 10       6 - 8
10"       10 - 12      8 - 10 
12"       12 - 14     10 - 12 
14"       14 - 16     12 - 14 
16"       16 - 18     14 - 16
Dutch Oven Enchilada Pie - Dick Hill Brown in Dutch oven ground beef, salt, onion. Drain off drippings. Add tomato soup, enchilada sauce and water. Simmer mixture 5 minutes. Spoon off into a medium bowl. Layer meat mixture, 3 tortillas and cheese. Repeat three times ending with cheese. Sprinkle with chopped green onions. Cook until cheese melts and tortillas soften about 7 to 10 minutes. Serve with sour cream.

Barbeque Pork over Rice - Mike Hendriksen

Brown the pork with bottom heat in a 12-inch Dutch oven. Add the onions and pepper and simmer for at least 30 minutes with heat mostly on the bottom. Add the BBQ sauce 15 minutes before serving over cooked rice. This one is a family favorite. There are never any leftovers! Serve with hot sourdough bread and vegetables.

Scoutmasters Best Meatloaf - Oscar Hendriksen

Combine ingredients to make a smooth consistency and place in a cold 10-inch Dutch oven. Cook with top and bottom heat for 1 to 1-1/2 hours, until done.
Variation: Add quartered potatoes and other small vegetables for a complete one-pot meal.
Variation: Top with sourdough biscuits or bread dough for the last 20 minutes of cooking time.

Old Fashioned Sourdough Cinnamon Rolls - Mike Hendriksen

Dough:

Filling: Mix ingredients for dough together and make a soft and slightly sticky dough, kneading for about 5 minutes. Let rest while you melt the butter and mix the cinnamon and sugar for the filling. Punch down dough and roll out to a rectangle about 30 inches by 12 inches. Spread the melted butter across the surface of the dough, distributing with a tablespoon over the surface evenly. Sprinkle the cinnamon and sugar mixture over the buttered surface. Roll up from the long side. Cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces. Place into a warm, well oiled 14-inch Dutch oven and let rise 30 minutes, or until about double in bulk. Bake with approximately 2/3 of the heat on top and 1/3 on the bottom for 20-25 minutes. Mix the topping while baking and drizzle the topping over the cinnamon rolls while still very hot. You will love these!

Dutch Oven Potatoes Au Gratin - Oscar Hendriksen

Cut up the un-peeled potatoes into finger-sized pieces. Load them into the Dutch oven alternately in layers with the onions and add salt and pepper to your liking on each layer. Fill the oven nearly to the top as it will cook down somewhat. Cook with top and bottom heat for about 1 hour, checking and stirring every 15 minutes or so to assure the potatoes do not stick to the bottom.

When the potatoes are cooked, add the can of condensed cream soup and stir in. Add 16 to 24 ounces of sour cream for a little tartness. Continue to cook slowly for a few more minutes. Goes very well with any other Dutch oven entree.

Parmesan herb rolls
12 inch Dutch oven
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Combine and set until bubbles

Add:

Beat until well blended. Set until batter bubbles.

Enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 5 minutes. Cover and allow to double in size. Form into 13 balls. Place in greased 12 inch Dutch oven. Allow to raise 10 minutes and bake using 8 coals under and 16 coals on lid. When lightly browned, brush rolls with 2 Tablespoons whipping cream and sprinkle with 1/4 cup parmesan (Reggiano) cheese. Bake until golden brown. Total baking time is about 20 minutes.

Yeast Bread 10" Dutch Oven

Yeast bread requires extra time for the rising and kneading of the dough. It may not always fit into a camping schedule, but if it does it can be very popular. Don’t hesitate to add or partially substitute rye or whole wheat flour to this recipe.
Mix flour 2-tsp. Sugar, ¼ tsp. ginger and salt, cut butter in with a fork. Activate yeast by putting it into ¼ cup mildly warm water (105 to 120 degrees), and adding 1 tsp. sugar. Add activated yeast to the flour mixture. Slowly add warm water while stirring until the flour mixture is just moist and it forms a kneadable dough. This may take practice, adding too much water requires a lot of flour to correct, it is easier to err on the side of too little water. I’ll often have a few tablespoons of flour that will not mix into the dough left over in the bottom of the mixing bowl.
Knead, about 5 minutes, until smooth and glassy. Cover and set dough near the fire to keep warm. Allow to rise for about thirty minutes. Knead again. Place the dough in a warm, oiled Dutch Oven. Allow to rise for another twenty minutes, then increase heat and bake for about 45 to 50 minutes.

Sally’s Dutch Oven Lasagna 12" Dutch Oven

Mix spaghetti sauce, water, spices, mushrooms, parsley, and olives together. Layer ingredients in Dutch Oven starting with sauce, uncooked lasagna, Mozzarella, and cottage cheese. Repeat layering, ending with sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake slowly, about 45 minutes, modest heat.
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All recipes compiled by Desi Ellis.

Revised: 15 Feb 01