Dutch Oven & Briquets

[VTer]

I cooked up my first meal in a dutch oven last night. Lots of fun and tasted great. I used briquets for heat and put the stated amount, 10 on the bottom, 14 on top. My problem is it took nearly twice as long as it said it would. I remember briquets being much bigger years ago when we used to use them all the time. As anyone else noticed this about the size and adjusted by putting more briquets? I was thinking about doubling up the amount next time.

[Bob Stager]

I have a 12" Lodge dutch oven and I like to use 9 on the bottom and 20 to 21 on the top. That works for most of what I cook. A friend has a Camp Chef oven and that seems to be a little to hot for his.  Bob

[robtattoo]

Obviously a lot depends on what you're cooking & who made your oven, but for a simple cobbler I use 15 under 25 over for 50 minutes to 1hr. The guy who gave me his receipe uses 10 under 15 over to get the same results. When I tried that combination, the cobbler was still 'sticky' after 2 hours!
Half the fun of Dutch Oven cooking is learning what your particular pot likes in the way of heat & timing.

[OkKeith]

Hey ya Greg,

Dutch ovens are a blast to cook with! Thought I might lay a few tips on ya that I have learned over the years from screwing stuff up. They might make your learning curve a little less bumpy.

The Lodge ovens are made a little thicker than the Camp Chef brand (I have both) so they take longer to heat up but stay at temperature longer. That needs to be thought about.

For a 350 degree oven, take the size of the Dutch and double it (10"=20, 12"=24, 16"=32), that's how many total coals to use. For all my 12" Lodge ovens I go "3 up and 3 down" putting 15 on the top and 9 on the bottom. My Camp Chef dutches I go 4-5 up or things burn on the thinner bottom.

The other thing to think about is that not all charcoal briquettes are the same. You don't really want to use the match light kind because they burn hot quick and then go out faster. It seems to me that the good ole' Kingsford brand are denser and last longer.

I use a charcoal chimmney to start my coals. Dump them in the top and stuff some newspaper in the bottom (squirt on a little cooking oil to speed things up) and in about 15 min. you are ready to go.

I learned from an old camp cook that pre-heating is the key to consistant results. He started his amount of coals and got them ready to go. He put them on his oven and then started another batch of coals. Once the others were ready he cleaned the small coals and ash off the oven, put his ingrediants in and put the new batch of coals on the oven to cook. This gets the oven up to temp then maintains the temp through-out cooking.

The hardest thing for me to do is DON'T OPEN THE LID FOR THE FIRST 3/4 OF THE COOKING TIME! I also have a hard time remembering to give the oven a 1/4 turn every 15 min. or so to make sure things don't burn over any hot spots.

Biscuts cooked in a Dutch can't be beat. As much as ANYTHING tastes better outside, it's even better from a Dutch oven.

Good luck with the cooking. Holler at me if you need any more info.

OkKeith

[VTer]

Thanks for all the info. I've got a 12" Wenzel deep DO that I won as a shoot prize. It seems pretty thick and I started my cooking time with it being cold. So maybe I'll have to get used to adding time for it to heat up. I made some pork spare ribs in it and they were awesome. Apparently my seasoning job was good because it cleaned right up with just a paper towel wipe.

[OkKeith]

Greg,

For a deep Dutch, you might add 2 or 3 coals to the top when warming and cooking. Be sure that you keep the majority of the coals around the rim of the lid. These not only heat the top but part of the sides as well.

I won a new Dutch last year myself. A 16” monster! Got it home and unwrapped it and couldn't figure out why the lid had legs sticking up on it. DUH! Lay out some coals and flip the lid over on them. VIOLA, a griddle for flap-jacks, pancakes or tortillas! Not sure of the brand name. I think it is some sort of Lewis and Clark commemorative. It takes a while to get it hot but it stays hot.

One of my favorite recipes can feed the whole camp breakfast. Here is what you need:

2.5 lbs breakfast sausage (I think it’s hard to beat the Blue and Gold brand myself)
Two cans of crescent rolls
10 eggs (the whole camp, remember?)
½ cup of milk
2 cups of your favorite shredded cheese (I like Pepper Jack)

Get one set of coals ready to go (36 for a 16”). When they are ready put ALL of them under your Dutch oven. Start another set. When a drop of water dances and evaporates in the bottom, put in the sausage and fry it until just brown. Turn over your lid and cover with a few layers of paper towel. Pull the browned sausage out and put it on the paper towels to drain a little. Sop or pour just about all of the grease out of the Dutch and check on the second set of coals, they should be ready by now. Pile up what is left from the first set, we will need them later. Lay out 12 for the bottom and have 20 ready for the top (this Dutch works best with 4 up and 4 down).

Pull the paper off the cans of rolls and whop ‘em to open them up. Cover the bottom of the oven with the squares of dough (don’t tear them into triangles). It’s ok for it to run up the sides a little but not more than half way. Next, scramble up all the eggs and the milk. Once it is all done up, dump the sausage back in and spread it all out, pour the eggs over the sausage.

Clap on the lid and get your coals arranged. It should take about 45 min to set the eggs and bake the bread. DON”T PEEK UNTIL 35 or so, minuets in. Once everything is about done, sprinkle the cheese on the top and load the lid with any of the coals left over from the first batch. This will help melt the cheese and finish the top. If you don’t have many coals left pull some out from under the bottom (it should be done anyway). Keep a watch, this won’t take long. When the cheese is melted, pull the Dutch off the heat, clean off the lid and set it aside still covered for about 5 min.

I like to put a little salsa on the side or some sour cream with some chives and garlic mixed in.

Enjoy.

OkKeith

[OkKeith]

TTT just in case Greg missed it earlier...

OkKeith

[VTer]

Thanks Keith, been busy over the weekend! I like your recipe. I'll give it a go when I have a few more simpler ones under my belt. I call them Ronco recipes, "set it and forget it"

BTW, a 16"er must make a ton of food. I'd have to rent some friends to eat that much.

[VTer]

I made some cornbread in my DO yesterday. Added 4 more to the bottom and 6 more to the top than the suggested amounts. Still off on the time. I'll add more next time. Still came out good though!

[Flinttim]

One thing to watch for when dutch oven cooking. If you set the briquets directly on the ground and then the oven over them the legs will sink into the ground a bit and can cut down the air to the briquets, slowing them down. Plus the coolness of the ground will hurt you. I made a neat dutch oven stand using an old disc blade (implement dealers will give you one) with 3 legs welded on. The charcoal goes on the disc blade stand and the oven sits on this . Heat is easy to control, cold ground won't bite you and the air can get around the charcoal.
 Also I do not start cooking until the charcoal is an even gray ash color. Count time from there. They cost more but I get best results from the Match Light charcoal. It seems to burn more even.

[Biggie Hoffman]

Hey Keith, when and where is this breakfast bonanza gonna happen next????

[Pa Griz]

I love to cook with the Dutch Ovens. I will be adding your breakfast to my book. One thing i did was get a few D.O. cookbooks I have a few different ovens but the one rule of thumb i like to use is every coal = 20deg. that seems to get me where i want to go but i still have trouble with that time thing. Also i use the match lite but i think I'll be getting a chimmney i'm hearing alot of good things about them.

Please list more recipes

Jeff

[Mike Vines]

Originally posted by Pa Griz:
Also i use the match lite but i think I'll be getting a chimmney i'm hearing alot of good things about them.

Please list more recipes

Jeff

I made my own from a metal coffee can.  I take the plastic wrap off the outside, remove the lid, and puncture enough holes in the sides to allow air into the center of the burning charcoal.  Remember the holes need to be located near the bottom to draw the air in and up.  I replace the can every spring with a new one.  It usually gets left out in the rain, accidentaly, and therefore starts to rust.  It's cheap and easy.  My two words to live by.

[Pa Griz]

Grapes
Thanks, for the info never thought about a coffee can (i don't drink coffee) but i will be getting one somewhere.

[VTer]

Just got done eating a venison stew that I cooked in my DO. Had about 28 briquets on the top and maybe 20 on the bottom. It was done in about an hour and no burning. So I think more is better for my DO. Mmm Mmm.

[stickbowhntr]

I think I'll have to get my DO out again - you guys making me hungry.