Dutch Oven / Campfire Cooking

[heavyhitterokra]

Somehow, we struck up a pretty good conversation over on the Flossie Powell Pole Lima thread, about outdoor cooking and Dutch Ovens.  It sounded like a pretty good subject to start a thread on, so I came over here to Other Homesteading Type Topics to get one going.

When we were kids, back in the mid-sixties, all the old-timers used Dutch Ovens at the family get-togethers. My grandma was an ace at it. She would always have a great big Dutch oven full of fried potatoes and onions going on the campfire anytime we were out like that. (She had 12 kids of her own, plus my uncle Milford), so she had basically grown up cooking for an army. One 4th of July, they set the Dutch Oven full of potatoes off of the coals over to one side of the campfire to let it cool down while they called up everyone for dinner. My poor ol' cousin Scott was still just a little fella back then and came running up from the lake in his sopping wet bathing suit to grab a plate full of food before everyone else got there. (He was probably 4 or 5 years old at the time). When he got his plate from his mama, he turned around and sat down right on top of the hot Dutch Oven!

Thank goodness he was still wearing a wet bathing suit! But the rim of the hot cast iron lid still blistered the back of his little thighs, just below the cloth of his cut-offs, so when he jumped up and ran around camp, crying his eyes out, he had a big, red, smiley face the size of a Dutch Oven lid branded on his backside.

Poor 'Skeeter' great memories for the rest of us kids, but not so good for him ... Though that was over 50-years ago, we still talk and laugh about it at family reunions to this day.

Hopefully, someone will add to this thread, as it is an interesting subject, and one that not many people do often enough nowadays. 

I'll start off the discussion by re-posting a Dutch Oven Cornbread baking video below:


 

[hmoosek]

Bon,
Those are called “Bean Hole” beans.

[hmoosek]

Dean & Jonie have a bunch of Dutch oven recipes. Super nice couple too. I think Dean got the recipe from a fellow in Arkansas. It’s a full meal deal!

[hmoosek]

I think everyone knows the simple cobbler recipes, but they bear repeating. I was taught this one by a young lady in the Dutch Oven Society many years ago.



Rootbeer Cobbler

1 box spice cakemix
2 cans apple pie filling (16oz)
1 can Rootbeer (12oz)
Stick of butter

In a 12” Dutch oven, spread 2 tablespoons of butter on bottom. Pour apple pie filling into the Dutch oven, and sprinkle the cake mix evenly over the top. With end of fork or spoon, make a swirl in cake mix and then pour in a can of Root beer. Cut up rest of butter over the top. Cover with lid. Put 8-10 charcoal briquettes on bottom, 16-18 on top. Cook for 50 minutes to 1 hour, or to a golden brown.

[heavyhitterokra]

I haven't used briquettes in decades. Ever since we moved here, we've just made our own charcoal by burning down oak and hickory firewood. I'd like to try that rootbeer cobbler recipe, but I'd just have to take my best guess at the coals I used.


The 'pigs in a cornfield' recipe looked really good!  If it wasn't raining today, I think I would have given that one a try.  Thanks, for sharing those recipes.

[macmex]

This is such a good topic! I need to experiment, sometime, with cooking with my Dutch oven using coals. I've only used it on the stove top, in the oven and on top of our wood stove.




This is the only photo I could come up with, that I have of it. I'm very fond of this Dutch oven. I've had it for about 45 years. When I was 17 and just received my drivers license, I got up real early one Saturday, borrowed my dad's old VW bug and drove about 20 miles to a very large outdoor flea market. I only had $5 in my pocket but the novelty of being able to go on my own was so very strong, that I went. I didn't even have in mind what I wanted to purchase. I parked outside the flea market just as it was getting light and started walking into it, passing a few scattered tables as I entered. Suddenly, I came upon a fellow with a table full of old stuff, old tools, etc., and right in the middle of it was an old Dutch Oven. Now, keep in mind, in the 70s cast iron was not very popular, especially out on the East Coast. Everyone was into Teflon. But having grown up reading Field and Stream and Outdoor Life, I was familiar with cast iron and knew of Dutch ovens. 

As I stopped at the table I thought, "No way can I afford that Dutch oven. I sure wish I had brought some more money with me!" That's what I thought. What I said to the fellow was, "How much do you want for the Dutch oven?" Apparently he was really hungry for a sale. He practically jumped me, saying, "Five dollars! Take it or leave it!" 

Trying hard to contain my excitement, I slipped my hand into my pocket and pulled out the only bill I had on me, $5. I handed it to the fellow who practically snatched it from my hand, as if afraid I'd change my mind. I picked up the Dutch oven and turned around, heading back to the car. I was finished. Success had been achieved. I went home triumphant! 


I cured that Dutch oven and, eventually took it with me when Jerreth and I were married and started our own home. We've carried it with us through every move over these 40 years we've been married.


My Dutch oven doesn't have the concave lid like shown in the cowboy video. The lid is rounded. It's a Griswald, which is a good old brand. We've used it for many stews, corn bread and even for baking sourdough bread. 

[hmoosek]

The couple above Dean & Jonie do a lot of traveling in a teardrop trailer. Up until a couple of years ago they used to hold yearly get togethers. They have some excellent recipes. Dean has a video about taking pork belly, smoking it and making bacon. He also has one called Chili Verde Burritos. Oh my! It Is good!

[hmoosek]

Here it is

[hmoosek]

Bon,

I never tried freezing, but you probably could.

[hmoosek]

I love cooking indoors & outdoors. I have more twig, Esbit and alcohol stoves than you can shake a stick at!

Here I am frying bacon in a small cast iron skillet using an Esbit stove with hand sanitizer for fuel.

[macmex]

Yes! I need to investigate cooking with hand sanitizer! I was beginning to think we're supposed to wear small bottles of the stuff, around our necks, by lanyards... to ward off vampires.

Bon, when you all build that rocket stove be sure to post photos. We built one once, using cinder blocks. It was just okay. The idea of efficiently using brush and twigs for cooking is very intriguing.

 

[hmoosek]

George,
I use alcohol/hand sanitizer quite a bit. I have a twig stove that I made from a utensil holder from Walmart. I’ll see if I can get some pictures up.

[hmoosek]

This is my home made twig stove made from a can of sweet potatoes. I’ll look through my pictures and try to post them for y’all. I use this all the time. I like sitting by the fire especially on winter evenings.

[hmoosek]

This is a little Esbit stove. I piddle with these things pretty much all the time. Here I’m baking a muffin.

[hmoosek]

Here I’m frying sardines