New to Us DO and a Couple of Questions

[Dusty82]

DW and I have recently (within the past 2 weeks) become DO converts. She's been cooking certain things with cast iron for quite a while, but only recently has she expanded her horizons. She's always made corn bread in a square cast iron skillet (dunno what brand - it has "MADE IN USA" and "10 1/4 SQUARE SKILLET" cast into the bottom of it) in our home oven, for example, and I really never thought it could get any better - well, I was wrong. Last week she decided to try her flat-bottomed, dome lidded DO to make cornbread in the oven, and all I can say is WOW! While she never dried out the cornbread in the skillet, the DO cornbread was SO much more moist and the bottom had just enough crunch to it that you didn't just bite into a mouthful of corn mush. It was fantastic!

She was so pumped by my enthusiasm over the cornbread, she tried raised biscuits Sunday night. Again, they were fantastic!

She has two flat-bottomed DOs that we've never taken camping because she thought they were the wrong kind for cooking with coals. She's cooked at home with them (slow roasted pork loin is our favorite so far) but she wanted a camp DO with legs and a flanged lid. Well, we fixed that problem Monday night.

I was visiting a local pawnshop as I sometimes do (just poking around the tools and such) when DW suddenly called out to me. I walked over and she was pointing to a Lodge 8qt, 12" DO with the flanged lid. Then I saw a $79 price tag on it. Holy cow!

I picked it up and took it over to the shop owner, who is kind of a buddy of mine, and said, "Can you make me a better deal on this DO?" He looked it up on the computer and said in a quiet voice, "Since it's you, I'll let you have it for $40." We jumped on it. Now I know we could have found something similar for a lot less money, but we had the cash on hand, had the DO in our hands, so we decided to go for it.

Turns out it's a Lewis & Clark Expedition commemorative that's no longer made by Lodge, and there are still a few new examples out there for around $70 - $80. Yep, he was trying to get full retail out of it. Oh well... Here are a few pics:






We know it needs a good scrubbing and seasoning. We'll get that done this weekend. We can't wait to try it out, and as soon as we get the weather for it, we're going to try it out in our backyard fire pit.

Well, since the DO bug has bitten us so hard, I've decided to make a DO table to take camping with us. Here's a link to a table I'd like to build:

http://www.camp-cook.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=194

I want to have a table I can put the DO and our Smokey Joe on, and still have room for our charcoal chimney. This example really fits the bill, but I’m not sure I want something that heavy. I’m thinking a table framed in 1-inch angle with X shaped bracing underneath made from the same angle, then covered in 16 gauge sheet metal as the table top would be a lot lighter.

I already have a set of those same legs in the garage just waiting for a project like this, so that’s a done deal. I have free access to all the 1-inch angle, 16 gauge sheet metal, and 1/4 inch round stock I want - I've been offered free 1/4 inch plate too, but I think that's just too durned heavy to carry/move around. Do any of you more experienced table owners/builders think 16 gauge sheet metal would be heavy enough to survive DO cooking long enough to make it worth while? Should I go with something a little heavier?

One modification I'm going to make to the design is that I'm going to add handles to the sides so that the entire table can be moved by two people if need be. I may also trim down that wind guard a bit - I'm not sure about that yet.

So, do you have any ideas on the materials for the table? DW is very experienced with cleaning and maintaining her current cast iron, but neither of us has any experience with cleaning up used items. We know not to use soap of any kind, and we already figure on having to reseason it when we’ve gotten it clean, so that’s already a given. Any tips or pointers for cleaning up the DO before we start on it this weekend?

Any help you experienced DO users can give us newbies would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

[bobhenry]

I used a little fold up projector stand for a couple of years. It had been tossed to the curb for the trash man. It was a tin little thing and I used a stainless steel pan with it that I found somewhere to contain the coals.

Most of your heat goes up and doesn't really affect the table. I might suggets one of those metal oil drain pans as a good idea. Since they are several inches deep they make a fair wind screen too. In fact your smokey joe junior makes a great wind screen and a great mini D.O.table for picnic table top cooking.

P.S. a grate off of a tossed out gas stove makes instant legs for any flat bottomed cast iron skillet or pot .


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My new set up .....


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My old buddy .....





A couple folks saw the plug in on the front and I explained tongue in cheek they were for night time illumination. When I was accused of it being a tall tale I would hunt up an extention cord and plug in a little lamp and flip the switch and there was light. They left shaking their head !

[bobhenry]

I am building a couple "low budget" models Using satelite dish reflectors for a Dutch oven demonstration.

One is the single round one and until now I was scratching my head about the leg delima. You gave me the answer. Nest it in the bowl of the smokey Joe Junior and use the grill for legs as a tabletop model.

The second one I already have figured out ! For the top it will be the bigger oval reflector dish and it will clip onto an aluminum walker as the legs. In fact a stainless steel commercial shelf or table top can be turned upsige down on the walker for a real fine self rimmed D.O. table.

Just a few dumb thoughts !

[Dusty82]

See now, your table is more of what I had in mind, BobHenry - with the fold up legs though. What is that table top made of? Is it plate steel or sheet steel? Either way, it's a great looking setup. I had never thought of using an old gas stove grate for a flat-bottomed DO stand - thanks for that!

I'd rather not use the Smokey Joe for the DO - I'd like to be able to use both at the same time on occasion.

I've found all kinds of solutions online - everything from plow disks to wheel rims to oil change pans. All of them have the same flaw - they're on the ground unless you set it up on some sort of stand. If I'm going to haul around a stand of some sort, I might as well make the table. That gives me a place to light the chimney, run the DO, and BBQ, and leaves a bit more cargo space open for other things.

I DO like the ideas though - please keep them coming!

[bobhenry]

See now, your table is more of what I had in mind, BobHenry - with the fold up legs though. What is that table top made of? Is it plate steel or sheet steel? Either way, it's a great looking setup. I had never thought of using an old gas stove grate for a flat-bottomed DO stand - thanks for that!

I'd rather not use the Smokey Joe for the DO - I'd like to be able to use both at the same time on occasion.

I've found all kinds of solutions online - everything from plow disks to wheel rims to oil change pans. All of them have the same flaw - they're on the ground unless you set it up on some sort of stand. If I'm going to haul around a stand of some sort, I might as well make the table. That gives me a place to light the chimney, run the DO, and BBQ, and leaves a bit more cargo space open for other things.

I DO like the ideas though - please keep them coming!

It is light sheet stock. This one is a Camp Chef model and the legs are removable they just slid into a sleve welded as part of the table. When the legs are removed it is only about 5" tall allowing you to use it as a table top unit on a picnic table.

Hit a good sporting goods store and take a look at one they are easily copied.

[Dusty82]

Yeah, I was thinking that with the legs folded up, our stand could be used on a picnic table as well. The whole thing shouldn't be 4 inches tall with the legs folded up, not counting the wind guard, of course. Thanks for the info! It looks like 16 gauge may be the way to go. I really don't want to lug around a 50-60lb tabletop by making it out of 3/16 - 1/4 inch plate.

We're going to Reno this weekend on some unrelated business. I'll try to talk DW into a trip to Cabellas or Sheels (or both) to take a look at what they have - should be a piece of cake since it has to do with the DO.

For the record, when I showed the friend who is helping me with the DO table and he saw the price of them, he suddenly saw dollar signs. He's thinking these DO tables would be a good way to make a few bucks via Craig's List on the side with his scrap. He's offered all of the material to make ours as a prototype. Now I don't know if he's really considering a side business in DO tables or not, but I learned long ago not to turn down an offer like this.

Thanks again for the info!

[SmilinJack]

I made my table out of a scrap piece of aluminum. I was concerned about the heat maybe warping the table, so I use 6 or 8 fire brick under the DO. Problem solved. My table is 4 feet long and it is still a little heavy. I wouldn't want to try carrying one of the same size made of steel...

[bobhenry]

Ceramic tiles will work well also ....



and they are pretty

[Dusty82]

Ceramic tiles will work well also ....



and they are pretty

DOH! Now that you mention it, I have several 12" X 12" slate tiles left over from the hearth pad for our pellet stove...