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new to dutch oven

PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2015 11:01 am
by sheila0344
Hubby bought me an 8" dutch oven. I've never had one before. I now have a new hobby, watching dutch oven cooking videos over a campfire on you tube. :) I made BBQ ribs in it yesterday and they were yummy! :D

Re: new to dutch oven

PostPosted: Fri May 15, 2015 8:57 pm
by ae6black
It's addicting! I am parshal to that upside down pineapple cake that is posted on the cooking forum. In fact I've never made it or Bob's yellow cake sitting in apple pie filling inside the house. They are both awesome! Problem is, I've pigged out on both of them this past winter and have gained five pounds.

Art

Re: new to dutch oven

PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2015 5:35 pm
by Catherine+twins
When I started camping with my kids I bought a 6" and an 8" (that's 1-qt to the brim and 2-qt ttb). That was good for a main dish and a side (veggie or desert), with no left-overs. I hate having left-overs to deal with when camping. However, Dutch oven recipes seem to be mostly written for 10" or 12" ovens (4-qt and 6-qt) and feed an army. That's great for the pot-luck at a gathering, but too much for a couple or a single mom of young kids.

Here's a thead on the subject of cooking for two:

http://camp-cook.com/forum/viewtopic.ph ... sc&start=0

Also, I suggest practicing at home, before you leave on a camping trip. But if you cook for two at home, you should already have a feel for the amounts you both eat. But do think about how much you put in the fridge as left-overs every night. Do you want to do that camping? Think one-pot-meals, small casseroles, even recipes for the 2-qt slow cookers (there are cooking-for-two slow-cooker cook books on Amazon).

Biscuits-in-a-can cook nicely (small can). Either grease the bottom and sides of the DO well, or line with a cooking parchment paper liner (form over a container that is very close to but smaller than the interior of your DO, then trim the top edges so they don't stick out and catch fire). Cinnamon rolls really need the parchment liner, they stick! Bread stick dough and pizza dough also come in those cans, if you want to try yeast bread. Don't feel you have to use all of the can contents, experiment to see how much fits and how much you will eat. (Left-over bread is nearly always good with breakfast the next morning, though.) Again, I have always used the parchment liners with bread, but others cook it straight in the greased DO. Grease the inside of the lid, too, as sometimes your bread will bump the ceiling as it cooks. And don't feel it has to be convenience foods. I cook most things from scratch, including camp biscuits and no-knead oat bread.

Dump cake? Use a single-serve can of mixed fruit or the fruit of your choice and half of the packaged cake mix. Cut the other ingredients in half. Oh, and I can't say this enough, parchment paper liners for sticky stuff!

There's no using a liner for this one, though. We love, love, love making a quick sticky sauce in the small DO (1 C sugar over coals until it melts and just starts to color, a splash of boiling water to make a syrup about ¼-½ inch deep, then drop biscuits into the syrup to just cover the bottom of the DO, cover and set over coals, coals on top, cook until biscuits are golden. Share this one with coffee and friends.

Hope that helps. :D

Catherine

p.s. My kids are 13 now, DS eats about 3000 calories a day, DD is not far behind, so I now have the 10' DO too. :lol:

Re: new to dutch oven

PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2015 7:54 pm
by sheila0344
I made BBQ ribs in it the other day after I built a fire pit, they were yummy!! Where is the recipe for the dump cake?

Re: new to dutch oven

PostPosted: Sat May 16, 2015 11:25 pm
by Catherine+twins
I'm not sure if I've ever seen an official recipe, but it is easy. Check out this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbESu7D ... 42BB87BB14

Also, check the recipes section (watch for more of these videos) and the cookbook section. There are lots of ideas!

Catherine

Re: new to dutch oven

PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2015 7:23 am
by bobhenry
Here is Christine making her very first dump cake at the 2013 CRA. Cherry / red velvet if you want to know !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5O38LR0KeBQ

Re: new to dutch oven

PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2015 8:33 am
by bobhenry
I posted this earlier it bears repeating.......

While wandering thru Dollar General I found Cathy Mitchell's dump cake recipe book. It is a well written cook book with some very interesting recipes!

If you see one at the store take a minute and thumb thru it. At just $10.00 I bet you will purchase it as a great reference book for your cast iron cooking.

Image

Re: new to dutch oven

PostPosted: Mon May 18, 2015 1:55 pm
by The Teardrop Nanny
8) Click on the OCIC link below to view our cooking channel which features cooking in cast iron. There are over 100 + recipes that show you how to cook, and the recipes are also available.
Joanie
The Teardrop Nanny 8)

Re: new to dutch oven

PostPosted: Tue May 19, 2015 2:39 am
by Vedette
We got hooked too! :oops:
Now we have 8" 10" 12" 14" DO"s and #12 & #14 Griswold frying pans.
Guess we must be big eaters??? As we only use the 8" to make rice or small desserts to go with main courses made in the 12" or14". The 10" is our travelling DO for when we are alone for supper on the road.
Welcome to the world of DO cooking!
And be sure to try as many of Dean & Joanie's recipes as you can.
Good Roads
Brian & Sandi

Re: new to dutch oven

PostPosted: Tue May 19, 2015 9:34 am
by Mike B
I don't know how much you have looked at here, but we publish a cookbook of camping recipes. Look at the thread viewtopic.php?f=51&t=44133

There is an associated web site that many of us here also frequent. It's called http://camp-cook.com/. There is also a cookbook there, which contains over 1,200 recipes for all styles of camp cooking, including the Dutch oven.

Welcome to the wonderful world of cast iron cooking....