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Steps for Best Using a Dutch Oven
Open fire cooking doesn’t mean you must do without baking or roasting. You might even find that your old favorites are greatly enhanced when cooked in a Dutch oven. When cooking over an open fire, use a Dutch oven with a lipped lid and three feet on the bottom.
STIR WITH A WOODEN SPOON
Metal ladles, spoons or spatulas shouldn’t be used on seasoned cast iron. Heavy duty wood or should be used in place of the metal utensils which will mar the seasoned coating.
FUEL FOR A COOKING FIRE
An hour before you wish to begin cooking, build a hot fire using hard wood. Stay away from using soft wood or retailed charcoal for your fuel. Soft, resinous woods (like pine) tend to burn cool and produce a lot of black soot. This is bad for your fireplace and it makes a mess on your cookery – and it’s not so great for the cook, either. I don’t use charcoal briquettes for my cook fire because of the chemical additives and binders used to manufacture the product. Learning how to build a hardwood fire will keep you from dealing with either of these difficulties. A bed of red hot coals is your goal. An oven mitt or heat resistant cloth can serve to protect your hands from the heat while a curved piece of iron can serve as your lid-lifter.
PRE-HEAT YOUR DUTCH OVEN
If needed, wipe the inside of your pot (including the lid) with a paper towel and olive oil. Place the covered Dutch oven near the fire to warm while you prepare the ingredients. This is pre-heating your Dutch oven just as you would a modern standard oven. The oil penetrates the iron as the pot is warmed, making the vessel ready to cook. Ash is kept out of the pot by the well-seated lid. If onions or peppers are part of the recipe, add them to the oven while it warms so that they may simmer and create a barrier between the rest of the food when it is added and the bottom of the pot.
PLACING FOOD INTO YOUR OVEN
Pre-measure and prepare the ingredients. Seasonings are important; don’t forget them. Move your heated Dutch oven a comfortable distance from your fire. Use a curved piece of metal to remove the hot lid.
Now add the remaining ingredients to the pot. This is the time when you would add any broth or water and grains, like rice. The vegetables should be added next. The meat rests on top of any vegetables, rice or potatoes so that it may flavor them as it cooks. Take care that the pot is not overfilled so that the food touches the underside of the lid. Baked deserts or breads should be added to the Dutch oven just as they would be added to a modern oven. Cover the pot with the lid.
SETTING THE OVEN IN THE COALS
Shovel a small pile of hot coals to the edge of the fire. I find that this makes things much more manageable than trying to place the Dutch oven into the fire. After placing the oven onto the pile, use your shovel to place more hot coals on top of the lid. Once you’ve evenly covered the lid with hot coals, and made sure there is a good bed beneath, shovel a bit of ash over the live coals. This is called banking your fire. By covering the coals, they are ‘banked’ or shielded from oxygen, allowing them to burn slowly and steadily.
Your cooking time should be similar to the time used in a modern kitchen oven or a little longer if your coals are cool. When finished, remove the live coals from the lid of your pot using a shovel. Use a fire-resistant brush to remove any remaining debris. Lift the pot by its handle, using a protective pad. Carefully lift the pot off of the hot coals and move it away from the heat. Lift the lid with a sturdy piece of curved metal and set it to the side. Check your food. If the food is ready, serve with a wooden spoon. If not, replace the lid, return the pot to the small bed of coals it sat on previously, replacing more coals onto the lid. After a few minutes, check the food.
If your first try results in a bit of burned crust, that’s fine. With practice you’ll learn how to avoid this. Any scorched surfaces will be ignored by those that have been inhaling the aroma of the fire-baked meal. Leftovers seldom remain. They are ready to eat!
CLEAN UP & STORAGE
After removing the food from your Dutch oven, wipe residue from the inside using a soft sided scrub pad, paper towel or wooden spoon. A well seasoned pot won’t require much more than a gentle wiping. Reheating your pot by sitting it next to the fire will help remove any stubborn bits of glued on food. Never put your Dutch oven through a dishwasher or immerse it in soapy water. Detergents and hot water soaks will strip your cast iron of its protective coating. Simply wipe the pan and recoat it with oil. When you are able to see your reflection in the bottom of the oven, you’ve gotten a nicely seasoned piece of cast iron. Seat the lid on the pot for storage.
WANT TO GAIN MORE SKILLS?
Learn about HARD CORE survival in the wilderness with the DVD training on PRIMITIVE WILDERNESS SKILLS, APPLIED. The Bulk Herb Store offers this DVD for sale in their online store, and it’s a great gift for the survival enthusiast. Also there is a new book called THE VISION by Debi Pearl which offers the reader loads of information on herbal remedies.
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