Troop 890
Dallas, Texas
Dutch Ovens
Troop 890 tries to get our scouts to use dutch ovens for all our car camping monthly campouts. We have an extensive collection of ovens for scout use. We also have a dutch oven cooking booth at the scout show where a number of the recipes below are demonstrated. In addition, usually one scout meeting a year is devoted to dutch oven cooking. Listed below by meal are "tried and true" dutch oven recipes the troop has used over the years. If you know of any great recipes not included here email the webmaster whose address is on the home page.
Breakfast Recipes Dinner Recipes Dessert Recipes
Cooking with Dutch Ovens
With an acknowledgement to Troop 237 of Orinda, California below is a list of worthwhile dutch oven cooking tips.
Dutch ovens are made of either cast iron or aluminum. Cast iron ovens need to be "seasoned" with cooking oil. Each time you use a cast iron oven, you must start by wiping the inside with cooking oil. Never wash a cast iron oven with soap, the "seasoning" will break down.
A few tools are essential for dutch oven cooking:
- Heavy duty gloves-wear these to keep from burning your hands
- Tongs- Lift the hot coals with these
- Dutch Oven Lid Lifter-Helps with taking off the lid. Duh.
- Charcoal Chimney- Start the charcoal with this.
- Aluminum foil- Put this on the ground and put the coas and dutch oven on top, keeps from leaving a mess onthe ground and accomplishes "leave no trace" camping.
- Matches
Starting the Charcoal
"Instant" charcoal briquettes are more expensive but worth it.
They take less time and are easier to get started. One 4-lb bag
fills a chimney with some left over. One chimney of briquettes is
sufficient for every menu item listed on this site. Put just one
sheet of loosely crumpled newspaper (more suffocates the fire) under
the chimney filled with briquettes, and light the newspaper. Be sure
the newspaper catches on fire. It takes about 15 minutes to heat the
briquettes. They are ready to use when the bricks on top are
starting to turn red. If you "cook" the briquettes for too long they
will burn out, leaving insufficient heat to finish the baking.
Cooking the Meal
While the coals are starting you should be preparing the meal
in the dutch oven. Before starting to cook, make sure the baking
area is flat and horizontal. Put down a sheet of foil to keep the
earth from getting scortched. Place five red hot coals in a circle
with a circumference just smaller than the bottom of the oven. Place
a sixth briquette in the center of the ring. Put the oven (with the
lid on) over the coals, well centered. Now place between 20 and 30
coals on the top of the oven, spread evenly.
During the Cooking
Be careful when you are pulling the lid off to check the
contents. Sometimes the lid is stuck. If you are pulling the lid too
hard the hot briquettes can fly off, burning you and the
surroundings. If the lid is stuck, try twisting it while pulling it
off, or prying it open with a knife. Be sure to use gloves and a lid
lifter when removing the lid. Two lifters are better - one to lift
the lid and one to steady it. When you take the lid off watch where
you put it. It's hot; so be sure its not somewhere a fellow scout
can step on it. Furthermore, don't put the lid on the ground; it
will pick up dirt and add an interesting natural flavor to your meal
when you put the lid back on.
Cleaning Up
As stated before, never wash cast iron ovens with soap; this
removes the oil seasoning that has built up over the years. Just
wipe the ovens out. If food is stuck inside, scrape it out with a
spatula and soak the oven in water.
There you have it, dutch oven cooking in a nutshell. For more
information on dutch oven cooking, check out the links to other
dutch oven sites on the "Links" page.