Cast Iron Dutch Oven Recipes..........

[Del]

Wanted to ask you guys & gals if you'd be willing to share one of your favorite Cast Iron Dutch Oven recipes!?!

Was helping my dad clean out his house last week, because he's preparing to sell it and retire somewhere closer to a golf course, when we uncovered a like new Cast Iron Dutch Oven!!  He said I was welcome to it, as long as I cooked a meal for us now & then when we get out for our annual hunting trip each year!

Any recipes or tips for cooking over a fire, in the coals, or in an oven would be greatly appreciated!  Del

[Johm D M]

First make sure the lid fits tight and it is level. If the lid doesnt fit well al the way around send it to a yard sale as you willl never be satisfied. I hope that it has legs and a lip on the lid. Season it by cleaning with soap and water then coating with cooking oil and bake it for a couple of hours at 225 degrees then let it sit overnight. I start almost everything I cook  with bacon and if I ever put tomato based sauces in it I would clean asap and reseason. Chicken is easy bacon and onions go in first over 2/3 the number in inches of the diameter= 12 " oven gets 8 briquettes. When the bacon is sizzling, put in the chicken and add 1 1/3 the number of briquettes to the top [12" gets 16 briquettes] bake for about 1 hr turning once or twice. Use the same time for a roast and about 10 minutes less for potatoes. We add cheese and pull the oven off of the coals while the meat finishes. You can stack ovens 2 12" on topof each other or a 10 on a 12. Gianni.

[tipiguy]

Cooking with a dutch oven outdoors is half cooking skill and half art.  I love cooking in dutch ovens on Boy Scouting Trips!!!!  This book is used by many BSA troops to teach the basics as well as some great recipes.  I HIGHLY recommend.  It is called Dutch Oven Cooking
by John G. Ragsdale

It is listed for only $5.95 at amazon.  

Lots of people can use a dutch oven essentially as a heavy metal pot.  This book helps you learn to use the complete dutch oven.  I really need to make a dump cake in mine...I can already taste it.

Lastly, it is kind of cool to know that the dutch oven was invented by an American.  Ben Franklin (what hasn't he invented) came up with the idea.  They were later named dutch ovens because of a saturation of them were imported from the "Dutch".

Good luck and great eats...

Tipiguy

If it works here is a link to the book on amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0884152227/qid=1053705234/sr=2-3/ref=sr_2_3/103-6298652-9000654

[maddmaxx]

When you bake in it, put the container you're baking in on 3 or 4 rocks inside the oven w/the lid on after that. Good for cornbread or biscuits.

[Robert]

put tufts of dryer lint in each compartment of an egg carton, then saturate with melted candle wax.  Break off one section at a time for charcoal starter.  You can buy one of these starters at the store, or just make one.  Basically they are a can with a few holes in the bottom and a false bottom about 3 inches up..you fill it with charcoal.....light your starter and place the can over the flame...it has a chimney effect and lights the charcoal very evenly without smelly charcoal fluid.