I do dutch oven cooking with briquettes in my back yard during summer months. When I first started, I bought a book called "Lovin' Dutch Ovens" by Joan S. Larsen. It's a loose-leaf binder style cookbook, with lots of advice on dutch oven use included. Most of the recipes tell you how many briquettes to use on top and bottom. The first thing I ever tried to do was a ham. I didn't believe the book when it came to how many coals to use top and bottom, so I used a few more. The only thing that happened was that the ham was done in about one hour instead of the 3 that I thought! It wasn't burnt anywhere either. I was trying it out on some friends of mine at a party in my back yard. A particularly hungry buddy looked inside the pot and decreed the ham was done, so we lugged it over to the table to carve up. My phone rang inside of the house, and I ran in to answer it. 10 minutes later I came back out and found nothing but a couple of scraps and a bone! My guests had scarfed up the whole ham, and told me it was good. You'll need one of those charcoal starting gizmos--Weber makes a good one that's sold in Home Depot and similar stores. I bought one of those metal tables, but a decent welder could make a better one at half the price. Just as good is a couple of cement pavers, with some cement blocks placed around on 3 sides for a windbreak. Charcoal doesn't get hot enough to crack those bigger cement pavers, and you can start with these for just a few bucks. Amazon.com has lots of books on cast-iron cooking, but the Larsen one is a good place to start.
