Author Topic: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking  (Read 7075 times)

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Offline Dee

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #60 on: August 11, 2010, 03:59:55 PM »
I don't care about your cookin. I'm was just gonna take a three week vacation and needed a place to stay. ;D
You may all go to hell, I will go to Texas. Davy Crockett

Offline AtlLaw

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #61 on: August 11, 2010, 04:13:31 PM »
 :-\

Ya want a room upstairs or downstairs?

 ;D
Richard
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Offline Hodr

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #62 on: August 11, 2010, 04:36:40 PM »
Since I have had Rouen Bypass surgery I can no longer eat like I used to, however I can still cook like Mama taught me.  Start the day with jhonnycakes, my pork sausage, and eggs cooked on cast iron flat skillet.  Set the dutch oven over a flame and use bacon drippings to saute onions and then throw in xrib roast for dinner and cover it in water so it cooks slow.  Lunch is hamburger steaks stuffed with texas sweet onions and rolled in black pepper, cooked on my cast iron flat griddle,  along with a salad.  Check the dutch oven adding chunked carrots and potatoes, leave it simmering.  Dinner take out meat, make gravy around the vegetables slice meat and put back in.  Make drop biscuits,  Cut up a watermelon into 1" chunks, put in zip lock bag add whip cream and a 1/4 cup of orange juice, zip it up and chill.  Serve beef and vegetables in Dutch Oven, biscuits on sheet, fresh butter and honey, bowls for fruit.  
I like rebuilding a junk firearm better than shootin it, shootin it better than hunting, but the best is cooking for hungry people that enjoy midwest farm style cooking.  I get in some hunting when I go out with my brother in law, that's not why I go. I go because I get to cook.  Yeah I do dishes too

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Offline Dee

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #63 on: August 11, 2010, 04:38:38 PM »
:-\

Ya want a room upstairs or downstairs?

 ;D

Richard my bad knees are legendary. Down stairs with room service please. ;D
You may all go to hell, I will go to Texas. Davy Crockett

Offline Dee

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #64 on: August 11, 2010, 04:39:34 PM »
blindhari, what on earth is a johnnycake? And from where you live do you have a clear shot at Mexico?
You may all go to hell, I will go to Texas. Davy Crockett

Offline AtlLaw

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #65 on: August 11, 2010, 04:43:59 PM »
what on earth is a johnnycake?

Thanks Dan, I been wanting to ask the same question...  :-\
Richard
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Offline teddy12b

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #66 on: August 11, 2010, 05:43:40 PM »
Well guys, my little project turned out really well.  I was suprised at how well the skillet cleaned up.  Looks almost like new now.  I seasoned the new DO at the same time just to have it ready.  My wife is excited about trying it out to say the least.  We're going camping for two nights and she packed a storage tub with food and ingredients.  I'd better do some serious hiking this weekend to walk off the food she thinks she's gonna make with the DO.

Add me to the list of guys who don't know what a johnycake is.  I'm happy to learn though.

Offline Winter Hawk

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #67 on: August 11, 2010, 05:55:40 PM »
I believe that johnnycake is like a pancake (hotcake) made with cornmeal instead of wheat flour.  Google it and see what comes up!

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Offline squirrellluck

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #68 on: August 11, 2010, 06:13:04 PM »
yep! cornmeal pancakes. Mix up your cornmeal batter and fry like pancakes. Fresh cow salve and black strap molasses Whooo some kinda good!!

Offline Hodr

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #69 on: August 11, 2010, 06:44:09 PM »
Jhonny cake is a thick pancake made with corn meal, not quite cornbread but close to same taste.  My folks were Irish on Mom's side and Scots/English on Dad's and lived in Missouri.  I had ancestors that rode with Quantrel and others that were Copperheads.  Corn cakes were a staple of both sides, easy to make and sometimes the only edible thing around.  When you have nothing else it is possible to dribble cornmeal paste onto a gun barrel heated over a fire and have it cook. 
Best cooking I ever did was one day for a troop of scouts and thier parents.  Racks of pork ribs wrapped in tin foil cooked in coals, beans in dutch ovens, cole slaw, bannock loaves on oven lids, whole milk, butter and honey.  They ate so much that when I said dessert not one person came over.  This was in support of an Eagle Scout after close to sixteen hours of work from a total of more than fourty people. 
The Eagle was our son, his project 12 years old is still going strong.

blindhari
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Offline Hodr

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #70 on: August 11, 2010, 06:48:27 PM »
Sorry forgot to add; can't see Mexico from here.  We live 5000' up in high desert area in middle of Arizona.  Place is named Prescott Valley and has about 9 legitimat gun stores within 20 miles, J&G and Davidsons are probably the best known

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Offline AtlLaw

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #71 on: August 12, 2010, 02:47:46 AM »
Jhonny cake is a thick pancake made with corn meal,

Uh, a flat Hushpuppy?   ???

Quote
Racks of pork ribs wrapped in tin foil cooked in coals, beans in dutch ovens, cole slaw, bannock loaves on oven lids, whole milk, butter and honey.

I bet every one of those attending will remember that all their lives!  You do good!   ;D
Richard
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Offline jlchucker

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #72 on: August 12, 2010, 04:29:15 AM »
I ended up ordering one on-line from Target I think it was.  Couldn't find what I wanted in any store except at Dick's, and they were outrageously priced.  Oh, the clincher for buying on-line was a free shipping special!   ;D

Atlaw, you need to check out Amazon.com for cast iron stuff.  They sell all kinds of it---and a lot of times the ones they sell (including Lodge) they pay the shipping.  When I got into it a few years ago (the outside DO's with feet) I looked on Amazon and ended up buying most of mine there.  Amazon still sends me notices of sales.  There's even people on there selling them used, but for those you pay the shipping.  Amazon's a good place to buy lid lifters, lid stands, and other accessories if you don't want to craft them yourself. 

Offline Dee

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #73 on: August 12, 2010, 07:18:29 AM »
A flat hushpuppy? Now that is funny I don't care who ya are. Good one Richard.
You may all go to hell, I will go to Texas. Davy Crockett

Offline streak

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #74 on: August 12, 2010, 10:15:22 AM »
blindhari,
Interesting that your anscestor line is exactly like mine only my dad`s side was Irish and my mother`s were Scot/ English!
My mother was a great cook and even wrote a cookbook and ended up printing two separate editions.All good "finger lickin" receipes.
Now when you start talking about johnny cakes, pork sausages, eggs for breakfast, you are talking about a good feed! I grew up in the south and my younger formative years were spent in the country on a farm.Nothing like fresh biscuits cooked in an iron skillet, raw honey from a freshly raided beehive, or blackstrap molasses,and eggs and sausages. Also had many bowls of Irish stew cooked in a DO. :) :)
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Offline Cornbelt

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #75 on: August 12, 2010, 05:21:54 PM »
Granny's Griswold is our sausage gravy skillet. She would be 113 if she was still kicking.
 So how old is the skillet?
Got a round griddle we use for pancakes at a neighbor's auction for 3 bucks. Had to use an angle grinder on it to clean it up, then a flap wheel to polish it. Don't know how we ever got along without it. Does a good job on steak and eggs, too.
 Speaking of johnnycake, ain't that about the same as cornpone, hoecake and corndodgers?
 

Offline kctibs

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #76 on: December 12, 2010, 02:18:34 AM »
My family bought a dutch oven couple of years ago and love it.  Almost everymeal comes out great there is a little learning curve on getting your temp just right.  We have been using CI skillets for years and like Dee we use olive oil to season.
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Offline AtlLaw

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #77 on: December 12, 2010, 05:22:52 AM »
Granny's Griswold is our sausage gravy skillet.

I own one Griswold and have it on display on my kitchen counter.   ;D  Did you ever look up Granny's skillet and see which model it is?

there is a little learning curve on getting your temp just right.

 ::)  How true...  :-[
Richard
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Offline Pat/Rick

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #78 on: December 20, 2010, 07:01:12 PM »
Easy CI cleanup, scrape the skillet or DO with wooden spatula, or wipe with paper towels to remove grease, (if ya don't save it), then  put about a quarter cup of table salt in the pan and scour with another paper towel until clean. It works!! and ya don't loose your seasoning. My BIL showed this to me a few years ago and I've been using it ever since.

Offline jamesrus

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #79 on: February 28, 2011, 04:44:00 PM »
I own one non stick skillet, 2 stainless steel pots with lids and everything else in cast iron. You just cant beat it with anything else. 2 dutch ovens, 2 pots, an 18 inch skillet, 16 inch, 12 inch, 10 inch and 6 inch.......2 corn bread makers ( you know that look like ears of corn) and a sandwich maker that is ast iron.

Jamesrus

Offline LanceR

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #80 on: April 04, 2011, 03:38:51 AM »
Great thread about a subject I enjoy.  I think I put on a pound and a half reading it all...

I firmly believe that with a camp style DO (with legs and a shallow domed lid that has a raised rim to hold coals) I can cook, with coals, anything that can be cooked in a kitchen.  I've even made souffles in them.

The Boy Scouts of America have a great booklet titled "Camp Cookery for Small Groups" that is worth getting a copy of from one of their service centers or their online store.

It has recipes based on eight people which makes them easy to adapt for other size groups.  It is primarily intended for cooking over a fire with the "camp oven" style of DO but will be a big help for cooking on a stove or in an oven.  It breaks down how to estimate portions, shopping etc but it really shines in describing how the food should look in the DO at certain stages of cooking so you can regulate the heat.  It has the best treatment of how to estimate and manage the heat that I've ever seen.  The recipes also discuss the amount of time to allot to do the prep etc so that everything comes out on tile.

Nancy and I raised six kids, five of them boys, and I was their scoutmaster and church youth group leader for years.  Both groups had very active outdoor programs and we did a lot of DO cooking.

The best way I know to learn temperature control when cooking over a fire is to use charcoal briquettes (as described int he booklet) to make biscuits and that will quickly translate to using coals and cooking more demanding things. 

With kids, especially, we didn't use the oven method to season DOs.  Just make a batch of donuts and you get a cooking lesson, season the DO and get some "chubby treats" to boot.

For camp cooking it's hard to beat a 12 or 14" camp style DO with a roasting rack, a pair of welding gloves and one of the funky dutch oven pliers that the BSA sells.  The pliers have a bent head that lets you pick up the lid without getting your hand right down in coals and one handle has a hook to pick up the whole oven by the bail.

The 12" size will let you get 9" pie pans or cake pans in and out and the rack keeps the oven clean and the pan off the bottom where you won't have as many burning issues.  The 14" DO lets you use 12" pans or bake a 12" pizza.  The rack and pans also let you cook more than one thing in a DO such as a batch of biscuits while your roast rests or bake a cake or pie while you eat dinner.

Lance

Offline sidewinder319

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #81 on: April 04, 2011, 04:15:49 AM »
Here in the Rocky Mtns. a big favorite is  chicken fried in a Dutch Oven.  Summer in the high pines with a cold brew and chicken
deep frying in cast iron.   :)

Offline Hit or Miss

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Re: The lost art of Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
« Reply #82 on: April 05, 2011, 05:50:16 PM »
We cooked up 3 DO's full of stuff for the youth group outing last Saturday.  Those boys can eat as fast as they burn ammo! ;D  Two ovens were full of beef, gravy and vege's and the third was dump cake topped with ice cream.
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