Carolynn Van Lydegraf's Dutch Oven Essentials

Selecting a Dutch Oven - The most common size is a 10" oven. For larger recipes a 12" oven is necessary, and for large hams or chickens a 12" deep is the best choice. Look for an oven with a tight fitting lid. In order to keep your meal moist while cooking, the seal between the lid and the oven is very important. To improve the seal on the oven you can wrap the lid with aluminum foil before you push it onto the oven.

Seasoning a Dutch Oven - Use soap, water and an SOS pad to clean off the factory coating. Heat the oven for at least 3o minutes at 400F to dry and finish burning off the factory coating. Oil the oven inside and out. Let it cool naturally. Each time you wash your oven with soap you should reseason it. After washing, heat the oven to 400F for 30 minutes. Rub with a small amount of oil. Let it cool. Wipe off any extra oil and store it with a paper towel inside to capture any moisture. A corner of the paper towel should hang out of the lid to allow air to flow.

Cleaning a Dutch Oven - If the meal you made can be wiped out cleanly, there is no reason to wash the oven. If it needs to be washed, try warm water and a plastic scraper first (Pampered Chef makes a great scraper). If you wash it with soap and water, remember to season it before using it again. If the oven has become rusty or has lost the season, start with an SOS pad and scrub it to the bare metal and begin again. There is no way to ruin a dutch oven if you can clean it down to the metal. If after storage the oven is gummy or the oil smells rancid, you can wash it with soap or heat it to 400F to remove the rancid oil, then re-season it. We season our ovens after each use.

Regulating temperature of the Oven - The easiest way to cook with your dutch oven is with charcoal briquettes. The number of coals you need for each oven is 2 times the oven size in inches for a 350F oven. Due to the shape of the oven and the heat flow you need to put more coals on the top than on the bottom. We use the +2/-2 rule. For a 10" oven you would start at least 20 coals. When they are ready, you would put 12 on top and 8 on the bottom. This will provide even heat at 350F throughout the oven. For a 12" or 12" deep, you use 14 on top and 10 on bottom. In order to increase the temperature of the oven you add one coal for every 25F. For long cooking times you will need to change the coals every hour to keep the oven at the correct temperature. Remove the old coals before you add the new ones.

Tools for Cooking with Dutch Ovens - The basic tools are something to move coals and something to lift the lid. This could be anything from a pair of pliers to a set of tongs and a lid lifter. It is useful to have a metal plate or stand to cook on in order to keep the oven level and provide a uniform heat loss. Shielding the coals from the wind is important since the wind will make the coals burn hotter for a shorter period of time. We have used a cookie sheet covered in aluminum foil to avoid cracking our cement patio. Other things to have handy are oil, paper towels, leather gloves, spatula, fork, tongs for food, charcoal chimney, newspapers, a whisk broom and something to set a lid on. These items are added as needed and will be a benefit as you use your dutch oven more frequently.