How to Cook With a Dutch Oven on a Campfire

Cooking with a Dutch oven over a campfire is a fun and gratifying skill that is well worth developing. Forget the boring old hot dogs and hamburgers. Leave the Coleman stove at home. With a nice campfire and a well-seasoned Dutch oven, you can eat meals fit for kings when you go camping.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Buy a Dutch oven. Dutch ovens range in size from 8 to 16 inches in diameter. A family of four can get by just fine with a 10 inch diameter Dutch oven, but a 12 inch diameter oven will give you more flexibility. If you will be cooking for large groups, bigger is better. Some Dutch ovens do not have legs. Make sure you purchase one with legs, or you won't be able to cook with it over a campfire.

2. Make sure your Dutch oven is properly seasoned. Some new Dutch ovens come pre-seasoned, but if you have a hand-me-down Dutch oven, or if you picked one up at a yard sale or bought a new one that isn't seasoned, you need to season it. For more information on seasoning or re-seasoning a Dutch oven, read eHow's article "How To Season Cast Iron Cookware."

3. Select the recipes you want to prepare on your camping trip, and make sure you pack all the necessary ingredients. You may want to consider doing some food prep, such as slicing and dicing vegetables, at home to save yourself some time while camping.

4. Build a campfire over which to cook with your Dutch oven. You don't need a raging inferno over which to cook. Build a campfire using small- to medium-size pieces of wood, and let it burn down to a nice bed of red hot coals. This can take as long as an hour, so plan ahead, or you won't be eating until bedtime. Keep a stick or two of firewood burning to replenish the coals.

5. Prepare the ingredients according to your recipe. Most Dutch oven recipes are one-pot style casseroles that are easy to throw together. If you need to brown meat before adding other ingredients, place some coals under the Dutch oven to preheat it in much the same way you would a pan on a stovetop.

6. Place coals under the Dutch oven per the recipe directions. Most recipes call for a set number of coals. This usually refers to Dutch oven cooking with charcoal. When cooking over a campfire, it can be difficult to get the precise number of coals called for. Keep an eye on your oven, checking the contents regularly. If you think the food is cooking too slowly, add a few coals. If the food is cooking too quickly, remove a few coals.

7. Cook your food until it is completely done per the directions in the recipe. As with home cooking, you don't want to risk food poisoning by eating undercooked foods.

Tips & Warnings

• Remember to pack a can opener if your recipes call for canned goods.
• Remember to keep your fire under control. If you build it up too much, smoke will blow into your eyes, and it will sting. Even with a well-controlled fire, this is a problem on occasion. Try to anticipate the direction of the wind, and stand away from it when cooking over a campfire with your Dutch oven.
• Cooking over a campfire requires special equipment that you probably already own. A thick pair of leather fireplace gloves will protect you from burns. A good set of BBQ tools will also make cooking over a campfire much easier.
• Pick an easy recipe or two the first time you try cooking in your Dutch oven over a campfire. Aside from simplifying your life while you're camping, it will boost your confidence.
• Once you've mastered how to cook simple recipes in a Dutch oven, you can try your hand at baking in a Dutch oven. Rolls, breads and even cakes can be baked in a Dutch oven over a campfire, but it requires a little more finesse.

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