How to Bake in Cast Iron

Baking in cast iron harkens back to the chuck wagon days when hearty stews, corn bread and biscuits greeted tired, hungry ranchers coming in off the trail after herding livestock to market. Today, outdoor cooking enthusiasts have a renewed interest in cast iron baking with good reason.

Difficulty: Challenging

Instructions

1. Make sure you have well-seasoned cast iron cookware. Read the eHow article "How To Season Cast Iron Cookware" for more information.

2. Get a good cookbook, such as "The Beginner's Guide to Dutch Oven Cooking" by Marla Rawlings (if you plan to cook outdoors) or "The Cast Iron Skillet Cookbook: Recipes for the Best Pan in Your Kitchen" by Sharon Kramis and Julie Kramis-Hearne. These books include information on how to properly use cast iron cookware and also offer delicious recipes.

3. Prepare your ingredients according to the recipe of your choice.

4. Preheat a Dutch oven if you are baking outdoors by placing coals both under and on top of the Dutch oven. This serves the same purpose as preheating an oven before baking. If your recipe calls for it, grease your cast iron bakeware.

5. Place your prepared ingredients in your cast iron cookware, and bake according to the recipe directions. Baking in cast iron cookware, whether you do it in a stove top skillet or over a campfire using a Dutch oven, takes practice to perfect. Your first few baked goods may not be as moist as you like. Persevere. You will be rewarded with golden brown baked goodness after your first few tries.

Tips & Warnings

• If you are using a Dutch oven to bake over a campfire, try to resist the urge to lift the lid to check on your baking too often. This allows all the heat to escape and reeks havoc with the baking process much in the same way opening an oven during the baking cycle too often prolongs the baking process.
• If you plan to buy a Dutch oven new, make sure you get one with legs. Otherwise, you cannot use it to bake in. You need to be able to surround the Dutch oven contents (top and bottom) with coals to create the oven heat effect.

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