How to Clean a Dutch Oven After Cooking
A Dutch Oven is an old fashioned crock pot of a modern kitchen. If you use a Dutch Oven to prepare a meal, you should know how to clean a Dutch oven after cooking. The benefits of cooking in a Dutch Oven are that it can go from a hot burner on the stove or from inside the oven directly to the table. Proper Dutch oven cleaning guarantees the oven will prepare delicious hot meals for years the old fashioned way. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Dutch oven
- Mitts (heat resistant)
- Brush (wire)
- Spatula
- Gloves
- Oil (vegetable)
- Newspaper
Instructions
-
-
1
Scrape the inside walls of a dirty Dutch oven with a plastic spatula while the oven is still hot after cooking. Add some water to the empty Dutch oven, and place the lid on top. Let it steam for about 5 minutes.
-
2
Scrub inside the Dutch oven gently using a soft wire brush or a scrubby pad to clean a Dutch oven after cooking. Do not scrape inside the oven too hard or you may scratch your oven. Dump the water out.
-
-
3
Wipe inside a Dutch oven using newspaper until you have dried all the water, and the inside of the Dutch oven is clean-free of burnt-on, built-up, food. Repeat the cleaning process for hard-to-remove particles. Add more water and scrub lightly. Remove extra water, and wipe dry with newspaper.
-
4
Coat or 'season' the inside of a clean Dutch oven and lid with vegetable oil to keep the heavy cast iron Dutch oven from creating rust on its surface. A properly treated Dutch oven will remain clean and free of rust for as long as it is needed. Let the oven completely cool before putting it away.
-
5
Place crushed newspaper inside a treated Dutch oven after cleaning and curing. Place the lid on top of the oven, and use three wads of paper to prevent the lid from closing completely on top of the Dutch oven. Place the oven with newspaper inside and under the lid inside of a kitchen oven. Let the Dutch oven cool from the heated temperature to room temperature before removing all the newspaper and storing the Dutch oven in a cool, dark place until you want to cook with it again.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
Remember to clean and season your Dutch oven each time you use it to cook. Clean a Dutch oven when it is still hot so that the food particles are easier to break down and wash away with water and light scrubbing of a soft wire brush.
Never soak a Dutch oven in soapy dish water. Water prevents the heavy cast iron from accepting the oil 'curing' it needs to 'season' properly. Heated Dutch ovens can create severe burns on unprotected skin. Always wear heat resistant gloves to protect yourself from burning when you clean a Dutch oven after cooking.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit lid on a traditional japanese teapot image by koi88 from Fotolia.com
