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Have not had a chance to use the Dutch Oven while camping so used it at home and made Apple Crisp. Should have paid more attention on how I did it because it was very good.

@Nighthiker It does not really go with your "Dutch Oven Apple Crisp", but as I write this I have a fresh pot of "Mexican Pinto Beans" now boiling..smells great!
(dried pinto beans-fresh ham hock-cut up white onion-red bell pepper-can of diced tomatoes-tomato sauce- lots of fresh garlic-fresh cilantro-sage-salt-pepper-flour tortillas)Ready in one hour !!

Dutch oven? Doesn't sound like anything somebody would voluntarily be subjected to

I learned how to use my DO by trying out recipes in the yard in Tucson. I think I will do that again sometime. I could bring it on my river trip, but I probably won't. It takes up a lot of room in the kitchen box, and people who bring them on river trips are usually pretty dedicated DO chefs.

Keeping with the spirit of things.
Tonight green chili pork....

Alston, are you cooking it outside, with charcoals on the lid and underneath? Otherwise, it's not really DO cooking. I use my DO on the stove in the house as well, but then it's just the bean pot.

chumley wrote:Dutch oven? Doesn't sound like anything somebody would voluntarily be subjected to

Right! Must take some skill and talent to get a dutch oven up to cooking temp...

@azbackpackr
Not tonight, one of us is working today...ahem..
As for camping though I'll debone chicken thighs and prep them or pork for cooking then freeze them.
So all I have to do is prepare the fire, greese the DO then throw in all the stuff.

I'm too sleepy to get whether or not HPP is kidding...

I learned some from watching some Scouters (Scout leaders), but mostly from reading a DO cookbook which will tell you exactly how many charcoals you need to put underneath the pot and on its lid, how long to leave it cooking, etc. I suppose there is a fine art to not burning bread, but other dishes were not too hard, I didn't think, as long as you follow the directions. The best thing we ever made, my son made the sauce, was a ham with cloves stuck in it and with a sauce of kiwi fruit, honey and lemon, not sure what else. It was at New Years and we were camped way out in the desert near Babo.

As for using it on a "fire" I have never seen that done with any success. You use manufactured charcoals, so that you can control the heat. You make your charcoal fire, maybe you are grilling steaks, and you take a specific number of those charcoals and put them on the ground separately, and set the pan on them. Then you put a specific number of charcoals on top of the lid. If you are not doing that, it's not really DO cooking. I suppose you could use natural coals from a wood fire, but then you would not have as good control over the heat. So therefore I think you would want to use a "fire" only after lot of practice, (and burning a lot of meals) whereas by using manufactured charcoals and following the directions in one of the DO cookbooks, you can pretty much control the heat by using a specific number of charcoals, top and bottom. True, it may not be what the cowboys did, but I'd recommend it for a beginner. The DO is an oven. You are not supposed to open it all the time and look in while you are baking something. It's not a cook pot in the sense that you open it up all the time and stir.

azbackpackr wrote:I'm too sleepy to get whether or not HPP is kidding...

You need to introduce yourself to urban dictionary. Then you'll know.

chumley wrote:

azbackpackr wrote:I'm too sleepy to get whether or not HPP is kidding...

You need to introduce yourself to urban dictionary. Then you'll know.

Haha! I did look!

chumley wrote:

azbackpackr wrote:I'm too sleepy to get whether or not HPP is kidding...

You need to introduce yourself to urban dictionary. Then you'll know.

I knew right away what you meant..bad bad bad bad.. ;)

My dad makes mean biscuits in the dutch oven right on fire...Heats the DO and then puts the dough in then lets it set then off and shoves coals out of the oven on top then lets set...hardly ever burns and comes out about 4 inches tall... yummmm.. One time we made a community apple dump cake ... someone said wouldn't that be good and rounded up enough apples and a couple of cake mixes from all the campers/tents/trailers camping one Easter... was the best one ever...

Dschur wrote:My dad makes mean biscuits in the dutch oven right on fire...Heats the DO and then puts the dough in then lets it set then off and shoves coals out of the oven on top then lets set...hardly ever burns and comes out about 4 inches tall... yummmm.. One time we made a community apple dump cake ... someone said wouldn't that be good and rounded up enough apples and a couple of cake mixes from all the campers/tents/trailers camping one Easter... was the best one ever...

I totally agree the trad way to do it is with a fire, but I'm just saying if you are just learning how to use it better to go with the charcoal. Different kinds of wood burns at different temperatures, etc., so is unpredictable.

hippiepunkpirate wrote:

chumley wrote:Dutch oven? Doesn't sound like anything somebody would voluntarily be subjected to

Right! Must take some skill and talent to get a dutch oven up to cooking temp...

Its all about creating the right mixture of gases. That, along with a bed sheet, and someone to share it with are all key.

As I said, though, with unpredictable results! ;)

Alston Neal wrote:Keeping with the spirit of things.
Tonight green chili pork....

This is my FAVORITE thing in the whole world!!! Especially when made with hatch chilies. YUM

It's the best after a day of hiking and coming back to camp to a ready dinner.
Dust it off, warm the tortillas and then...........uncovering it for the first time...

Alston Neal wrote:It's the best after a day of hiking and coming back to camp to a ready dinner.
Dust it off, warm the tortillas and then...........uncovering it for the first time...

So, you just leave it unattended while you go hiking? Sounds doable, but possibly dangerous, as far as the fire is concerned. Just wondering... Sounds delicious. I'm ready for American and Mexican foods right about now. Tico food is a bit bland, and they go for a lot of ketchup and mayonnaise on top of everything. Take a bowl of gallopinto (rice and beans) and a squirt package of mayo, which is how mayo is sold here. And squirt the mayo all over the rice and beans. That's a typical Tico snack. I want to stop talking about food now. It won't be long. Tacos Los Altos, Flagstaff, here I come! http://tacoslosaltos.com/ (I go to the east side location, corner of Fanning and Rt 66, next to Arby's and Jack in the Box.)

azbackpackr wrote:

Alston Neal wrote:It's the best after a day of hiking and coming back to camp to a ready dinner.
Dust it off, warm the tortillas and then...........uncovering it for the first time...

So, you just leave it unattended while you go hiking? Sounds doable, but possibly dangerous, as far as the fire is concerned. Just wondering...

Point well taken, but after a couple of nights camping with a fire, there is a deep bed of coals so there is no need for an open flame. Also I wouldn't do this in a pre monsoon AZ. We've done this at 9 to 10K feet in CO. where it's a total pumpkin just getting a fire started.
Leaving an unattended fire is not our norm.

BTW Liz, since SB 1070 is now before the Supreme Court, all Mexican food has been banned in AZ.......