Comments on: How to Cook in the Great Outdoors: A Primer on Dutch and Reflector Ovens

By: Lauren

Lauren — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 02:40:20 +0000

Hello Darren and/or anyone else who might now where to buy the reflector ovens pictured in this column.

Does anyone know where I could buy these? I have used them extensively and like them a lot. Cinnamon rolls have never tasted so good as they do coming fresh out of the reflector oven when your 15 days into a trip.

Also wondering if anyone knows how to effectively direct heat onto the top of what you are cooking. I always find that the bottom is burnt when the top is nicely done. Jury rigged a few things to help remedy the problem but it would be nice not to have to.

Thanks,
Lauren

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 29 Jan 2013 10:21:45 +0000

Num… num… num…
I love the idea of a reflector oven. Great for making things crispy. Thanks also for sharing your recipes. Can’t wait to try them out on my next camping trip.

By: Ted Larson

Ted Larson — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 19:15:50 +0000

I have been fortunate enough to have learned the art of cooking with a dutch oven when I was about 10 years old. I have made stews, chili and cobblers in my old dutch oven not to mention biscuts as well. Great article.

By: jeff

jeff — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 01:28:07 +0000

Don’t bother with the Dutch oven on a campout until you’ve used it in the kitchen for a while. Take any and all recipes you like and see how they work with a steady heat from the range and oven. If you can’t make something decent in the kitchen, you’re going to waste it while camping. Personally, I use a bean pot when camping; it is a high sided cast iron, or ceramic, sauce pan that holds about 2 1/2 quarts, which is just right for beans, stews, rice, and soups. Unless you have enough people to finish off the whole meal, you will have trouble saving it when using a Dutch oven and it is a hazard in bear country or if there are a lot of scavenging animals around. If you’re just starting out, I would suggest you go to a Dutch oven cookout, they have contests all over the country and you will learn more in an afternoon than you will from all the cook books and videos around. Besides you get to eat a lot for just a few dollars. Whatever you use, Dutch oven, bean pot, sauce pan, just be sure to use the same one in the kitchen that you use on the campout, and you will learn how to adjust to the different heat source, which is the key to cooking anyway.

By: Aaron Sun

Aaron Sun — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 05:18:42 +0000

For even greater dutch oven portability, it is possible to build one out of three pie tins, short bolts, and wingnuts, which is perfect for backpacking trips.

take two of the tins and drill three holes in a triangle formation (spaced a couple inches apart), then invert one of the drilled tins. Place bolts and wingnuts into these holes and screw them tight.

Take three file clips and attach the third pie tin to the bottom. (This is the one that holds the contents of what you cook).

The top part holds coals and you also heat from the bottom, just like a cast iron dutch oven.

By: Noel

Noel — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 20:04:01 +0000

I would not use sand to clean a Dutch oven, too abrasive. My suggestion would be kosher salt.

By: TriSec

TriSec — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 13:21:49 +0000

Any Boy Scout worth his salt can do all of this without trying. :-)

By: Darren

Darren — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 12:07:36 +0000

@David: My advise is to start with charcoal briquettes, but after a few trials switch to coals dug from your hardwood fire and scattered in top (and under) the oven. For that I use a short shovel (and my welding glove) because where there are hardwood coals, there’s a lot of heat. Determining how much heat the coals are throwing off is really an art. Hickory throws a lot more heat than softwoods, and if it’s breezy it’ll be even hotter. So just mess around with it.

As far as making charcoal: http://www.cardcow.com/54240/making-charcoal-at-jack-daniels-lynchburg-tennessee/ They’ve been at it for a long time.

@Rich: Interesting about the oil pans…when I do cooking demos I use those (with kitty litter) on picnic tables. I hadn’t thought about using them while camping, probably because I had no room in my pack. Those solar showers and my 12v TV I always carry leave little room for real gear. I guess I could use my satellite dish in place of the oil pan and kill two birds with one stone.

By: Micghael Ponzani

Micghael Ponzani — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 02:15:50 +0000

Lard orks well for seasoning cast iron, too. The nice thing about lard is you can rub it on and control the amojunt of coating the iron gets.

By: Rich

Rich — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 01:06:02 +0000

Anything that could be cooked in a home oven can be cooked in a dutch oven. My favorite adaptions include lasagna, cornish game hens on a bed of stuffing, or a full turkey cooked using two large dutch oven bases, one turn upside down on the other.

If one does not want to carry a 30 pound dutch oven when backpacking, an improvised dutch oven can be made with two deep metal pie pans using binder clips to hold them together when cooking.

Cooking with a dutch oven is much easier if you can cook with it on the table top. Use an metal oil drain pan, fill it with sand to within 1 inch (1.54 cm) of the top, you are now ready to cook as soon as you place a single layer of coals on the sand.

A few other tricks include flipping the lid over and using it as a griddle for cooking pancakes in the morning, and using the base as a wok,

Though no recipe adaptions for dutch ovens have yet to be posted on http://www.asimplehomecook.com keep checking both here, in these comments and on asimplehomecook.com as we will be posting some tasty recipe adaptions.