Dutch Oven Camping Cooking Tips

Dutch oven cooking is perfect for any kind of outdoor activity, especially if you have a crowd to feed. You can make absolutely anything in a dutch oven! Listed below are some tips for dutch oven campfire cooking. We also have some great tips for camping cooking without a dutch oven.

Cooking in a Dutch oven is easiest with charcoal rather than wood coals. Your coals should be all white with no flame.

Foods such as chili and stews cook well in a Dutch oven with heat from the bottom of the pot, just place the Dutch oven right on the coals.

Baking in a Dutch oven is an easy process. Put coals under the oven and more coals on top, this allows the heat to distribute evenly around the oven. You can manage the amount of heat produced by changing the amount of coals on the top and bottom. It's usually best to start with approximately 4-6 coals under the oven and 12-15 on top.

A Dutch oven is also handy as a frying pan. Flip the lid of the oven over and set it on the coals.

If you're in a hurry or short of coals cover the Dutch oven with aluminum foil to hold in heat.

To avoid hot spots which can cause food to burn, rotate your Dutch oven every 15 minutes.

Heat is the best way to clean your Dutch oven. Put about an inch of water in the pot and bring to a boil, scrape out the oven and rinse. Repeat this process until the oven is completely clean. Never use soap in a Dutch oven, you'll taste it for days, also completely dry the Dutch oven before storing it to prevent rust.