Dutch Oven's

[firstpusk 10]

I will occassionally use a pan in my DO but never foil. I can't stand it when a bit of aluminum gets on the dental work. I never understood how that got started. When it comes to pizza or any else baked in a DO, reduce the coals on the bottom and increase them on the top. I did a little experimentation to get it right. But since I got it right, I haven't had a bad pizza. DO cleaup is so easy that I see NO advantage to using foil.

[Big_Dog 10]

I've never had a problem with foil. Maybe I don't stir quite as hard as you, fp. A little water between the foil and the DO and biscuits cook great. Foil, though is only for baking for me. And, you don't have to wash foil, you chunk it. Maybe that should be: Big_Lazy_Dog.

 

bd

[firstpusk 10]

Put simply, foil is never necessary to cook in a dutch oven. It can stick to the food you are cooking and is wasteful because you throw it away. The dutch oven bakes just fine without foil. You need to learn how to control the temperature under the oven.

[SR540Beaver 116]

I'm all for adding DO's, cast iron skillets and griddles to the boy's chuckboxes. However, teach them proper care and while it may not be preferable, have an adult keep an eye on them. Our troop uses them and we have had to take them and have them sandblasted and reseason them because the boys get lazy with cleaning and oiling them. A dutch oven left out on the table at night with gooey dessert remnants is not a pretty sight the next morning. Neither is one that gets run thru soapy water and bleach and left to air dry.

[firstpusk 10]

Proper care and use of the dutch oven is lesson one. We do our own cooking a summer camp. The dutch oven is the key to several of the meals. The older boys are retrained each year and they train the younger ones. A watchful adult is there to see that the cooking and cleanup are handled properly.

 

As I said before, you don't want to overheat the bottom of a DO. This is especially true when baking. DO cooking takes planning and patience. Those are two things we definitely want to instill in our scouts.