Do you use a dutch oven to cook meals while camping or rving? If not, you’re missing out on some easy and tasty grub!

What is a dutch oven? It’s a thick cast iron pot with a flat lid. Some have three short legs on the bottom of the pot and others don’t. My favorite is one by Lodge Logic. It has a flat bottom and a handle that allows a person to pick it up with one hand. Also, indespensable to me is a lid stand that holds the lid while I’m checking on what’s inside, adding ingredients, or just stirring it. The gets heavy in a hurry because it’s made of cast iron. The stand is a handy place to set the lid (versus the ground or some other less than clean spot) and prevents dirt and other icky stuff from getting on the lid and into the food (see images below).

When you use a dutch oven you’re cooking with the same type of pot that was used in America’s frontier days. The pioneers used dutch ovens because they are versatile (roasting, baking, slow cooking, boiling) and are easy to clean and maintain.

Seasoning
The most important part of caring for a dutch oven is to keep it “seasoned.” Since most dutch ovens sold today, including the Lodge Logic one in the pictures above that I use, come pre-seasoned, it is not necessary to season it before using for the first time. But if you do have a dutch oven that needs to be seasoned or re-seasoned because it has developed rusty spots do the following:
Scrub in soapy water with a steel wool pad to remove any protective coating put on by the manufacturer or to remove any rust spots.
Rinse and dry thoroughly
Rub the entire pot and lid (both inside and out) with vegetable oil.
Put in a 350 degree oven for 1 hour, rubbing the inside of the pot every 15 minutes with more vegetable oil.
This process only needs to be done one time, unless rust spots form or foods starts to stick a lot when using it. If that happens, repeat the seasoning process.

Cleaning A Dutch Oven
Some people say to never use soapy water on a dutch oven that has been seasoned, but my Mom has done it for 50 years and she has the best looking cast iron pots of anyone I know and they make fantastic tasting food. I do the same thing she does.
Her secret is to never let the pan sit in soapy water and soak.
She first fills the pan with warm water to loosen any stuck on food particles.
Then she puts it in soapy water just long enough to scrub it clean.
She uses paper towels to dry it (otherwise she gets difficult to remove black spots on her white kitchen towels).
She then rubs the inside of the pot and lid with a little bit of vegetable oil that she’s put on a clean piece of paper toweling.
Then the cast iron pot is ready to go for the next time she needs it.

When cooking outdoors with a dutch oven there are a few different cooking methods that can be used other than using it on an indoor or outdoor cooktop.

Tripod method - Light a pile of charcoal briquettes or campfire wood under the tripod until they are red and glowing. Suspend the pot on the tripod. Raise or lower the tripod while cooking to control the temperature inside the pot, making sure to stoke the fire as needed.

Burying method - (make sure this is allowed where you are camping and cooking). Dig a pit about 2 feet deep and 18 inches in diameter. Put about 8 inches of hot coals in the pit. Put the dutch oven on top of the coals. Put more hot coals around and over the dutch oven. Cover loosely with dirt, but only a few inches and don’t pack the dirt down or it will smother the coals. This is great way to cook an all day stew.

In the Campfire Method - light briquettes or wood in the campfire, letting them get hot and glowing (no big flames). Put the dutch oven in the campfire, surrounding the sides and top with hot coals or wood. When we’re using wood, we nestle the dutch oven into the campfire and then use two smaller pieces of hot wood to put on the lid on either side of the handle.

What can you make in a dutch oven? Just about anything you want. To get you started, here’s a hearty bean dish.

Hearty Campfire Beans
Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef
2 cups chopped onions
1 cup chopped celery
1 can cream of tomato soup
1 six ounce can tomato paste
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard (brown is good too)
1 can (approx 16 ounces) green beans, drained
1 can lima beans, drained
1 can wax beans, drained
1 can chili beans, not drained (used the hot ones for nice little kick)
1, 28 ounce can pork and beans (any variety is fine but we like Bush’s original)

Directions
Brown the hamburger; drain. Add the chopped onion and celery. Cook until tender - about 5 minutes. Add the soup, tomato paste, and ketchup. Stir well. Add remaining ingredients, mixing well. Put the lid on the pot loosely (you can also cook uncovered but then you risk having bugs take a suicide dive bomb into your food) and cook for about 1 hour.

While cooking this dish, you want it to gently bubble and simmer. It it’s boiling too hard, raise the tripod if that’s what you’re using or take the wood or briquettes away from the side of the pot.

For other great dutch oven recipes and dutch oven cooking tips, check out this book, 101 Things To Do With A Dutch Oven.