RE: Dutch Ovens

[coogzilla]

This look ok?

http://www.amazon.com/Universal-PS193-P ... B000VTMV5C



I never used one before. Only used a frying pan for everything.
Would like to learn to make better food. :lol:

Coogs

(any and all comments are welcome, good or what you say)

 

[islandpiper]

coogs, buy this DO and welcome to the brotherhood. this looks like a good one. nothing like a DO for cooking damned near anything and doing it better. Bread, birds, red meat, soup, you name it. you can cook on a fire, over coals or in the oven inside. trust me, it is hard to screw anything up in a DO.

After Katrina we had no power so I used the trusty DO and we ate like kings. We watched the freezer and as things started to soften up we had meatloaf, cornish hens and stuffing, pineapple upside down cake and lots of other things. Since then I have used it at home and camping and made breads and more. No, this is not a backpacking tool unless you have a FREIGHT PACK. But, packed in the bottom of your boat it will make you a hero with the other travelers.

I got my big one from Camping World and my smaller one at Harbor Freight. Lodge Manufacturing also has a whole line of cast iron. The one you picked out looks great and a typical sort of price. shipping might hurt you.

Go for it. You'll never regret it. If you do, just box it up and send it to me.

Piper

 

[coogzilla]

Shipping is $8.00. Its 4QT's so they say. Thank's for the encouragement.
Funny thing is, I like to cook. Just not much good at it. (don't tell' but
the wife makes me cook all but lasagna and tortellini. Paison's don't
really make fried chicken, but if I do I get maybee 1 piece and
the rest dissapears) I'm keeping biskits&gravy a secret otherwise I
would mabee get all of one biskit if I was lucky. :lol:

Coogs

I got some old socks I could send you postage due

 

[oldsparkey]

Spend a little extra and get a lid lifter for the oven , this way you will save on the expense for all the burn ointment for your hands when taking the lid off. :roll:

http://tinyurl.com/6le76g

Chuck.

 

[bearridge]

Friend Coogs,

I drive past the ole factory where they make the Lodge Cast Iron at least 4 times a year. They sell blems, but I never stopped ta check 'em out. I git mitey tired of drivin' by the time I git there. $8 iz a heap a shippin'. IIRC, the Mister Sam Walton Store sells Lodge.

http://www.lodgemfg.com/

regards
bearridge

The future, according to some scientists, will be exactly like the past, only far more expensive. John Sladek

 

[Kayak Jack]

Coogs, go to www.local.com, enter your ZIP, and enter dutch oven. They will provide local dealers where you can drive (for maybe only $10 of gas) to save that $8 of freight.

I have a modified dutch oven. The lid is a flat griddle frying pan. It is called a "Combo Cooker" or a "4-Way Cooker". You can cook with either tho top or bottom, uncovered, or covered with either the large or shallow pan on the bottom, thus, 4 ways.

 

[coogzilla]

I looked at wallyworld here. All they have is toasters & microwaves
and that kinda stuff. Yep it would cost more even then $10 fer gas to
go to the next civilization to look. I looked at the lodge stuff first.
They want a ransom fer their pots!

Coogs

 

[bearridge]

The Lodge cast iron I seen at the Sam Walton Store wuz in the campin' section. I dont recall if it wuz jest skillets.

 

[oldsparkey]

Wally World has them down here , so do the ACE Hardware stores and most camping stores , they are not hard to find. Only trouble they are new , not used and well worn and seasoned like well used ones are.

I have the Lodge ones that were my Grandparents , then my Parents and now mine to use. They never wear out and only get better with the years unlike us. Like us they just get more seasoned but they get thinner and better unlike us. :lol:

Cast Iron only improves the more you use it and the future generations of your family.

The Dutch Ovens I have , have been all over these states from Yankee land ( the Grand folks and parents ) to down here and they still turn out a good meal. "O" the good stuff that has been cooked in them .... WOW.

Chuck.

 

[a Bald Cypress]

D O

Yo Coogs,

Don't know what things are lke where you live. Down here in Northern LA. as opposed to the Southern [Lafffey -ette , Batton Rouge, New Orleans]
area.

Whenever I want to look for cast iron cooking stuff, I just go to the nearest flea market. There is ,or seamingly so, always some there. We have one seller in the local market tat has 75 -100 different cast iron pots, skillets and ovens.

Might save ya a bit.

Just a thought.

 

[oldsparkey]

If you get a new one ... Pre seasoned ... season the sucker again. If you get a well used one , clean it with hot water and some steel wool or something to scrub it with ... NO SOAP .... That kills the usefulness of the cast iron.
It is the oil that has impregnated the iron when it was hot that makes it stick proof , remove that oil and you will have problems.

Best thing is some river sand and water , then rinse it out. Or just add water , get it boiling swish it and dump it if you are not on a river.

I like to rub mine down with some oil before I use it for cooking , olive or vegetable oil is OK , Bacon Grease is a lot better.... Adds more flavor to what ever is being cooked. But that is just me. :wink:

By the way.. I never have a problem taking my deep sided iron skillet or the oven on paddling trips , someone is always will to tote it for me in there boat since they know it will have a good meal for everyone with plenty to eat , or several meals for the trip. Besides that it makes some good ballast for them.

Chuck.
Dam ... Aren't you glad you asked a simple question. :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Kayak Jack]

Coogs,

Other camp cooks may differ on this, but I found the rough finished insides better than the machine ones. These pots are sand cast, and that leaves a rough, granular finish. That rough surface on the cooking surfaces will allow more seasoning to build and be used.

As I say, other camp cooks may differ. (They're wrong of they do, of course.)

 

[bearridge]

Re: D O

Whenever I want to look for cast iron cooking stuff, I just go to the nearest flea market.

Yep....they do. Same with pawn shops round here. Never been browsin' when I didnt see some cast iron.

 

[seedtick]

my experience has been that the new, cheaper stuff doesn't season well

we cook a lot with cast iron and have had most of it for 30+ years
got a roux skillet, a cornbread skillet, deep skillet and a couple of dutch ovens. When the kids moved out and started fending for themselves, they came back wanting "Momma's cast iron stuff" cause it cooked so much better. Life is tough they didn't get it.


anyway a couple of dollars more for something that'll last a lifetime ain't bad. If you're looking a flea markets - look for Griswold brand

and Chuck is right never use soap

 

[islandpiper]

OK, let's load up the big rifles........I ALWAYS USE SOAP......then wipe with an oiled paper towel and put them away. Nothing sticks, everything cooks right. i guess I had my mouth washed out with the stuff a few times as a lil pardner and don't mind it washing my cookware either.

The item you suggested early today and about a hundred posts ago looked really nice. I like the feet on the lid......so it can be used as a skillet really easy.

A proper lid lifter can be made of a length of 3/8 steel from the store real fast......just a hook on the end, and whatever you want to use for a handle, maybe even turn an eye in the back end so you can tie it to something and not lose it.

I like cooking in the lid of my small DO, and then for some things, putting the pot on like a big dome shaped lid. it saves reaching down into the pot when you make camp pizzas and stuff.

Seedtick told you he had his cast iron about 30 years......what he didn't tell you is that he was already 47 when he got it......he gets around good for a guy half Jack's age though.

piper (ducking)

 

[coogzilla]

The legs on the lid is why I ordered that one! I'll make the lid
lifter like I make a lot of stuff. 1/4'" or 3/8" round steel bent the way
I want. Can even make one without all those legs and gadjets that
has no moving parts, and will work as a back scratcher.

Coogs

 

[coogzilla]

Scroll down the page
http://www.asianexports.cn/products/cauldron.htm
to the last one.

Coogs

 

[islandpiper]

coogs, i was looking in my freezer and there sat a lone Cornish Hen. She asked if there was someplace warmer she could sit, so I oblliged her.

She sat there, seasoned with some nice roastling spices, cushioned on a layer of stuffing mix, for just over an hour, and this is what I found:

This is real easy in a DO.

I'm saving the leftovers for Jarvis.

Piper

 

[Wannabe]

Piper,
You keep feeding Jarvis like that you'r gonna spoil him.
Bob

 

[Kayak Jack]

Given only ONE pot with which to cook - my choice will always be a cast iron dutch oven. (Unless backpacking, which I no longer do.) Now, some guys like the ones with legs and a rim around the top. I prefer no legs (so I can cook on the stove OR on a fire) and no rim around the lid (so I can cook on the stove OR on a fire.) But, we will all agree on the inside design and material.