Camp Dutch ovens are great for cooking casseroles. In the picture is an egg casserole and biscuits I whipped up on a recent outdoor cookout.
a successful overnight kayaking adventure. I cook in a variety of ways when I am on overnight kayaking/camping trips, but the most enjoyment for me is cooking outdoors with Dutch ovens. Cast iron camp Dutch ovens have been around for a long time. They are so versatile. You can prepare breakfast,
lunch or dinner in these heavy pots. I think Lodge Manufacturing Co. is now the only U.S. company that makes “cast-iron” Dutch oven camp stoves. All Lodge’s products are top quality, and if you want to get into Dutch oven cooking, you can’t go wrong with a 12-inch Dutch oven stove
8 Lakeside Living & Logan Martin Homes - February 2014
made by the Tennessee company. Dutch ovens come in a variety of sizes but most commonly, recipes call for 12-inch ovens. I’ve got a 10-inch oven that I mostly use for baking my breads. I have an aluminum pan inside of that oven. It sits on top of a cast iron trivet to help prevent the bread from burning on the bottom during the baking process. This is a great way to bake biscuits, too. Camp Dutch ovens are a little different from the “kitchen” type Dutch ovens in that they have three short legs allowing the pot to sit perfectly over a bed of hot coals. I have both types of ovens and have used both on camping trips, but camp Dutch ovens are more practical for outdoor cooking. Lodge makes lid stands, which provides a place to set your Dutch oven lids while you stir your stew or soup, or check on your food. The lid stand allows a place to set your top down without getting dirt on it and in your food. The lid stands are also used to set skillets or pots over a bed of hot coals for cooking. I’ve used lid stands to cook breakfast with my camp Dutch oven lids. You just set your lid, inside up, on the lid stand and start cooking when the cast iron heats up. The inside of Dutch oven lids are inverted and perfect for frying bacon, sausage and cooking eggs, so you can see how versatile a camp Dutch oven stove can be. There is a company, GSI Outdoors, which also makes quality aluminum Dutch ovens, if weight is a concern. If not, it’s hard to beat cast iron for outdoor or indoor cooking in my opinion. There are some other advantages with an aluminum Dutch oven, especially if you are cooking something messy. More care is needed when cleaning a cast iron oven than with an aluminum made oven. Unlike aluminum Dutch ovens, you have to worry about rust with cast iron ovens,