Servings Per Dutch Oven

These are approximate as some people can eat more than others but they do serve as an aid:

Oven Size Persons Served

8" 1-2
10" 4-7
12" 12-14
12"deep 16-20
14" 16-20
14"deep 22-28
16” A whole durned ARMY
22” Don’t even ask!!

Seasoning Your Cast Iron Cookware

The best results I have had has been to wash the new cast iron in hot, soapy water twice until
you are sure the waxy coating is removed. Heat the piece for 5 minutes to make sure it is dry
of water. Melt some solid Crisco in a small pan and apply it to the warm iron with a clean, lint
free rag, or a good quality paper towel. Wipe off the excess on the edges. Excess oil will not
carbonize on the surface and will flake off. Place the Dutch Oven upside down in an outdoor
grill (if possible, to cut down on smoke in the house). Turn the lid upside down and stack it on
the legs of the Dutch Oven. Regulate the heat to 425 degrees and leave for 1 ½ hours. Turn off
the heat and allow the oven and lid to cool. Apply another coat of Crisco to the iron and repeat
the process. You should have a good hard, black finish at this stage. A third coat will enhance
the finish to a point that you can cook anything in the DO without concern.

Normal Maintenance of Cast Iron

- Scrape off all excess food.

- Simply wash in hot water, no need to use soap. Use a nylon scrubbie, plastic brush, natural

wheat bristles, bamboo brush, plastic scraper, or even a credit card to scrape off stubborn

food; avoid using any abrasive metals to scrub or else you can end up removing more of the

patina than you'd like. Other items that have been used are salt granules, sand, and crumpled

up foil in water but the items mentioned earlier are recommended first. Do not use an SOS

pad or steel wool!

- For baked or burnt on foods, soak hot water inside the cast iron vessel, then scrub. In cast

iron cookware, try boiling or heating water in the pot to loosen the food and then scrub off

(Plain hot water will clean up cast iron satisfactorily 95% of the time).
- Wipe dry immediately after washing. Do not let the cast iron air dry.

Baking Temperature Chart for Dutch Oven Cooking

Temperature 325 350 375 400 425 450

8 " 15 16 17 18 19 20
10/5 11/5 11/6 12/6 13/6 14/6
10 " 19 21 23 25 27 29
13/6 14/7 16/7 17/8 18/9 19/10
12 " 23 25 27 29 31 33
16/7 17/8 18/9 19/10 21/10 22/11
14 " 30 32 34 36 38 40
20/10 21/11 22/12 24/12 25/13 26/14

Recipes for Dutch Oven in recipe section.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/food-stor ... ch%20Oven/

Found an old dutch oven back in the corner of the shed while up the mtn yesterday. It's clean with a little rust dust. I'll have to cure it when the neighbor has a fire this week-end.

just went looking for a refresher on curing old cast iron and I guess it isn't recommended to put it in a fire. What do people here suggest I do?

after thought - Ting, I'm thinking your instructions above are for new cast iron?

Mtngal, Just heat it up , wash it out , DO NOT USE SOAP, heat it again , oil it (or crisco like above) wipe it down after it cools , heat again and oil when cooling ,. Do not store with lid on top , this can make the inside to go rancid.

MtnGal it does appear to be for brand new cast iron.

old or new ,ya re season them the same way

NOTICE;;;;

if ya find a cast iron pan/dutch oven that has a yellow or a silver gray tint to the inside of it DON'T COOK WITH IT

it was used for melting lead and the pan is not safe for cooking

Doc.

Ting- thanks for the great post. However, I don't get the chart. Can you please explain ?

While no expert, i have used a dutch oven in the past and have really enjoyed it. They work extremely well. You can find excellent recipes at most Boy Scout websites (http://www.scoutingthenet.com/Cooking/ or http://www.macscouter.com/Cooking/). I believe what the chart is


The first row of numbers is for a 8" oven, to achieve 325 degrees, you will need 10 charcoal on bottom and 5 on top. Not sure what the other niumber were. This is for cooking, baking it is different, the coals on top are more, if i remeber right it was like a 10" pan would use ten coals on top and 5 under.

I could be all wet also, but that would be my guess.