First cook in dutch oven, any suggestions????


 
R

Ryan Foote

TVWBB Member
Hi All,

Just got an ealry Xmas gift from my father. I told him I was looking at cast iron skillets (posted in another thread), and he bought me a dutch oven. I'm excited to try it out next weekend and was hoping to get some suggestions for my first cook. Any thoughts???

Thanks All!
 
Do not cook acidic foods like tomato sauce in cast iron. I like to pot roast a chuck roast until it falls apart. Season the roast with salt, pepper, and granulated garlic. Brown in the dutch oven. Remove and add a layer of sliced onions and garlic. Place roast back on the bed of onlions and cook until it falls apart. Great for sloppy roast beef sandwiches.
 
Ryan,

Welcome to the world of DO cooking. You (and your ancestors) should have many years of great food out of your DO. My DO belonged to my Great Great Grandmother and has been making fine food for over 100 years! I recently posted a DO resipe for Scalloped Potatoes which you may enjoy. Your DO is great for pot roast too. One of my favorite recipes is pretty simple and appears below. Please be sure to wash and properly season your DO before starting to cook in it...

Simple Pot Roast
1 3 lb pot roast
1/2 cup AP Flour
5 cloves garlic (peeled and slivered)
1 medium onion (sliced thin)
4 tbs vegetable oil
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup Worchestershire sauce
Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Preheat your oven to 350. Cut slits in the roast and slip the slivered garlic into the slits. Season the meat to taste and then dredge in the flour to coat on all sides. Put the DO on the stove top over medium high heat and add the vegetable oil. Once the oil is hot, add the pot roast and sear it on all sides (about two minutes on eaach side). Remove the roast and turn off the heat. Add the sliced onions to the bottom of the DO and return the roast to the pot. Add the wine and worchestershire sauce. Cover with the DO lid and place in the center of the hot oven. Cook for two to two and a half hours. Check for tenderness and cook longer if it is still a bit tough (it probably won't be). You can add chunked root veggies (carrot, potato, parsnip, turnip, etc) to the pot at about one hour if you'd like. Serve it au-jus or remove the roast and retun the DO to the stove top and thicken the jus to make a spendid gravy.

I hope you enjoy DO cooking as much as I do. If you are anything like me, you will rapidly prefer your CI cookware to anything else in the kitchen (or campsite)...

Regards,

John
 
Ryan,

It depends on the size of your dutch oven (DO). I am new to DO cooking and started with popcorn on the stovetop. The oil helps keep it nice and it is a simple way to make something great and in a controlled environment. I moved up to cornbread and biscuits using briquets for heat. Still haven't made an actual meal but I am just getting used to the temperatures and how to regulate.

Not to send you away from TVWBB but I found a ton of great CI info at the camp cook forums. You have to make fried chicken on the Weber using a CI skillet at some point as well! Good luck and keep posting!

Mike

http://www.camp-cook.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=9
 
With a WSM or kettle, I often like to smoke meat first, then stick it in the pot (I use a CI one in the kettle or WSM) with aromatics, vegetables, fruits, whatever, to finish cooking - braising at this point - back in the cooker. Here is one in which I seared the chuck in the CI pot first, on the stove, then smoked it directly on the grate, then returned it to the pot (with other ingredients) to finish braising in the smoker; here is one where I smoked the chuck first - no searing - then finished it in the pot (with other ingredients) in the smoker. And here is one, using pork butt, where the I smoked the butt first, then braised it (with other ingredients) after smoking. When I wrote this one I had used foil for the braising - I did not have a CI pot yet; since, I have done many similar recipes and used the pot in the cooker.
 
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