Treat your Dutch oven right!

W. Hilditch

Active member
Yea, your DO is great for soups, stews and chili but it wouldn’t mind a few hamburgers, steaks, pork chops, bacon or frying chicken or green tomatoes. Cooking other things in it will strengthen and build the seasoning so those slightly acidic foods won’t have a noticeable effect.

Just a grilled cheese sandwich, it’s up for that too. Use it.

Hilditch
 
Cookin' a mess of bacon

For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to live in the South you may not know how to cook a mess of bacon. Now, you do not lay it out like lines in a parking lot and you do not flatten it with a bacon press. You separate the strips into a pile, dump the pile into a preheated skillet or DO and stir to separate the pieces with a fork. Every minute or so you stir again until cooked.

Here we have 1/3 hickory smoked and 2/3 sugar cured just for CJ & Sharon. We didn't eat all this bacon for brunch today, so our Monday night leftovers will be a serious BLT or club sandwich on potato bread with FF.



Hilditch
 
I’m glad to hear that some relate. The important part is to know this is a MESS of bacon. It’s fun to cook a mess of bacon and it don’t get no better unless cooked outdoors. Can you smell it?

Hilditch
 
I occasionally make mountain man breakfast in mine. It starts with frying a pound of chopped bacon in the DO. It is delicious, but it will probable kill you.

Anyone interested in trying it, I got it from a youtube video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARKTRxaDc64

It shows it being done with coals. I have made it both with coals and in the oven. Turns out great either way.
 
Okay, Hilditch, you got me! [hunger pangs] :p My trusty DO needs some loving care, and I think a mess of bacon would be just the thing. Thanks for the suggestion! [Now, about something to eat....]
 
Yea, your DO is great for soups, stews and chili but it wouldn’t mind a few hamburgers, steaks, pork chops, bacon or frying chicken or green tomatoes. Cooking other things in it will strengthen and build the seasoning so those slightly acidic foods won’t have a noticeable effect.

Just a grilled cheese sandwich, it’s up for that too. Use it.

Hilditch
I just took a no knead bread loaf out of mine.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk
 
I had just did a no-knead bread in one a week ago. Pork chops with rice, potato, onions, and a canned soup a few days ago. Still recently new DO to me and learning as I go:D

Happy new year all,
 
...deep Famous Dave's cornbread in mine last night. :icon_thumbsup:

Great recommendation W. Hilditch ! :bow:

Charles
 
Can't wait to try a mess. Gets it all done without having to cook it in shifts. Thanks for sharing W. A great New Year's message.
 
I've started to do the "mess" of bacon technique myself but was wondering what is the best way to get the bacon "sludge" from the bottom of the pan after cooking? I'm using a pan that has one coat of baked on Crisco and was wanting to go the rest of the way with real cooking. Thanks
 
I always use my DO to cook Holiday meals, like the turkey or ham, depending on the Holiday. I need to try it out for a few burgers, never actually thought of doing that. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
Cookin' a mess of bacon

For those of you who haven’t had the opportunity to live in the South you may not know how to cook a mess of bacon. Now, you do not lay it out like lines in a parking lot and you do not flatten it with a bacon press. You separate the strips into a pile, dump the pile into a preheated skillet or DO and stir to separate the pieces with a fork. Every minute or so you stir again until cooked.
Taking W Hilditch's advice about treating your DO right, I let my son-in-law take the nearly acquired #6 Griswold DO for a test "drive" and cook a mess of bacon.

https://imgur.com/a/w9hz0

The bacon then went into a Brussels Sprouts dish prepared in my #9 "Erie". Think it is called Creamy Parmasean Brussels Sprouts. Unfortunately, no leftovers.

https://imgur.com/a/fe15m
 
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