Greetings From Idaho.

Charles_K

New member
I registered here this afternoon. Saw a reference to this site by Cast Iron Chaos so being interested in cast iron, thought I'd take a look. I've been a cast iron user since in the Boy Scouts long ago and have a fair number of c.i. pieces. Also do a lot of cooking at camp and on our patio with camp Dutch ovens. I have stuff from Griswold, Wagner, Lodge, and BSR. All cook very well.

Lots of really good information here.

C.K.
 
Welcome aboard Charles K.

We love eye candy. How about some pics of what you brought with you?

Jack
 
Charles K, Welcome to the forum. Lots to learn here and yes we like photos. It also helps with identifying pieces that you want to learn more about.

Eye Candy.
 
I'll have to see if I can take a few pictures. Using cast iron was so normal throughout my life I suppose I never thought about taking any pictures.

The only one I have presently is of a chicken dish I cooked on my patio. My wife thought it was "so pretty" she took a picture of it. The chicken and vegetables are in a 14" Lodge Camp D.O. I have had since around 1980 or so. I cook on a D.O. table on my patio.

Before ....



After.



C.K.
 
J. Moss and Jeffery R., thanks for the compliment.

"Is it spatchcock chicken?"

I'm afraid I don't know what a "spatchcock chicken" is. (??) It was just a regular fryer, split along the backbone, flattened and bound with butcher's twine, and placed in the 14" D.O. The twine is to make it easy to lift out the chicken to place on the platter.

"What is your secret as to how many briquettes top V. bottom? "

I've long used that amount shown in the picture for the lid, lining the rim and three or four in the middle by the handle, for just about anything I cook. The bottom briquettes for that dish in the picture would have had about eight briquettes. If I were using my 12" D.Os., I'd line the rim, but use six underneath the bottom. Four under with my 10" D.O.

Other than for frying, I want a lot more heat on the top than the bottom.

I learned D.O. cooking many years ago using hard wood for the coals but when charcoal briquettes came along, I started using them because they are so much easier to regulate than the coals from limb wood.

One thing I learned long ago was to make sure my D.O. was nice and warm before cooking, and the lid hot. Trying to cook in a cold D.O. can present problems. It can be done, of course, but it's easier with the D.O. preheated... just as you would preheat your oven in your kitchen before baking, roasting, etc. etc.

Just my method. Works for me. :icon_thumbsup: Others have other methods but mine has turned out more than a few good meals, both at home and out in elk and deer camps.

C.K.
 
Thank you for the education, as I have never cooked with the camp dutch oven but have sold a few. My hunting camp comes with a cook. I go hunting, she gets the food ready. Home on the farm.
 
Thank you for the education, as I have never cooked with the camp dutch oven but have sold a few. My hunting camp comes with a cook. I go hunting, she gets the food ready. Home on the farm.

Now that sounds like a proper hunting camp! Beats coming back to camp on a freezing evening, building a fire in the tent stove, and preparing dinner for you and your hunting partners.

When I lived in Los Angeles, I was lucky enough to go on seven outfitted elk/deer hunts in Colo., Idaho, Wyom., and Montana. The outfitters always had good camp cooks who knew how to lay out quite a spread for us "dudes." I kinda like to camp that way, too. Beats having to do it yourself, but I've cooked many a meal over Coleman stoves, camp fires, etc., up in the high country, when my buddies and I packed in on horses and mules, or with our vehicles.

Give camp D.O. cooking a try. Lots of info on the Internet and You Tube. A Lodge 12" D.O. will handle almost any kind of cooking you'd like to try.

C.K.
 
I'm afraid I don't know what a "spatchcock chicken" is. (??) It was just a regular fryer, split along the backbone, flattened and bound with butcher's twine, and placed in the 14" D.O. The twine is to make it easy to lift out the chicken to place on the platter.
That, with the exception of the twine binding, is the definition of a spatchcocked chicken. Often a weight is also employed to further flatten and increase bird to hot iron contact.
 
That, with the exception of the twine binding, is the definition of a spatchcocked chicken. Often a weight is also employed to further flatten and increase bird to hot iron contact.

Thanks for that definition of "spatchcocked chicken." I never heard it before... and I've been using that method a long time.

Learn something new every day, huh? :-D

C.K.
 
When I quit Butterball turkeys 'cause they quit putting butter under the skin I started missing their string lifters. I now make my own with 7' of butchers twine and 3 knots.

You might enjoy doing a spatchcock search for this forum above and reading previous posts below.

Hilditch
 
I will start to use the string method for my split chicken. Welcome to the site and thank you for what you bring.
 
Thanks for sharing, Charles. I've never seen this style of Dutch oven in use, and your pictures are informative--also look like great eating!
 
Thanks for sharing, Charles. I've never seen this style of Dutch oven in use, and your pictures are informative--also look like great eating!

Sharon, those old three legged pots with flanged lids have been in use for many, many years. Allegedly, the flanged rim was added by Paul Revere so coals could be placed on the lid. Note I said "alleged." :-D Nevertheless, there is very little food one can't make in the old D.O.

Although they are a bit heavy, if one is using them on the patio, vehicle camping, or packing into the back country on mules and horses, the weight doesn't matter. I will say, however, they are not really optimum for back packing. :biggrin:

Lots of info on the Internet if one is interested in those "old three legged black pots."

C.K.
 
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