Things to consider when establishing the heat.
- Weather conditions
- Placement of coals vs. what is being cooked
- To preheat the oven or not (don't put cold items in a heated oven or it might crack)
- Use of charcoal briquettes vs. fire coals
- Aluminum vs. iron ovens
Weather conditions: Cold, wind, and rain will all make maintaining the temperature more difficult. Aluminum foil could be used as as a insulator blanket if the ground is cold or wet. Foil can also be used as a windbreak, or to reflect heat back towards the oven. Depending on what conditions and helps are used, you might need to use more coals, or check the cooking times more frequently. Altitude can increase cooking times.
Placement of coals vs. what is being cooked: There is some contradiction between sources as to what is the proper placement of coals. I am using, for this article, the two internet sources as they are more recent and are more closely related to regular cooking.
The Cooking merit badge book also describes placing a teaspoon of flour onto a oven safe plate which is then placed in the Dutch oven. In five (5) minutes, the color of the flour will estimate the temperature of the oven.
Use of charcoal briquets vs coals: Charcoal briquets are often what cookbooks will recommend because it is easier to specify how many briquets to use. Unfortunately not all briquets are of the same quality. One way to double check the recommendations or your briquets is to double the size of your oven and use that number of briquets. Lay them around the circumference of the cover and base. For a 12 inch oven, you should get a complete circle with about 15-16 briquets on the top and a complete circle with the remainder on the bottom. This will result in a 350 degree oven. If you do not get this, or if it is not similar to the cookbook, it is possible that a different quality briquet is being used. Dutchovendude describes how to modify the temperature of the oven by adjusting the circle of briquets.
If you wish to use coals instead of briquets, the circle technique described above can be used to get the correct temperature.
Aluminum vs Iron ovens: Cast iron ovens are very traditional. They heat up slowly and evenly. Aluminum ovens are going to heat up faster and cool down faster. The various references I looked up did not have any modifications in the amount of coals, timing, or temperatures for the different types of oven. Although the sources said they did not have any troubles using aluminum ovens, try out the recipe and monitor it closely to ensure the temperatures are correct before entering into a cooking contest.
Once you have the heat established, there is one more aspect to controlling the heat: Rotation.
There is a natural variation in the amount of heat that either a briquet or coal gives out. To ensure even heating, it is important to rotate the oven and cover. One way to do this is:
1. Lift the whole oven off the campfire by the wire bail and rotate clockwise 1/3 of a revolution.
2. Set the oven back down (it should fit in the same spaces in the coals)
3. With a lid lifter, lift the lid and rotate counter clockwise 1/3 of a turn ( logo should be where it started.)
You might want to do this every 10 minutes or so.
With these tips, you are on your way to preparing feasts that will amaze your fellow campers.
- Frying-all heat from bottom
- Stew, soups - 2/3-3/4 heat on bottom, 1/3-1/4 heat on top
- Roasting meats, vegetables, cobblers - even heat on top and bottom
- Baking bread, cookies, cakes - 1/3-1/4 heat on bottom, 2/3-3/4 heat on top.
Preheating: While preheating is normally done for frying or roasting of meat in order to create an instant "crust" which retains the meat juices, the requirement for preheating other dishes is contradictory. Perhaps cooking times might be increased without preheating, or more fiddling with coals and temperatures of the items going into the oven might be encountered with preheating. The BSA source states,
"I have found with the oven set over 27-30 charcoal briquettes and the same number of briquets on the lid, the temperature in a 12 inch diameter oven will reach 450 degrees F or higher within 12 to 15 minutes. This temperature can be maintained for 30 minutes or more with the number of briquets under the oven reduced to 12 and with the number on the lid reduced to 9."Dutchovendude has a method to estimate temperature on his website called the hand test.
The Cooking merit badge book also describes placing a teaspoon of flour onto a oven safe plate which is then placed in the Dutch oven. In five (5) minutes, the color of the flour will estimate the temperature of the oven.
Use of charcoal briquets vs coals: Charcoal briquets are often what cookbooks will recommend because it is easier to specify how many briquets to use. Unfortunately not all briquets are of the same quality. One way to double check the recommendations or your briquets is to double the size of your oven and use that number of briquets. Lay them around the circumference of the cover and base. For a 12 inch oven, you should get a complete circle with about 15-16 briquets on the top and a complete circle with the remainder on the bottom. This will result in a 350 degree oven. If you do not get this, or if it is not similar to the cookbook, it is possible that a different quality briquet is being used. Dutchovendude describes how to modify the temperature of the oven by adjusting the circle of briquets.
If you wish to use coals instead of briquets, the circle technique described above can be used to get the correct temperature.
Aluminum vs Iron ovens: Cast iron ovens are very traditional. They heat up slowly and evenly. Aluminum ovens are going to heat up faster and cool down faster. The various references I looked up did not have any modifications in the amount of coals, timing, or temperatures for the different types of oven. Although the sources said they did not have any troubles using aluminum ovens, try out the recipe and monitor it closely to ensure the temperatures are correct before entering into a cooking contest.
Once you have the heat established, there is one more aspect to controlling the heat: Rotation.
There is a natural variation in the amount of heat that either a briquet or coal gives out. To ensure even heating, it is important to rotate the oven and cover. One way to do this is:
1. Lift the whole oven off the campfire by the wire bail and rotate clockwise 1/3 of a revolution.
2. Set the oven back down (it should fit in the same spaces in the coals)
3. With a lid lifter, lift the lid and rotate counter clockwise 1/3 of a turn ( logo should be where it started.)
You might want to do this every 10 minutes or so.
With these tips, you are on your way to preparing feasts that will amaze your fellow campers.
http://www.dutchovendude.com/campfire-cooking.shtml
http://whatscookingamerica.net/Information/DutchOven/DutchOvenCooking.htm
Cooking, BSA 1999 printing
Camp Cookery for Small Groups, BSA 1986 printing
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