Cooking in Cast Iron Camp Ovens / Dutch Ovens

[The Baker]

... he used a petrol powered swing saw on wheels to cut down and cut up bigger trees then. It was quite dangerous and later he died when the handles slipped from his grip and the saw swung around and wounded him. The circular blade was maybe two foot six in diameter....

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I'm guessing that what your calling a swing saw – looked something like this? My grandfather had a saw just like this but it did not get used much. I only saw him use it once and that was with the blade flipped around low, to cut small stumps off - low to the ground.

That is the one.
With the blade laid flat it can swing around and take your leg off.

Geoff

[Chauncey]

Never seen such well-cared-for cast iron cookware

Doesn't take much to keep them looking good Rev, a quick wipe over inside and out with a bit of cooking oil and a rag after each use.

you got a big enough mule to pack all of those?

Thats a small part of the collection Cob, would need more than one mule.

Yup, after I wipe mine with oil I throw it in my oven over a pan, let it preheat to 350 and turn it off. Builds that seasoning up extra. Whenever I cook something with a sauce in them and they get a little funk I use some salt in the oil then clean that out, rewipe with oil and do the oven.

[Saltbush Bill]

Anybody who has followed this thread this far should now understand that I have a fairly serious Cast Iron Camp Oven addiction.
A couple of years ago a friend of mine had patterns made to cast 36 inch Camp Ovens. At that stage he was already getting 18 inch, 20 inch, 22 inch and 24 inch ovens made using his own patterns.
All of these patterns /molds that he owns are modeled on the old English and Scottish ovens .....the ones with high domed lids and nice long legs, the old ones made by company's like Carron and Cannon.
Recently 20 of these ovens where cast ....all where numbered from 1 to 20.
After much procrastination I bit the bullet and bought one of them .......what the hell ...you only live once.
The Lid of this oven alone weighs 40 KG
The Base / Pot weighs 90KG
Usable capacity is roughly 175 L of wet / liquid contents.
The following photos are from other websites and are published else where , places like face book, but they give a good idea of size.....the ovens in the photos are of some of the 20 that have been cast to date. The fellas in these photos are not little people.
In the next few days I will attempt to put up a few pics of some of the things Ive been doing with mine.

For those who want to compare sizes in other ways ..the smallest lid and oven is 12 inch..the next is 24 inch..the last 36.

[Bradster68]

We use cast iron exclusively, wifey wouldn't have it anyother way. Once seasoned nothing sticks.just used our Dutch oven last night for a glazed pepper jelly pork roast.

[jedneck]

This count? New gas n electric ranges can bugger off n pound sand. Can’t beat food cooked in/on/with cast iron

[cob]

I have spent years now thinking I needed to add a potjie to my collection,

thanks Saltbush Bill I now think I can survive without one. just maybe.

https://potjiepotusa.com/

Jed grama had a double monarch.

[Bradster68]

This count? New gas n electric ra9nges can bugger off n pound sand. Can’t beat food cooked in/on/with cast iron

That's cool. We love old shit. That's why my wife likes me. ...
This is our everyday stove 1940's brown propane stove. No gas available here. Love it that back burner keeps my corn at 185 consistently.
Wifey using front today to can chicken.
That's her rabbit hole.lol

[Salt Must Flow]

My wife works for a big manufacturer who makes everything from John Deer parts, RCBS reloading parts, etc... She got this skillet fresh out of casting for free because it didn't have flawless mold fillout. Very minor cosmetic flaw, but not fit for the company that sells it. The handle is supposed to resemble a branch or something like that. Kinda unique. It's raw cast iron so I still have to grind & polish the interior and buzz off minor imperfections before seasoning it.

Nest Homeware Skillet.jpg (15.44 KiB) Viewed 9586 times

[Deplorable]

I only have four pieces of cast iron cookware. A 10 inch skillet from around the mid 1960s I suspect is from Birmingham Range and Stove Co. Well seasoned, and slick as shit. a round Lodge flat iron we pretty much only use for heating flat breads like tortillas and grilled cheese sammiches, an old griddle I picked up at a yard sale back when we used to camp out of the back of my pickup. Its neglected and lived under the gas grill on the deck. And an enamel coated DO that we also use the hell out of for everything from bread to roasts, to soups and stews.
My 12.5 inch carbon steel frying pan sees a lot of use as well.

[Saltbush Bill]

A few photos from a cook up done as a fund raiser for a local group of fire fighters.
20 x No 14 roast chickens.

25 kg of roasted boned legs of Lamb

66 serves of pears poached in red wine and spices for dessert.

The other two ovens contained about 140 baked potatoes.

There was other stuff being cooked in other ovens at the same time...........all up enough to feed 120 people.
The photos here are just of my ovens and the bit that I cooked.

[The Baker]

That's impressive.

Geoff

[Dancing4dan]

That’s some serious cookery Bill! Very impressive. Thanks for sharing.

[Twisted Brick]

Whqt an admirable endeavor Bill! Stellar cast iron and lucky firefighters!

[Sailman]

I love cooking in my cast iron we use it almost every day.

[Saltbush Bill]

Here are a few photos of things that Ive cooked up in my ovens in recent times, new phone that takes bigger photos that broke the forums size rules, so had to work that out before posting.
First off some Sausage Rolls, do you Americans make / have/ eat, these or are they just an Aussie/ Kiwi/ Pommy sort of thing?
Did three trays of them this size, one after the other, fed a pile of people and happy as a pig in mud with the way they turned out.

[Wildcats]

Those sausage rolls look so good. I never have seen em around here. I bet they are good. And that some huge pots and pans. Nice!!

[still_stirrin]

Yummmm, those rolls make me hungry. Got any “campfire coffee” to go along with ‘em? I’m on my way down now!
ss

[Tōtōchtin]

I have my oven at 500* f right now for some more sourdough bread when I came across this thread. Nothing like hot bread some mango jam an a cup of coffee.

[Setsumi]

Here are a few photos of things that Ive cooked up in my ovens in recent times, new phone that takes bigger photos that broke the forums size rules, so had to work that out before posting.
First off some Sausage Rolls, do you Americans make / have/ eat, these or are they just an Aussie/ Kiwi/ Pommy sort of thing?
Did three trays of them this size, one after the other, fed a pile of people and happy as a pig in mud with the way they turned out.
20230326_143622.jpg
20230326_151330.jpg
20230326_152347.jpg

You forget South Africa. A good home made sausage roll go down well. Unfortunately in RSA it became a pre made fad and those you have to take with copious anti acids.

But I would wolf yours down anytime.

[Wildcats]

I have my oven at 500* f right now for some more sourdough bread when I came across this thread. Nothing like hot bread some mango jam an a cup of coffee.ImgResizer_20230504_0830_30081.jpg

Make me want to bake some bread.

[Renhoekk]

I dabble in it for a bit if fun when camping. Certainly not at the level of Salty’s gourmet offerings though. A 24 inch pot? You must go camping with a pallet jack

I learned a fast lesson when I bought my first camp oven brand new from a camping store. It was rubbish - turns out a lot of modern “cast irons” are made from Chinesium and are very poor at holding heat. Things improved when I picked up an old-school pot from a garage sale.

[Oldvine Zin]

Stay safe
OVZ

[Twisted Brick]

SD.jpg


Stay safe
OVZ

Your proofing and oven spring look perfect, OVZ.

[Oldvine Zin]

Your proofing and oven spring look perfect, OVZ.

Thanks, I've been working on it for a few years, just another Pandemic project

Stay safe
OVZ

[sadie33]

I've been making sourdough bread for about 5 yrs, but nothing special, just reg. bread recipe with sourdough. I cooked them in my reg. pans and it was really good.

Lately I wanted to try an artisan sourdough with that crispy crust, baked in a Dutch oven. It took me a bit to find a recipe that fit in my schedule with all the folds, resting and rises.

I made a white bread first, LOVED it. Then I decided to do a rye and make rubens. My husband said we should cook our own corned beef instead of using a deli slice. So we cooked a corned beef for 10 hrs in the crock pot, made the rye and it was amazing!! This morning I did a honey wheat with sunflower seeds. I think that was my favorite. We had it with tuna for supper. I think I'm addicted!

Here's a couple pictures.

[subbrew]

Beautiful loafs Sadie. You are an artist

[sadie33]

Beautiful loafs Sadie. You are an artist

Thank you. I'm going to try to do two loaves next time. I will have to cook them back to back, but that shouldn't be a problem. We're a family of 5 adults and it goes too quick!

[acfixer69]

I've been making sourdough bread for about 5 yrs, but nothing special, just reg. bread recipe with sourdough. I cooked them in my reg. pans and it was really good.

Lately I wanted to try an artisan sourdough with that crispy crust, baked in a Dutch oven. It took me a bit to find a recipe that fit in my schedule with all the folds, resting and rises.

I made a white bread first, LOVED it. Then I decided to do a rye and make rubens. My husband said we should cook our own corned beef instead of using a deli slice. So we cooked a corned beef for 10 hrs in the crock pot, made the rye and it was amazing!! This morning I did a honey wheat with sunflower seeds. I think that was my favorite. We had it with tuna for supper. I think I'm addicted!

Here's a couple pictures.
DSC_0503.JPG

DSC_0508.JPG

DSC_0510.JPG

I do back to back loaves and only use one dutch oven a lodge combo cooker. The only thing I do different from the one loaf at a time is I do the whole 2 loaf at 450F. First loaf in 25 mins covered then take it out of the dutch oven put it on the rack to brown and add the 2nd to the covered DO and run it for 25 mins and then uncover. Only have to remember the first loaf browning is only 10-12 mins.

[sadie33]

I've been making sourdough bread for about 5 yrs, but nothing special, just reg. bread recipe with sourdough. I cooked them in my reg. pans and it was really good.

Lately I wanted to try an artisan sourdough with that crispy crust, baked in a Dutch oven. It took me a bit to find a recipe that fit in my schedule with all the folds, resting and rises.

I made a white bread first, LOVED it. Then I decided to do a rye and make rubens. My husband said we should cook our own corned beef instead of using a deli slice. So we cooked a corned beef for 10 hrs in the crock pot, made the rye and it was amazing!! This morning I did a honey wheat with sunflower seeds. I think that was my favorite. We had it with tuna for supper. I think I'm addicted!

Here's a couple pictures.
DSC_0503.JPG

DSC_0508.JPG

DSC_0510.JPG

I do back to back loaves and only use one dutch oven a lodge combo cooker. The only thing I do different from the one loaf at a time is I do the whole 2 loaf at 450F. First loaf in 25 mins covered then take it out of the dutch oven put it on the rack to brown and add the 2nd to the covered DO and run it for 25 mins and then uncover. Only have to remember the first loaf browning is only 10-12 mins.
IMG_0473.JPG

Do you start the first loaf at 500* and then turn down to 450* or just do the 450* the whole time? When you say you take it out of the cooker and put it on the rack, you mean you put it on the rack in the oven along with the cooker (holding the 2nd loaf)?

[acfixer69]

I've been making sourdough bread for about 5 yrs, but nothing special, just reg. bread recipe with sourdough. I cooked them in my reg. pans and it was really good.

Lately I wanted to try an artisan sourdough with that crispy crust, baked in a Dutch oven. It took me a bit to find a recipe that fit in my schedule with all the folds, resting and rises.

I made a white bread first, LOVED it. Then I decided to do a rye and make rubens. My husband said we should cook our own corned beef instead of using a deli slice. So we cooked a corned beef for 10 hrs in the crock pot, made the rye and it was amazing!! This morning I did a honey wheat with sunflower seeds. I think that was my favorite. We had it with tuna for supper. I think I'm addicted!

Here's a couple pictures.
DSC_0503.JPG

DSC_0508.JPG

DSC_0510.JPG

I do back to back loaves and only use one dutch oven a lodge combo cooker. The only thing I do different from the one loaf at a time is I do the whole 2 loaf at 450F. First loaf in 25 mins covered then take it out of the dutch oven put it on the rack to brown and add the 2nd to the covered DO and run it for 25 mins and then uncover. Only have to remember the first loaf browning is only 10-12 mins.
IMG_0473.JPG

Do you start the first loaf at 500* and then turn down to 450* or just do the 450* the whole time? When you say you take it out of the cooker and put it on the rack, you mean you put it on the rack in the oven along with the cooker (holding the 2nd loaf)?

I some times in the winter preheat at 475F, but for the record 450F is fine for the total cook.