Dutch Oven Cooking
An Important Skill to Learn!
If you like to cook, even as a beginner, you will enjoy Dutch oven cooking! It is fun! Stack three Dutch ovens, and you can have a full meal cooking without relying on electricity. To top it all, you can enjoy good company, a campfire, and good scenery all at the same time!
Seasoning Your Cast Iron Dutch Ovens
If you do not season a cast iron Dutch oven, you will have a metallic flavor in your food.
- Prior to seasoning, scrub the protective coating with a rough sponge, using dish detergent and hot water. Rinse it well and towel dry. Season it immediately afterwards or rust will begin to form. Use Canola oil instead of vegetable oil. Canola oil has a 440º smoke point, so you will have less smoke while seasoning your Dutch oven.
- Preheat your kitchen oven to 375º. Place the Dutch oven, with its lid partially open, on the center of the rack. Remove the Dutch oven as soon as it is just sufficiently hot you can remove it with your bare hands. By that time, the remaining moisture would have dried out and the metal pores have opened. Leave the kitchen oven on at 375º.
- Cover the entire inside and outside of the Dutch oven with a thin layer of Canola oil. Place the Dutch oven back on the center rack of the kitchen oven. Make sure it is upside down to prevent standing oil. Let the lid rest on the Dutch oven legs. Bake the Dutch oven for about an hour, or until the oil has hardened so that there is a protective veneer over the metal. Remove the Dutch oven and allow it to cool slowly.
- As soon as the Dutch oven is sufficiently cool so that you can handle it, apply another thin layer of Canola oil coating inside and outside. Bake and cool, as before. When the oven cools down sufficiently for handling, apply another thin layer of Canola oil inside and outside. Place it upside down to prevent any standing oil until it is completely cool. Your Dutch oven is now ready for use.
- Your nonstick coating is as good as a commercially done coating, but do not use it right away to cook anything with high sugar content or foods that are highly acidic. Such foods can break down your protective seal. Ideally, you should wait at least three times of usage prior to cooking such foods. The coating can also be damaged in storage, so take good care of your Dutch oven.
- Expect the coating to turn black with use and age.
Seasoning an aluminum Dutch oven is not necessary, but it is useful.
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