Build Your Own Homemade Windshield / Windscreen for the Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven. When cooking outdoors, this will be both a way to hold in the heat and to show off to passers by at the campsite.
Pork, rosemary, potatoes, bell pepper, and thickened with seasoned bread crumbs. An easy Cast Iron Camp Dutch Oven Recipe with few ingredients. Easy. Delicious.
It was the early 1990s. I had entered my 3rd decade of life at around the time when I started to appreciate family that I had otherwise taken for granted during my teen years and even into my early 20s. Not fully appreciative as many (meaning most) of my kin will likely keep to themselves but most of us 50-somethings know what kind of a snot we were in our 20-somethings…not you…but folks I know.
My Grandaddy lived with Grandma Ellamae on her farm in Franklin Parish, Louisiana. They lived a bit out from Wisner, Louisiana. You’d head down the 425 and turn left (if you’s heading down from West Monroe) just before the veteran’s memorial gazebo. Then, you’d go until you see the sweet potato field on the right. Then look left for the white house down the long drive along rows of cotton. If you end up at Turkey Creek Lake, you went too far. That’s where my Granddaddy lived.
Ellamae’s husband had passed a handful of years before the 90s and my Grandmamma that same year. Granddaddy and Grandma Ellamae married after reuniting at a high school reunion and the two picked up the flame that burned those years before World War II.
After Grandma Ellamae had come down with dementia and she was getting cared for down at the home, I’d visit Granddaddy more often.
He’d call once in a while and ask for a visit. Well, not really ask specifically for a visit. It’d be more like, “Sulae, figs are in on the tree. You’d better get you some picked before the birds get them all.” Or, “the Brat (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subaru_BRAT) is full of sweet ‘taters; come get you a box before they’re all gone.”
A day or two later, I’d drive out for a visit. We’d have an iced tea on the carport and in the patio’s shade and talk about the way things were and a bit of how things should be. He’d tell me stories that I ain’t even sure mamma knows about. Then, when the sun dropped low enough to let the heat in under the porch cover, he’d get up and give me a box of sweet potatoes he’d already gathered together. And, I head back home.
He was lonely in that old farmhouse way out there by himself. He really didn’t need to do anything more than just ask for me to come out for a visit. But, that wasn’t Granddaddy’s way. Asking for a visit made it seem like he needed something. He was the kind of fella that wanted to make sure you were taken care of instead of seeming like you were there to take care of him.
I had gotten my own first apartment and furnished it with a nice folding lawn chair and a black and white TV in the early 90s. It was perfect. Granddad found out about my move and called me, “Sulae, when’s the next time you’ll be in Wisner? There’s something I want to give you.”
I drove down for our visit. This time he was giving me all kinds of things: wooden box shoe shine kit, large metal pry bar, and some other stuff. Wasn’t sure at the time why he was giving me all these things. I said the things we say when folks are giving you stuff they really feel you need; it is the polite exchange of talk that we Southerners do. “No, really. You don’t have to give me these things,” quickly morphs into, “This is really nice; I appreciate it so much.”
I filled my car with this and that. Then we sat for a spell, drinking a bit of tea and watching the light “move” from the edge of the carport and slowly up the three painted, concrete steps to the porch as the sun lowered in the sky. That sunlight was like an hourglass of light that would “time” our visits together. Back then it seemed that light moved too slowly. Looking back, I feel that light moved too quickly.
The afternoon heat had picked up there in the sunlight and Granddaddy took my empty tea glass in the house. I got up, stretched a bit in anticipation of the hour-long drive back home. An hour didn’t consider you getting stuck behind a fella on a tractor hauling a loaded cotton trailer.
He came back out of the house with a box. “I want to give you one more thing.”
He handed me a heavy rectangle box, “Wagner’s 1891 Original Cast Iron Cookware. 3 Piece Natural Skillet Set.” This wasn’t something he’d had laying around the house. The box was new. It was a gift. He didn’t let on that it was new; he gave it to me like his other items as if he’d had it all along and no longer had a use for it.
“Sulae, you’ll be cooking with these long after I am gone and in the ground.”
I wasn’t a “cast iron guy” back then; I was a “Chicken Tonight” kinda bachelor. But, I happily took the 3-piece set home and decided I’d make some of that chicken…tonight…that night.
These skillets have been with me ever since. I’ve always re-seasoned these skillets; I’ve never stripped them. And it shows; they are kinda gunky. There’s likely a bit of some of that “Chicken Tonight” there, buried in some of that build up. Heck, there’s a little “something” from thousands of meals over the past 32 years. But, I pay that no never mind. The chicken I cook tonight in that skillet will be just as perfect as the biscuits I made this morning.
Those three skillets are still our go-to users. They sit on our counter near our stove along with a couple of Lodge griddles and 2 quart pocked-but-restored, Asian-made sauce pot. I’ve been cooking with them skillets now long after Granddaddy has been “gone and in the ground.” And, one day I’ll be joining him and my son will “be cooking with these long after I am gone and in the ground.”
Cornbread cooked in cast iron recipe. There’s really no other way to cook cornbread, is there? Buttery; soft-centered and crunchy-crusted, no-stick corn bread.
The story of my 16-Inch Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven. What is my cast iron worth? Some of you may ask that question about some of your cookware.
Beer and Iron’s Heating a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven
In preparation for more outdoor cooking this summer, we are going to start off our Cast Iron Camp Dutch Oven article series with a how-to heat the cast iron Dutch oven. Later, we’ll talk about packing for outdoor cooking. And even later, we’ll get into the recipes and a few hacks that I am sure you will love.
Affiliate Links are Included in this Article
First and foremost and pretty please with sugar on top…don’t overthink this. You will never, ever, ever get a perfect spot-on temperature in your Dutch oven. Heck, even home ovens have variations. “If your oven is well-calibrated and you’ve set it to 350°F, the element might stay on until the cavity hits 370°F, then switch off, then switch back on when it dips to 330°F.”
If you can remember the basic gist of this article, you will feel as free as a bird and appear to be as smart as any great outdoor chef.
Use twice as many charcoal briquettes as the diameter of your Dutch oven. Take ⅓ of those briquettes and put them on the bottom and ⅔ of those briquettes on the top. It’s that easy…ish…there’s always that “ish” part. This article will elaborate on the specifics of heating the Dutch oven with more clarity and accuracy.
Example: Take a 12” Dutch oven. Multiply 12 by 2. That equals 24. Divide 24 by three. That’s eight. Take 8 briquettes and put them under the oven; 8 is 1/3rd of 24. Take 16 and put them on the top; 16 is 2/3rd of 24.
Take the diameter of your Dutch oven and add four; that’s how many charcoal briquettes go on top. Then, take the diameter of your Dutch oven and subtract four; that’s how many briquettes go under the Dutch oven.
Example: Take a 12” Dutch oven. Subtract 4 from 12, that gives you 8. Put 8 briquettes under the oven. Next, add 4 to 12. That gives you 16. Put 16 briquettes on top of the oven.
These formulas call for (what seems like) charcoal count-specifics. They are not really specifics; they are guidelines. Getting your Dutch oven to exactly 350°F / 177°C and holding that temperature for the duration of your cook is not possible. These coal counts are only your starting point. It’s a count to get you started learning how to heat the Dutch oven.
This article and the video will focus on the 2x rule. It’s just a preference. The count does not always match when using the 2x Rule and the Plus 4 / Minus 4 Rule. Truth of the matter is this: There’s a whole lot of other factors that go in to heating a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven and that’s where this article will attempt to offer some clarity.
DON’T OVER THINK THIS…JUST HAVE FUN! The only rule to remember is this: You can cook under-cooked food longer, but you can’t un-burn food.
We have a couple of 16” Lodge Cast Iron Dutch Ovens that are some of my most prized possessions. Funny thing…I rarely cook in anything smaller than a 10” or bigger than a 12”. That leaves only about 3-4 sizes we cook with and will primarily be the examples I give in this article (affiliate links).
Let’s look closer at the 10” and 12” inch cast iron Dutch ovens.
10” Regular – 10 Inch / 4 Quart Cast Iron Camp Dutch Oven
10” Deep – 10 Inch / 5 Quart Cast Iron Deep Camp Dutch Oven
12” Regular – 12 Inch / 6 Quart Cast Iron Camp Dutch Oven
12” Deep – 12 Inch / 8 Quart Cast Iron Deep Camp Dutch Oven
My suggestion is to start with a 12” deep Dutch oven. Lodge and Camp Chef have an 8 Quart, 12” deep Dutch oven that are great go-to Dutch ovens. I ain’t gonna call them “Starter Ovens” because they are “Finisher Ovens” too. A 12” deep camp cast iron Dutch oven is a good size to start cooking with and it’s one you’ll keep using as you “age” and grow in your outdoor chef skills.
I like the Lodge version for its family-owned, USA-made quality and proven durability; I am USA based and like to support local folks. Lodge makes a great Dutch oven. And, though Camp Chef ovens are made overseas to my location, the quality is very good and so is the durability. Truth be known, I have a few pieces crafted in Asia and they are wonderful ovens.
One of the things about Camp Chef that I will have to brag about and that’s the little thermometer notch. Some folks call it a steam vent. But, I use it for meals that I am cooking and need to monitor the temperature more closely.
I am just naming Lodge and Camp Chef. There are many, many other brands out there. And, don’t underestimate the found-in-the-wild, Asian-made pieces that have no markings or very vague markings. Some of my favorite Dutch ovens are these heavy-duty beasts that gives me the option to feed a dozen people out of a single pot.
In the video, I even show a Dutch oven from Cabela’s. It’s a 12” that I picked up a few years back after forgetting my Lodge at home (yes…it does happen). It’s been a pretty good pot.
To start, use charcoal briquettes to heat your Dutch Oven. They are easy to obtain and the formula a bit easier to follow. Get the “how” down and then experiment with other heat sources.
Truth be known, nothing is going to give you an even temperature when cooking with any heat source while you create meals in the great outdoors. Your Dutch oven temperature will vary based on the number of coal or amount of firewood, the distance from that heat source, the stage at which that heat source has burned down to, the size of the Dutch oven, humidity, even elevation, and the weather (raining, windy, hot, or cold outside).
The best way…the very best way to heat your Dutch oven to the optimum temperature…you ain’t gonna like this…the very best way to learn how to heat a cast iron Dutch oven is to cook, cook, and cook some more. Like the old adage: Practice makes perfect. It’s so true in cooking and especially with cast iron cooking.
I have folks all the time that ask, “Sulae! My food didn’t turn out like your recipe said it would. I did just what you did and (insert any number of problems here). A lot of times, no! They didn’t do “just what I did.” I’ve cooked the same recipe two or three or more times a week when I am stuck and needing to perfect that dish. My family will love the dish the first night. Me. I’m like “meh.” The second night, my family is like, “this one is good; but so was last night.” By the time I get to my own “YES! This is perfect!” They are like, “Meh. We’ve had this same meal 10 nights this week! Please make something else!”
They love me.
I am not saying that you should cook the same meal 10-nights a week; I am suggesting that you use your outdoor camp cast iron Dutch oven more than 3-5 times a year. Get out on the back patio, have a beer, make some fire, and cook dinner. Get good in the back yard and you’ll be good at camp.
By default, you cook in the kitchen most of the time. You have a large box in your kitchen that regulates its own temperature. The stove top has dials that help you quickly regulate the heat from Lo to Hi by turning a knob. You have practiced and now you are on your way to perfection (in our dreams).
Camp Dutch oven cooking is rough and tough cooking. And, you’re going to burn something; I guarantee it. Something is going to stick; you know it will. Something is going to disappoint. I don’t want to be all doom and gloom. No sir! No Ma’am! The chance of failure is what makes the successes so incredible! You can make chicken pot pie all the live long day at home…in your kitchen…and in your oven. Is it good? Sure! It’s good!! Now, create that recipe in a camp cast iron Dutch oven. Is it good? NO! It’s GREAT! You’ll be amazed how delicious nostalgia tastes.
Where most camp Dutch oven chefs struggle is the temperature. And that’s where we are going to start. Learn to heat with charcoal briquettes first and then you’ll get that eye and the feel for heating with other sources.
First and foremost! We are initially looking to learn to heat a Dutch oven to 350°F / 177°C. I’ll give more advice later for lower and higher temperatures. Let’s stick with learning the basic heating of a camp Dutch oven at the very common 350°F / 177°C (though a friend of mine in Mexico says that most home ovens default to 190°C whereas the USA ovens default to 350°F). To all y’all that are looking for exactness…y’all gotta give that up. We will “try” to reach 350°F / 177°C and in our attempt we may reach 374°F…or 190°C. That bit of difference is expected and ain’t in no way and no how worthy of a discussion. Just sayin’
Considering the camp Dutch oven, our food will cook the very same at 350°F / 177°C as it will at 374°F / 190°C. If it’s perfect at 350°F / 177°C, it’d been perfect at 374°F / 190°C. If it burned at 374°F / 190°C, it would have burned at 350°F / 177°C.
For now remember “around” 350°F-374°F and “around” 177°C-190°C. The outcome of your food will be the same (good or bad…LOL).
Heating your cast iron camp Dutch oven starts by identifying the type of meal you are going to create.
Baking will require less heat directed to the bottom and more heat directed to the top.
Frying, Searing, or Sautéing or even boiling something requires all the heat on the bottom of the Dutch oven.
Roasting is usually an even distribution of heat with a few caveats we’ll likely discuss briefly today and really cover in individual recipes.
The Commercially Common Charcoal Briquette
Regardless of the type of cooking you are going to do, using charcoal briquettes will give you a defined number to use based on the size of your Dutch oven. They say that 5 out of 4 people struggle with math. You don’t have a problem with math. Not you! But folks I know. And for those folks, here’s your formula: Take the diameter of your Dutch oven and multiply it by two.
Identify a starting number of charcoal briquettes you need to heat the Dutch oven. Your starting point will always be the times two rule. From there, we can “turn up” the heat or “turn down the heat.” It does not matter if you are baking, roasting, or frying, the times two rule will show you how many briquettes you need to start.
Take the diameter of your Dutch oven, multiply it by two, and that is how many briquettes you will need to cook with (for the most part and with some specifics we will cover later).
You have your 12” Dutch oven and need to know how many charcoal briquettes to use. You will need 24+ briquettes to start. And, like giving someone a birthday whippin’, you’ll need one (or more) to grow on. Remember the birthday whippin’ reference.
Okay. So, you have your 24 charcoal briquettes and they are glowing red hot (some more red hotter than others). Where on or around the Dutch oven do you place these briquettes? That depends on what kind of cooking you are doing.
For the most part, I bake. Cakes, pizza, and bread…I do a lot of baking. There are some dishes that seem like they should be boiled or fried but really should be baked. Consider a pasta-based dish like a goulash or a rice-based dish like jambalaya. They start off very soup or stew-like but end up turning into a dish that would be better “baked” with most of the heat on the top like baking (or even roasting with an even distribution of heat on the top and the bottom).
There’s a lot of air above the food you are creating. The food is often sitting on the bottom of the oven and almost in direct heat to the heat source. Actually, the oven is “almost” in direct heat whereas the food IS in direct heat. We need to be gentle to the food and not burn it. After all, you can continue cooking food that’s not fully done, but you can’t un-burn food.
To bake in your Dutch oven, take the size of your Dutch oven and multiply it by two.
Now, take that number and divide it by three. Take two parts (2/3rds of the briquettes) and put them on the top of the Dutch oven. Take the one part (1/3rd of the briquettes) and put them on the bottom of the Dutch oven. Here’s some real math:
With 16 briquettes on the top and 8 briquettes around the bottom, you will essentially be cooking in a 350°F-374°F and 177°C-190°C oven.
Note: You may end up with an uneven three parts. No worries. Put the extra briquette wherever you want to…top…bottom…it’s all good.
Let’s say you want to cook a whole chicken in camp. Or you may have a prime rib you are going to cook in a salt crust. Maybe a nice tenderloin…stuffed and wrapped in bacon!!! You need to Roast or Broast (braising and roasting). Do the same math in relation to the diameter of the Dutch oven. A 12” Dutch oven calls for 24 briquettes. Now, put half on the top and half under the Dutch oven. There’s a bit more to it…but…for the most part…this is your formula.
I seldom use this method to heat my Dutch oven. I usually follow the baking or frying methods.
For soups, stews, chilis, gumbo, and a whole bunch of other meals, you will place ALL of your briquettes under the bottom of the cast iron Dutch oven. If you are cooking in a 12” Dutch oven, all 24 briquettes will go under the oven.
However, there’s a quick word on frying, searing, sautéing, and browning: You’ll likely need to add more briquettes sooner rather than later to keep the heat high enough. I often will “turn up the heat” by about 50°-100°F (10°-38°C). I’ll talk about turning up the heat (and turning down the heat in a bit).
What you will find more common than not is when you need to first fry or sauté and then bake. Let me give you an example. You plan to make a wonderful goulash and need to “brown” your beef first as well as sauté your onions. Using my 12” Dutch oven, I will first place all 24 briquettes on the bottom and get that pan searing hot! After I brown my meat and sauté my onions, I will “turn down the heat” by placing 16 briquettes on the top and 8 under the Dutch oven to let the meal cook and the noodles soften. To mix things up a bit, at the end I may want some cheese on the top. I want that cheese to be melted and maybe even a bit toasty. I will add ALL my briquettes on the top of that Dutch oven and BROIL the meal (keeping an eagle-eye on it so I don’t burn it).
So far, we have learned how to heat a 12” cast iron Dutch oven depending on if we are baking, roasting, or frying and we are looking for the equivalent of a 350°F-374°F and 177°C-190°C oven. You’ll be asking about that temperature range if we are frying with all the heat under the oven. And YES! It will be hotter at the surface than 350°F-374°F and 177°C-190°C. Much hotter. We also know that a meal that needs to be boiled or fried needs to have a higher surface temperature because the oil or the liquid will distribute the heat. We still follow the times two guideline.
As briquettes burn to ash, they cool down. A full, red-hot briquette will burn hotter than a smaller half-spent briquette. This is logical. Most of the time you will need a 2nd batch of charcoal briquettes. And, sometimes a third batch and even a fourth batch.
Here’s how you will manage that.
Let’s say you have a chicken that needs to cook for an hour. You figure you need to roast the chicken. Taking your 12” deep Dutch oven, you know you will need 24 briquettes. Perfect!
And like giving someone a birthday whippin’, you’ll need more “to grow on.”
If you need 24 briquettes to start cooking, then place 26-30 briquettes (give or take a couple) in that chimney. We’ll use 24 and leave the rest of the burning briquettes in the charcoal chimney or wherever you are lighting them. While they are all getting fired up, set your Dutch oven up. When the coals are ready, place the coals as you would for roasting, frying, or baking depending on your preference. That will leave extra briquettes in the chimney. Just leave them there.
About 10-15 minutes later, after you have placed the first round of briquettes on the Dutch oven, toss in about 26-30 fresh briquettes in that chimney and on top of those (now) burned down briquettes you left earlier…those are the extra briquettes we left in the chimney “to grow on.” Let those burning briquettes fire up or help fire up your new briquettes. By the time the new briquettes are ready to go, cycle out your old briquettes for the new ones.
Then, about 10-15 minutes later, do the same thing. Add enough briquettes to use on your Dutch oven and add a few more “to grow on” or to start your next batch of briquettes on. Keep going until you are fairly sure that your chicken (or whatever meal you are creating) is going to be done before that last batch runs cold.
Note: You can remove the spent briquettes before adding the new ones, or you can just add the new ones in between the spent ones.
Now, we know how to get our ovens to about “around” 350°F-374°F and “around” 177°C-190°C. But, what if we want to turn down the temperature or turn up the temperature?
The range I give of “around” 350°F-374°F and “around” 177°C-190°C is to try to get your oven at around those temperatures as a guide. Consider 350°F-177°C our base temperature. This method will allow you to calculate and better “turn down” or “turn up” the temperature by about 25°F or about 14°C (not down to these temperatures but adjust the temperatures by 25°F or 14°C intervals from the base 350°F-374°F to 177°C-190°C).
To reach about 350°F or 177°C in a Cast Iron Dutch Oven, we know we need to take the diameter of our Dutch oven and multiply that by two. This tells us how many briquettes we need. To turn the heat up or down by about 25°F or 14°C, you will need to either add or take away 2 (two) briquettes for every 25°F or 14°C adjustment you would like to make.
For example, let’s say you are cooking a recipe that calls for 400°F / 205°C that is about 50°F / 28°C warmer than our base 350°F / 177°C. We add 2 briquettes for every 25°F or 14°C [approximate]. That means we need to add 4 (four) more briquettes.
Considering the 12-inch cast iron Dutch oven, you will need 24 briquettes for your base 350°F / 177°C and then to reach 400°F / 205°C, you will need to add four more for a total of 28 briquettes.
24 plus 4 equals 28. Twenty Eight briquettes divided by three is: 9.33…put about 18-19 on the top and about 9-10 on the bottom.
What if your goal is to low-and-slow a coffee crusted pork roast for 8 hours at 200°F / 93°C.
350°F – 200°F is 150°F difference. 150°F divided by 25°F intervals is six. 6 x 2 briquettes is 12 LESS briquettes to keep a Dutch oven at 200°F. If we need 24 briquettes to reach 350°F, we’ll need 12 (24-12=12) for 200°F (8 on the top and 4 under the Dutch oven).
177°C – 93°C is 84°C difference. 84°C divided by 14°C intervals is six!! Look! At! THAT!! It’s magic!!
There’s no need for exact because exact is not possible.
There are all kinds of patterns that folks use to organize the briquettes on and under the Dutch oven. I usually start in a ring around the top and cross over. Think of the lid like a clock. Start placing the briquettes at 12 and 6, then 3 and 9, then the spaces between. Then start filling in the middle.
Evenly distribute the across the top in a circle starting from the rim working your way in toward the handle. Just space them out as evenly as you can. On the bottom, place them just on the edge of the diameter of the Dutch oven’s bottom if you are baking or roasting. If you are frying or boiling, place them under the Dutch oven in a circular, evenly-spaced circle working from outer to inner.
This will keep a hot area of coals from over-cooking part of your meal and leaving the other parts underdone. Inevitably, one briquette will burn longer than another, the wind will be blowing in from one side or another. And as you cook, the cast iron Dutch oven will be cooler in one spot than another. We will turn the Dutch oven and the lid periodically to even this out.
After about 10 minutes of cooking, use your lid lifter to turn the lid ⅓ turn clockwise. Don’t lift the lid; just turn it in place. Then, using the Dutch oven handle, turn the whole Dutch oven ⅓ turn counter clockwise. You find that the lid will be right back where it started in reference to the outside world but the food on the inside will be over and under different heating spots.
Some folks turn their ovens ¼ turn. And that’s okay. Heck, a ½ turn is okay too.
Me? I just turn in 3rds.
And that is the end of the charcoal briquette heating method. I started with this method both because it’s the most popular and because it offers the Dutch oven chef the opportunity to fine tune her or his techniques to better judge how to heat with other heat sources like hardwood natural charcoal or even a campfire.
The reason I wanted to start with charcoal briquettes is to become accustomed to the briquette size, rate of burn, and how to manage the briquettes. Other ways you can heat your Dutch oven is by using Natural Premium Hardwood Lump Charcoal or by using the hot coals created in a campfire. Though they are not as easy to use, they are completely and perfectly suited to cook with. You will run into challenges with size and distribution. A large lump of hardwood charcoal may not fit under the Dutch oven, or one lump may be larger and therefore closer to the bottom of the Dutch oven.
There’s some tricks to the trade and I plan to create an article on heating with other sources than the common charcoal briquette. Be sure to sign up on the email list and I will keep you updated.
Hey! Did you make it this far? Look! At! YOU!! I am proud of you. I hope you have your questions answered. But, if you do not…feel free to send me a message or comment below. I love to talk and I really love talking about Camp Dutch Oven Cooking.
Supplies and Equipment Seen in the Video:
A version of the item. All links are affiliate links.
Interesting:
Dutch Oven Charcoal Briquettes Magnetic Cheat Sheet (https://amzn.to/3VigTrb)
Lodge Dutch Ovens:
Lodge 10” Regular – 10 Inch / 4 Quart Cast Iron Camp Dutch Oven (https://amzn.to/3L1BpY8)
Lodge 10” Deep – 10 Inch / 5 Quart Cast Iron Deep Camp Dutch Oven (https://amzn.to/3L3j64P)
Lodge 12” Regular – 12 Inch / 6 Quart Cast Iron Camp Dutch Oven (https://amzn.to/3An8xEG)
Lodge 12” Deep – 12 Inch / 8 Quart Cast Iron Deep Camp Dutch Oven (https://amzn.to/3LpWyN7)
Other Lodge Ovens:
Lodge 14” Regular – 14 Inch / 10 Quart Cast Iron Camp Dutch Oven (https://amzn.to/41UXHli)
Lodge 8” Regular – 8 Inch / 2 Quart Cast Iron Camp Dutch Oven (https://amzn.to/3AnM9v2)
Camp Chef Versions:
Camp Chef Classic Dutch Oven 12″ Dutch Oven – 6 Quart (https://amzn.to/3mXpFOt)
Camp Chef 12″ Cast Iron Deep Dutch Oven – 8 Quart (https://amzn.to/43XwEaM)
Camp Chef Classic 10″ Dutch Oven – 4 Quart (https://amzn.to/41rqjCN)
Camp Chef Classic 10″ Deep Dutch Oven – 5 Quart (https://amzn.to/3N9rHpa)
Other Supplies:
Dutch Oven Lid Lifter (https://amzn.to/41S4XhN)
Dutch Oven Lid Stand (https://amzn.to/3mRXZus)
ThermoPro TP07S Wireless Meat Thermometer (https://amzn.to/3oDDHoV)
ThermoPro TP19H Digital Meat Thermometer for Cooking (https://amzn.to/40uJM4g)
Camp Chef Camp Table with Legs (https://amzn.to/3N6BLzt)
Aluminum Camping Table 3 Foot, Portable Folding Table Adjustable (https://amzn.to/3H5SrTV)
Heat Resistant Fire Protection Fireplace Gloves (https://amzn.to/3Apthfb)
Teak Long Wooden Spatula, Heavy Duty (https://amzn.to/43WQT8z)
Charcoal Chimney (https://amzn.to/3LoKFa6)
Kingsford MatchLight Instant Charcoal Briquets (https://amzn.to/3oIwSm8)
Lodge Camp Dutch Oven Tongs (https://amzn.to/41DbT2w)
This is not a recipe article. But, I figured y’all may want a copy of my chicken and rice recipe for the Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven.
Baked Chicken and Beer Rice Recipe in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Beer Bread Recipe very simple and easy recipe to create a loaf of beer bread and bake that loaf of beer bread in cast iron.
We’re going to make chicken and sausage gumbo also known as Gumbo Ya-Ya and we’re going to make it with BEER! Welcome to Gumbo Ya-Ya à la Bière.
Does making your own broth take time? Sure, it does! So does eating a meal. But, I can “Guar-Ron-Tee” dat eating a bad meal takes longer than eating a good meal. Do you want them plates and bowls to end up at the sink with soup still in them or already licked squeaky clean?
This broth recipe is one of the base recipes that will be referred to over and over in recipe after recipe here on beerandiron.com.
The backbone of any soup, stew, and chili is the broth you use. If the broth is flavorful, the soup, stew, or chili will be flavorful. Let’s make this!
NOTE: You may have noticed the stainless steel pot used in the image above. Using stainless steel for this is A-OK. In the video, I used my 9-quart cast iron Dutch oven to make the broth. Use what you want.
I’m gonna tell you it’s the broth that will “make” that meal, and the only way to make a good broth is to make it yourself.
There is one reason I make my own broth: Flavor. And the flavor comes from two sources: The Beer and from the parts and pieces that are generated during meal preparation that are normally thrown away.
Will we end up throwing these parts and pieces away? Sure, but not until we’ve rendered their flavor. It’s almost like tea; we simmer the tea in the water until we have changed the water into tea. Then, we toss the tea.
A good broth jells (like Jell-O / Gelatin) when cooled. This is due to the structural protein found in the connective tissue: collagen. Collagen breaks down with prolonged simmering and cooking and dissolves in the liquid (the beer). A true bone broth…a good broth in general has some bouncy, wiggly, gelatin-like consistency when cool. Shelf-stable bone broths usually do not gel because the collagen has been removed or never was there in the first place. Not only are you missing the nutritional benefits of the broth, the way the final recipe will “feel” is not as pleasing…a different mouth-feel, if you will.
Think about it for a bit. Why does boneless chicken cost more per pound than whole chicken? There’s weight to the “trash” that the whole chicken has that boneless chicken does not. When preparing bell peppers or tomatoes, do you use the whole vegetable/fruit or do you throw away some parts as you prepare them? Potato peel, carrot tops, bell pepper placenta, and meat bone/fat/joints…this is usually tossed during the cooking process. Even that large base of celery; it usually hits the garbage can with a heavy “thud.” There’s flavor in that root end. Every bit of that has flavor…some of it has more flavor than the actual “good” parts themselves; it’s just trapped in an area of the food that is either not editable as is (bones and ligaments) or has a terrible mouth feel like chunks of fat, potato peels, and pepper placenta.
I am not making it to reduce the salt/sodium or any other reason that is found on every single make-your-own broth blog. My reasons are dual and simple: Flavor and FLAVOR!
This recipe is easy. It’s so very easy. We create our broths from four sources:
Ever heard of Corona or Modelo? Sure, you have. Start with this easy-drinking beer. If you are a craft beer purist, no worries. Find one of your craft beers that are easy to drink like a lager or an ale. Here at first, avoid IPAs, seasonals, porters, and the others that may add a level of flavor you will experiment with later. Right now, let’s just create something amazing. Experiment later.
Bones, parts, and pieces from one whole deboned chicken – More if you have them.
2-8 12oz Beers (Room Temperature)…or more.
All you need for this recipe are the bones from one chicken. If you have more, add more. If you have some vegetable scraps, add them too.
It’s okay if the ingredients are piled out and above the top of that Dutch oven. They will break down and render their flavor into that broth. The broth will simmer down a bit and become more concentrated. Just pile it in!
The amount of beer to add is up to you.
First and foremost…NO! You will not get drunk on this broth. Alcohol has a much lower gas point that water does. If you are adding a 6% ABV (alcohol by volume) beer to this pot, then long before that broth starts to steam, that alcohol will gas off.
You’ve heard the statement regarding alcohol in food, “It’ll cook out.” And it does. There is no “away” in the world; the alcohol does leave the meal just like water does: as a gas. A 6% ABV beer will lose about 6% of the volume pretty quickly.
Note: Alcohol “cooks out” at about 173.1°F (78.37°C). The liquid will not even be bubbling yet by the time the Ethanol (https://www.alcoholrehabguide.org/alcohol/types/) starts to steam out. When your liquid reaches 212°F (100°C), you’ll notice a nice boil start (the boiling point of water).
What I am looking for in my broth is some body. I want the broth to have a heavier and fuller flavor and mouthfeel than broth-in-a-box or water has. That beer will add that body and those real ingredients will add that flavor.
The broth will NOT taste like beer. But, use caution with a beer that has a distinctive flavor ingredient. You can bet your witches and warlocks that the fall pumpkin ale you add to this broth will give you a pumpkin-ey broth. And, you can bet Santa’s beer belly that if you use a winter spruce tip lager in that broth, you’ll have a bit of a spruce-ey broth. That may be okay. Maybe you are going to use the pumpkin broth for a pumpkin chili base. And spruce tip flavor sure does complement chicken, just like rosemary does.
For the most part, use an easy-drinking lager for this recipe. And, if you find that you have a lot of ingredient scraps and not quite enough beer to bring the liquid volume up to the point you need, you can add a bit of water or even one of those boxes of store-bought “broth.”
Add the beer to the pot and just up to where the ingredients move freely in the liquid. You do not need to cover the ingredients with the liquid. The ingredients will cook down and will be under that liquid soon.
Then turn everything about in that pot to get the ingredients to settle a bit.
Let things settle for a while and stir the pot about once every 20-30 minutes for the first hour. Put the lid on the pot but leave an edge open to allow the steam to escape. We want the pot to simmer and not become a rolling boil. The lid over the pot will help hold the heat to allow for simmering. The opened edge at the top will keep the pot from boiling too hard.
You’ve heard of bone broth, right? We are making a mini pot of bone broth right here. Most bone broths take hours and hours to create and are made in some considerable volumes.
I have a recipe for beef bone broth that takes an entire day. Here’s the link: https://beerandiron.com/beer-beef-bone-broth-recipe-in-a-cast-iron-dutch-oven
This is not really a recipe. It’s a process. We will often spend the week cutting and chopping and roasting and skillet-ing. And, as we create our dinners, there are things that are often tossed. We’ll hang onto those trimmings, peelings, parts, bones, and pieces until we are ready to make a broth.
A long simmering time will allow all these parts and pieces to break down…ESPECIALLY the chicken bones and connective tissues. Eventually you will notice as you are turning and rotating the pot of “stuff” that the bone ends are bare and without any cartilage. The joints that were connected even after roasting the chicken are now broken apart and separated.
This is EXACTLY what we are looking for. And, we’ll let it simmer even longer.
Most of the ingredients are below the liquid level now. They are soft and fragile and some are almost liquified. We’ll call it broth-ified. The collagen from the chicken bones and the broken-down parts and pieces of meat and vegetables are creating a nice and heavy broth full of nutrients.
As you cook, and if you notice the liquid level is getting too low, add more beer, water, or boxed broth.
I set things aside and let them cool down but don’t let things cool down to room temperature. I let the liquid cool to about the temperature of a cup of coffee.
We are going to put the broth in the canning jars for refrigerator storage. THIS IS NOT A CANNING RECIPE. The broth created by following this recipe will have to be refrigerated. It will spoil at room temperature. With that being said, you can pressure can this broth following a canning recipe.
You will see in the video that I make a huge freakin’ mess while I pour the broth over to the jars. Even with the canning funnel. It is what it is. It’s likely because I am a male and prone to making messes (my wife has me convinced that I am handicapped because of a genetic issue: my Y-Chromosome).
My suggestion is to use wide-mouth jars. This broth will jell-up and it’s easier to get out of the jars with the wide mouth.
Place a metal strainer in the bowl to catch the solids. Using a ladle, we scoop up the solids and pour them over to the strainer. Then we stir the mash around and try to get as much of the liquid from that mushy stuff as we can.
Like in my beef bone broth recipe, you can “wash” the used material by placing it back in the pot and adding some fresh beer over the mushy stuff and spent bones. There will be enough of the broth and collagen left to actually jellify the beer when cooled. Message me if you need more explanation.
You can then use the drained solids for compost (except the bones), feed them to a worm bin, or throw them away.
Scoop up the liquid and solids and ladle them over into the strainer over the bowl. We are actually focused on the solids here. We want to get as much of the solids out as we can, so we are able to pour the pot over the strainer and get all the broth out and free of the solids.
If you don’t have any quart-size canning jars, you should get a set. They are so very helpful and handy. They can handle the extreme temperature changes like Pyrex glass can. And they are not too spendy. If they break or crack, we just recycle them (they take our glass here!).
Place a canning funnel over the mouth of the canning jar and pour the broth into the jars. The sad thing is: you’ll get far less broth than you think you’ll be getting. It is what it is.
The jars of broth will not last indefinitely. My suggestion is to use the broth in a soup, stew, chili, or something else before you start wondering, “is this okay to eat?” How long will that take? I don’t know the answer to that question. But, when I have broth like this available, I plan on a meal that will allow me to use the broth within a week.
And there you go! You did it! How did it turn out?
When pouring in Step #10, you’ll note the chicken parts are “sunken” to the bottom of the pot and will remain at the bottom of the pot until the angle of the pot during the pouring has reached a certain point. THEN the parts and pieces will “fall” to the side of the pot you are pouring toward.
It’s hard to pour this “away” from you and you will likely be inclined to pour “towards” you. When these ingredients “fall,” that liquid will splash. There are hot oils in that broth and the hot broth itself that will burn you or, in the least, make a mess on your counter or floor.
When about half of the liquid has poured into the colander, stop and “help” the chicken parts to gather on the side of the pot that you are pouring from. Then slowly continue pouring and let the parts and pieces slide into the colander to continue draining.
We use a copper-bottomed stainless 6-quart pot for making broth from one or two chickens. We use stainless because the simmer time is so long. Beer and anything that contains alcohol is going to be acidic. And, truth be known, I’ll cook up a tomato dish in any of my non-enamled, well-seasoned cast iron pots and will not lose a wink of sleep over it…and…I create broth in my cast iron too…just like in the video.
Though the likelihood of metal molecules leaching into my food likely happens every single meal, we’re not cooking in lead or aluminum; we’re cooking in cast iron. Iron is both a material and a mineral. We need iron to have good health (https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Iron-Consumer/). I don’t worry about my cast iron dissolving or becoming damaged by the acid foods and liquids I cook in them. I worry about the possibility of a metallic taste that may form with foods that need to simmer for longer periods of time like broths.
Some of my broths will cook for 24 hours (not this recipe). And, from what I understand, 2-8mg of iron will leach per cup of acid food/liquid per 30 minutes of cooking time. My 12-inch skillet is about 3,628,736mg of iron; 2-8mg is not a big deal even every 30 minutes for 24 hours…that broth would need to cook for something like 25 YEARS to melt my pan (LOL)! But, if off-flavors are a concern, then use a stainless pot…we have that one and only and use it for broth-making and noodle cooking.
With that being said, I use my 9-quart cast iron pot to create a beef broth (https://beerandiron.com/beer-beef-bone-broth-recipe-in-a-cast-iron-dutch-oven) that has a 24-hour cook time. It’s always been a great recipe and I have never had a metallic taste to my meals. So, if you are a purist cast-iron person, rock on with a cast iron Dutch oven to create your broth.
Storing in canning jars is not “canning” per se’. We are using the jars because of their convenience. Don’t store this broth in plastic. You can use something like Pyrex if you like. You will NEED to refrigerate this broth after you “jar” it and after it’s cooled a bit. You can “can” the broth but this canning process is beyond the scope of this recipe.
Note: canning jars are commonly made of annealed glass. Pyrex glass is made of borosilicate glass, which is more resistant to thermal shock than annealed glass. We let the broth cool a bit before pouring over into the container we are planning to store the broth in.
And, it’s okay if that “skin” forms on the broth’s surface before storing; it’ll “dissolve” into the broth once the broth is in the jar.
When you are done with your broth creation, you’ll have your broth and your meat parts separated. Depending on how long you simmered your broth will affect the present “durability” of the connective tissue. Many times I am surprised as to how much “meat” is left after I de-bone the chicken and create my broth.
We have pups in our home; two hair and poop factories on four legs. I will take some time and remove all the big, little, and even TINY bones from the “trash” that’s left in the colander and pull out some meat to use as “treats” for the dogs. My suggestion is to only give them a little at a time. You will likely get anywhere from ½ to a full cup (or more) of meat parts that are not bone.
I have a recipe on how to create dog cookies using scraps of meat. Check it out here:
Throw the bones away; don’t feed them to your dogs. Also, consider the other ingredients in your broth creation. Did you use any garlic, onions, or other ingredients that are not OK for dogs? Use your good judgment when feeding your dogs from this recipe.
Broth-making is more passive than active. Once you put those ingredients into that pot for simmering, you’re pretty well free to create another meal or prep for the meal you are going to use that broth with.
Sometimes I will save the parts and pieces from many different cooks. They may be frozen or refrigerated. A nice rainy or snowy day makes a good day to create broth for the future. Once you put it on the heat, there’s little to do but wait and stir things once in a while.
You better have something planned for dinner later that will taste as good as that simmering broth will smell. Once that aroma permeates the home, your family will definitely ask, “what’s for dinner?” That anticipation doesn’t need to be disappointed by, “What’s this? What was that you were cooking earlier?”
A good broth jells (like Jell-O / Gelatin) when cooled. But, if yours does not, it’s likely one of two reasons: 1) You didn’t simmer it long enough for the connective tissues to dissolve into the broth (this is a molecule-by-molecule process and takes time). 2) There just wasn’t enough connective tissues in the scraps themselves to dissolve (common with small broth batches).
If your broth does not gel; then no worries! Just cook with it; it’ll be A-OK!
If you’ve got minutes, then cook for minutes. But, if you have hours…simmer it for hours and add more beer as it reduces to keep the liquid level up.
Actually, I did not. Salting a dish is a tricky deal to say the least. I don’t know what your “salty” tastes like. So, I wrote an article on how to salt a soup, stew, chili, or bisque. It’s a how-to-salt-just-about-anything-perfectly article. READ IT HERE.
So, no. I don’t add salt to this broth recipe. I add salt to the recipe I am going to cook with this broth but not during the broth creating process.
One of the reasons I don’t add salt is that I am usually using a brined chicken…and the amount of saltiness depends on so many factors that occurred from when you first put that raw chicken in that beer brine. Read my article on “Salt” to learn how I perfectly salt a recipe.
You’ve had those thin, watery soups before. You’ve struggled to bring body to your stews. We’ve added this and that and still feel, “it’s missing something.” What your soup, stew, or chili is missing is body and the core flavor. It’s the broth that will make or break a pot of soup, stew, or chili.
Take the time and save the week’s trimmings, bones, and scraps. Keep them refrigerated until you have enough to make your broth. Give this a try and let me know what you think.
ENJOY!
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