Sulae’s Red Enchilada Beer Sauce – Salsa De Cerveza – Cast Iron Recipe
This is a quick and easy Enchilada Sauce Recipe that will give your enchiladas a bit of a zip and a zing.
Author: Sulae @ beerandiron.com
Butter and Cream Biscuit Recipe in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Pillows of the Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven. An easy recipe for having homemade biscuits in camp. We’ll use Half & Half in our example. This recipe will work with Buttermilk, Kefir, Old Milk, and even Beer and Milk.
Chicken Pot Pie Recipe in the Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Chicken Pot Pie Recipe Cooked in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven
I love this recipe. It’s easy to prepare at home and have many of the ingredients ready for cooking in camp. This recipe has three parts: 1) Preparing and cooking the chicken, 2), cooking the pot pie mixture with all the veggies and potatoes, and 3) the biscuit part that goes on top.
And, we are going to use HOMEMADE BISCUITS. You can use canned biscuits and that’s A-OK. But, this recipe goes from great to awesome with those biscuits on top. Not to mention that the left overs (if there are any) will be great for breakfast in the morning.
Three parts!? Yeah! I know. Right? No worries. It ain’t near the work you think it’s going to be. It’s a super easy recipe that can be created in camp.
History tells us that the pot pie was prepared with the crust under the “stuff” and not on top like I show in the video. A pot pie dish was originally a way to take a bunch of leftovers and turn them into a brand new meal. But, before the pot pie became popular in England in the 1500’s and later in America in the 1700’s, the Romans may have made the pot pie with living birds as a gag to play on dinner guest.
A 12-inch deep cast iron camp Dutch oven should do the trick. We’ll be baking this recipe in the camp cast iron Dutch oven and need some depth for the biscuits we’re going to use on the top (affiliate)
Lodge Cast Iron Camp Dutch Oven – 12 Inch / 6 quart: https://amzn.to/3Y1A3Tl
Lodge Cast Iron Deep Camp Dutch Oven – 12 Inch / 8 quart: https://amzn.to/3NYjTWa
You can create this recipe in any Dutch oven may it be in camp or at home. The only thing to keep in mind is the biscuit topping; we need both some room for the biscuits to rise and some air space between the top of the biscuits and the lid of the Dutch oven.
Some cast iron Dutch oven manufacturers have created pots with lids that second as a skillet. The lid will offer the additional room. Here’s an example: https://amzn.to/3K2pUzU
Supplies You May Need (Affiliate Links)
- Cutting Board for tenderizing and cutting the chicken and to cut the vegetables. I suggest using a separate cutting board. We use a red one for meat and another color for vegetables.
Meat: https://amzn.to/3NVPibP
Vegetables: https://amzn.to/3DeNYvB - Tenderizing Mallet (optional): https://amzn.to/46OrKye
- Needle Tenderizer (optional): https://amzn.to/44Jaqc8
- Zipper Bag – We use the zipper bag to brine the chicken before we cut the pieces and then to store the pieces until we are ready to cook: https://amzn.to/3OgcBhV
- Knife to cut the chicken, potatoes, onions, and garlic.
- Measuring Cups
- Measuring Spoons
- Can Opener
- Wooden Spatula or Sauté Paddle: https://amzn.to/3K1g1Cu
- Pastry Cutter: https://amzn.to/43uQqsP
- Biscuit Cutter: https://amzn.to/3rrJdw9
- Rubber / Silicone Spatula to Stir the Biscuits with and to get the Biscuit Dough out of the bowl.
- Basting Brush (to add the egg glaze/coating to the top of the biscuits).
Mixture Ingredients
- 3-4 Large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts (brined, tenderized, and cut into bite-sized pieces).
- 1/2 Cup of Flour (separate and apart from the biscuit flour).
- 2 Cans of Cream of Chicken Soup
- A Few Pieces of Fatty Bacon
- 1 Large Onion, Chopped or Diced
- 3-6 Cloves of Garlic, Diced or Minced
- 3 Russet Potatoes
- 2 Bags of Frozen Mixed Vegetables
- 1/2 cup evaporated milk
- Worcestershire sauce to taste (1-3 Tablespoons [give or take])
- Pepper to Taste
- Salt to Taste
- A Bit of Beer on Reserve. Hold on to the beer; we’ll add it if we need to.
Note on Salt: I brine my chicken meat before I cook this recipe. Brined chicken has salt already. Worcestershire sauce has salt and so does the Cream of Chicken Soup. Just sayin’
Biscuit Ingredients
- 2 Cups of All Purpose White Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 8 Tablespoons of Cold Butter
- 1+ Cup of Buttermilk (or 1/2 Cup of Buttermilk and 1/2 Cup of Beer [Mild Lager or Wheat Beer])
- 1 Scramble, Raw Egg for Coating the Biscuits
Note: You could use a full cup of buttermilk. But, you may need a bit more buttermilk to get the right consistency. Or, if you only have milk, just use a cup of milk. It’s all good!
Ready to Cook
There are a couple of ways to do this. You can pre-prepare your ingredients at home or prepare the whole meal in camp. It’s totally up to you. If you are pre-preparing at home, don’t cut your potatoes until you get to camp.
You could set your charcoal briquettes or wood to fire and get your coals ready for the Dutch oven. Or, you could get everything chopped up and ready before setting the fire. It’s up to you.
We’ll be frying our bacon and sautéing our chicken, onions, and garlic first. Set your Dutch oven up for frying. For our 12-inch Dutch oven, we’ll need 24 briquettes or the equivalent in wood embers.
Later, we’ll be baking the dish. Considering the 12-inch Dutch oven and the baking method, when the time comes, we’ll place 16 briquettes on the top and 8 briquettes on the bottom.
Learn how to heat a camp cast iron Dutch oven here: https://beerandiron.com/how-to-heat-camp-cast-iron-dutch-oven/
This recipe will cook in two parts. You will need a second batch of briquettes when it comes time to cook the top biscuits.
Step 1: Tenderize 3-4 Large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts. Brine them in a beer/salt brine for about 1 hour then pat dry. You could pre-prepare the chicken at home and carry it to camp in a doubled zipper bag or other container.
Here’s the link on how to make a beer brine: https://beerandiron.com/2023/02/simple-roasted-chicken (This recipe shows how to brine a whole chicken but the brine recipe is the very same).
Step 2: Pull out the frozen veggies and let them start warming up to “room” temperature. Or, rather, “the great outdoor’s” temperature.
Step 3: Cut the chicken breast meat into larger bite-sized pieces. Pat dry the chicken breast meat. Place the cut, pat-dried chicken meat into the 1/2 cup of flour and coat the pieces. They will eventually stick together and the flour will be a bit sticky; that’s A-OK. Set the floured chicken aside.
Step 3: Cut up the onion and the garlic. Set aside.
Step 4: With the cast iron camp Dutch oven over 30-briquettes (or more), render the fat from some of the fatty bacon (cut or not cut).
Step 5: While the bacon fat is rendering, wash and cut the potatoes into bite-sized chunks. Skin on or skin off; it’s up to you. I just leave it on. You could place the cut potatoes in a bowl of water (optional).
Step 6: Brown the chicken pieces up until they are no longer pink…and just before they are safe to eat. Chicken is considered “done” at 165°F / 74°C. I will cook a bit more when we put this all together. NOTE: Don’t overwhelm your pot with the chicken. Sear/brown in batches. Add more bacon if you need more fat.
Step 7: Once the chicken is browned remove the chicken from the pot and then sauté the onions and garlic until the onions are clear…not so clear as to be able to read newsprint through them, but you get the point. NOTE: If you need more cooking fat, you can add more bacon before adding the onions and garlic.
Step 8: Here’s the easy step: After you’ve sautéed the onions and garlic, return the chicken to the pot. Then, mix in the veggies, evaporated milk, cans of soup, potatoes, poultry seasoning, and Worcestershire Sauce. Salt and Pepper to taste.
Step 9: Mix all the ingredients in the pot all about and smooth out the top. The mixture should not be too runny nor should it “set” like pudding either. If the mixture is too thick (more than likely), add some of the reserved beer.
NOTE: We’re not creating soup. And, the ingredients in the pot all have moisture to some degree. We want it thick but not too thick.
Step 10: Bring the mixture to a bubbling boil. Don’t let it stick to the bottom. If it’s sticking, add some beer to thin it out. Once the mixture is bubbling, set the camp Dutch oven to bake.
If your briquettes have burned down too much, you will need to use a fresh batch.
Place 16 briquettes on the top of the oven and 8 under the oven and let the mixture cook until the potatoes are soft and taste done (careful on sampling those potatoes…they are HOT!).
Step 11: While the mixture is heating up to a “bubble,” prepare the dry ingredients for the biscuits. Mix together in a bowl:
- 2 Cups of All Purpose White Flour
- 1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
Blend all these ingredients together. Then, cut in the butter with the pastry cutter. You want a cornmeal consistency.
Don’t add the buttermilk (or other liquids) yet. Store the dry biscuit ingredients in a cold place (like the ice chest) for now.
Step 12: Once the potatoes are cooked (and the chicken is at least 165°F / 74°C), prepare the biscuits.
Note: How do your briquettes look? Do you need to start another set?
Biscuit Steps
A word on the biscuits. Homemade biscuits are my preference. However, a can of biscuits will work perfectly in this recipe. It’s up to you.
Biscuit Step 1: Add the buttermilk (or other liquid) to the dry biscuit ingredients.
Biscuit Step 2: Using the rubber / silicone spatula, mix the biscuit ingredients until you have a sticky dough mixture.
Biscuit Step 3: Remove the dough and set on a floured surface. Don’t knead the dough. Just flatten the dough and then fold over a few times. Dust with flour if it’s too sticky. Coat with a bit of flour so the dough does not stick to the surface nor your hands.
You’ll want to flatten the dough a bit thinner than you would if you were making morning biscuits. We want these biscuits to be a bit thinner than normal.
Biscuit Step 4: Cut the biscuits with a biscuit cutter. You could form them with your hands or cut them with a knife. No worries. Cutting with a biscuit cutter gives the best results. And, they all don’t have to be round either. Cut them “any which way but loose.” They may have half-moon shapes and that’s okay. We’ll piece these together in a bit.
Biscuit Step 5: Place the cut biscuits on the top of the cooked pot pie mixture. Just puzzle them in. If you run out of room, just shove the last one or two in sideways.
Biscuit Step 6: Scramble the raw egg. Using the basting brush, “paint” the top of the biscuits with the raw egg.
Return the lid to the pot.
Step 13: The hot pot pie mixture is our biscuit’s “bottom heat.” We need to heat the top of the Dutch oven. Place any of the remaining briquettes from the bottom of the Dutch oven to the top of the Dutch oven. Add the equivalent of about 20 briquettes to the top and let the biscuits bake.
Step 14: After about 10 minutes, check on the biscuits. How do they look? Turn the lid 1/3rd turn. Let the biscuits cook until they are nice and golden brown.
NOTE: If they look like they are done but are not browning up, add more briquettes to the top of the oven.
Once the biscuits have brown up nicely, your meal is ready to eat!!
Summary
And that’s it y’all. This is one of my all time favorite camp cast iron Dutch oven recipes. And, as easy as it is cooking this in camp, it’s easier to cook in the home stove. Use your 7 quart cast iron Dutch oven (or half the recipe for the 5 quart) and enjoy. NOTE: if you cook this inside, cook on the stove top until the potatoes are done (Step 12), then prep the biscuits and then bake at 400°F / 205°C until the biscuits are golden brown.
My name is Sulae and I love to share the magic that comes from my black pots and pans. You all be sure to sign up for the news letter and I’ll keep my messages short-and-sweet as well as few and far between. You keep on cooking in those cast iron beauties and enjoying those frosted glasses of that fermented barley pop.
We’ll see you next time on beerandiron.com.
Website: https://beerandiron.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/beerandiron
Twitter now called “X”: https://twitter.com/IronRecipes
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ironrecipes/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/beerandironrecipes/
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3jcMjHBuZ7C0x2TnssetrG
Chicken Pot Pie Recipe in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Beer-Brined & Tenderized Chicken Breast, Potatoes, Vegetables, with a Buttermilk Biscuit Crust all cooked in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven. We high-society now!
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
Searing and Browning the Chicken / Sauté the Onions and Garlic
- Tenderize 3-4 Large Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts. Brine them in a beer/salt brine for about 1 hour then pat dry. You could pre-prepare the chicken at home and carry it to camp in a doubled-up zipper bag or other container.
- Pull out the frozen veggies and let them start warming up to “room” temperature. Or, rather, “the great outdoor’s” temperature.
- Cut the chicken breast meat into bite-sized pieces. Pat dry the chicken breast meat. Place the cut, pat-dried chicken meat into the 1/2 cup of flour and coat the pieces.
- Cut up the onion and the garlic. Set aside.
- With the cast iron camp Dutch oven over 30 (or more) briquettes, render the fat from some of the fatty bacon.
- While the bacon fat is rendering, wash and cut the potatoes into bite-sized chunks.
- Brown the chicken pieces up until they are no longer pink.
- Once the chicken is browned, remove the chicken from the pot and then sauté the onions and garlic until the onions are clear.
Adding The Other Ingredients
- After you've sautéed the onions and garlic, return the chicken to the pot. Then, mix in the veggies, evaporated milk, cans of soup, potatoes, Worcestershire Sauce, and Poultry Seasoning. Salt and Pepper to taste.
- Mix all the ingredients in the pot all about and smooth out the top. The mixture should not be too runny nor should it “set” like pudding either. If the mixture is too thick (more than likely), add some of the reserved beer.
- Bring the mixture to a bubbling boil. Don't let it stick to the bottom. If it's sticking, add some beer to thin it out. Once the mixture is bubbling, set the camp Dutch oven to bake.
- While the mixture is heating up to a "bubble," prepare the dry ingredients for the biscuits.
Preparing the Biscuit Crust
- Blend all the biscuit ingredients together. Then, cut in the butter with the pastry cutter. You want a cornmeal consistency. DON'T ADD THE BUTTERMILK YET.
- Once the potatoes are cooked (and the chicken is at least 165°F / 74°C), prepare the biscuits by adding the Buttermilk
- Using the rubber / silicone spatula, mix the biscuit ingredients until you have a sticky dough mixture.
- Remove the dough and set on a floured surface. Don't knead the dough. Just flatten the dough and then fold over a few times. Dust with flour if it's too sticky. Coat with a bit of flour so the dough does not stick to the surface nor your hands.
- Cut the biscuits with a biscuit cutter.
- Place the cut biscuits on the top of the cooked pot pie mixture.
- Scramble the raw egg. Using the basting brush, "paint" the top of the biscuits with the raw egg.
Finishing Up
- The hot pot pie mixture is our biscuit's "bottom heat." We need to heat the top of the Dutch oven. Place any of the remaining briquettes from the bottom of the Dutch oven to the top of the Dutch oven. Add the equivalent of about 20-30 briquettes to the top and let the biscuits bake.
- After about 10 minutes, check on the biscuits. How do they look? Turn the lid 1/3rd turn. Let the biscuits cook until they are nice and golden brown.
- Once the biscuits have brown up nicely, your meal is ready to eat!!
Notes
Take your time and create this recipe for the first time. The second time will be much easier. ENJOY!
Easy Beer-Brined Chicken Piccata in a Beer and Lemon Sauce Cooked in Cast Iron Recipe
Chicken Breast, Lemon, Beer, Capers, and Butter. This is a super-easy recipe for most any night of the week. Easy at home and easy in camp.
Cast Iron Sesame Meatballs in a Honey Sweet-and-Tangy Beer Sauce Recipe
A very easy meatball recipe cooked with beer and in cast iron. But, don’t mistake easy as in trading for delicious; it’s that too.
Homemade License Plate Windshield for the Cast Iron Camp Dutch Oven
Homemade License Plate Windshield for Outdoor Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cooking
Create your own universal, one-size-fits-all, foldable, portable, easy-to-make wind screen that is as handy as a latch on an outhouse door! Maybe that’s not the perfect comparison but you get the gist.
There are many challenges in cooking outdoors. First and foremost, weather happens outside. Cold, hot, rain, wind, and all kinds of natural challenges. Hey! It’s what makes a good meal great. Yeah, flavor, right? Yes, you’ll be amazed at how delicious nostalgia tastes.
The biggest challenge with weather is usually managing the heat that “heats” the cast iron camp Dutch oven. That heat from your coals or charcoal briquettes is known as thermal heat. The heat from the charcoal briquettes travels outward in all directions (including down). Thermal heat or thermal radiation is like rivers of electromagnetic waves of heat.
These waves of heat hit the Dutch oven and are absorbed by the cast iron. In a windless environment, the thermal radiation waves of heat are “flowing” out from the charcoal briquettes and only the heat in the direct path of the “wave” is absorbed by the cast iron. The heat flowing up, warms the Dutch oven. The “waves” flowing down heat the base and help heat the Dutch oven as well. The “waves” of heat that are flowing out and away from the Dutch oven is energy that, for a lack of a better definition, is wasted energy.
Even on a windless day, the windshield could be thought of as a heat shield and helps the “waves” of heat find their way back to the Dutch oven at some level or another.
When we throw environmental wind into the cooking scene, we create a form of convection…kinda and sorta but not really. Let me quickly explain. Convection heat, the heated air or “waves” of heat are usually directed toward the object that we need to heat. BUT! When the wind blows over our camp cast Iron Dutch oven, that wind will “move” those waves of heat off into other directions. Think blowing on a spoon of hot soup. Only, we don’t want our soup cooled just yet.
There’s more to it for sure. For the most part, we get the concept of a windshield or a windscreen when we cook outside. And, we also get the concept of packing efficiently and at a minimum. And…this is most important (tongue-in-cheek)…we want to be the coolest Dutch oven chef in camp. This homemade license plate windshield is just the thing that will turn those heads and get those nods. You are about to be the coolest in camp.
Let’s Make Our Windshield
There’s more to this design than putting the windshield together with a bunch of key rings. It’s both that simple and a bit complex at the same time. First, here are the things you need:
- Ten (10) license plates (the USA versions).
- This is important: Use eighteen (18) 1 ¼ inch large key rings. I’ll explain why this size is important.
You can get a 100 Pack of Extra-Large Key Rings right here (affiliate link): https://amzn.to/41dYTPX
The first question is: Why do we have to use 1.25 inch (1 ¼”) key rings?
This is the perfect size for holding the license plates close enough to block most of the wind and allow some air movement. Fire will only be fire with air…oxygen.
Second, key rings that are smaller will not allow the windshield to fold. It will just bunch up and make you say ugly words. We can’t have that.
Third, if the rings are too big, that will let too much air in between the spaces and defeat the purpose of the windshield (though it will provide some shielding).
10 license plates are all you’ll need for your all your Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven sizes.
There are a few sizes you will be cooking with. Likely you cook with a 10-inch or a 12-inch or have a few of these that you cook with. Some of you will have an 8-inch and/or a 14-inch camp cast iron Dutch oven. And fewer of you will have a size bigger than a 14-inch like the coveted 16-inch oven from Lodge (now go say a prayer and ask for forgiveness ye who covets…I’m joking…I have two of them dudes).
Now we know how many license plates we need, how do we put it together. HEY! If you can cook in a cast iron Dutch oven in the great outdoors, you’ve likely half done with your windscreen already. Nonetheless, I’ll show you the technique:
- Feed two key rings through the top two holes on one license plate.
- Take the second license plate and feed those two key rings though the bottom holes of the second license plate.
- Keep adding rings and license plates until you have a windscreen that suits the size of the Dutch oven you cook with.
Chef Tip: I didn’t do this with my windscreens until I realized what I did. I kinda like my license plates to be dress-right-dress. So, when I make windscreens now, I attach them top and bottom. When I hold the screen up, all of the plates are right-side-up and not with some that are upside-down.
Where to Get License Plates
There’s two truths from this point forward. First, you’ll start looking and find none. You’ll swear that you’ve seen 1000’s of them “in the wild” but now it seems they’ve all been found. Second, when you do find some, you’ll be a bit giddy and almost like a 6-year-old girl with a new Barbie Doll. I know I’ve given a bit of a girlish giggle when I find plates out and about. But, we’ll keep that to ourselves.
Mine have come from two places. First, we’ve moved a whole heck of a lot over the years. From Louisiana and Mississippi, to Alaska, to Idaho, and then back to Louisiana that year I gave my wife that Emmy Lou Harris CD, “Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town.”
After that fella got stabbed in the butt by another fella’s Old Timer in the parking of our Motel 6, we headed back to Idaho.
Then, a few years later and a son-in-tow, we moved over to Tennessee to be near our relocating family. Why not? Murfreesboro is a nice town. And, after a couple of Christmases spent as alone as we did in Idaho, back to Idaho we went. Been here ever since…with all of our old license plates.
Emmy Lou Harris music and a fella stabbed in the butt with a pocket knife…those are stories for another day.
The other places have been garage sales (usually a buck-a-plate but I’m willing to go up to 3 bucks unless it’s a good one and maybe a bit more). Keep an eye on the road and your peripheral vision to the side of the road. There are two things that are fair game if you find them in the road: License Plates and Metal Garbage Can lids. If you are not sure of who the owner is, then finders-keepers-losers-weepers!
Other suggestions: Ask your family. I am sure there are a few of them who still hold on to old plates. There’s something about license plates and privacy. Everyone and their mother can see your license plate when zooming around like a wild banshee out of heck while picking your noses and eating Taco Bell (not you but folks I know)! But we still tend to hide them in photos and keep them like old identification markers that will lead all the hooligans straight to our front door if those numbers and letters were to ever find their way to a social media post.
Speaking of social media posts, put out a Facebook post or a Tweet. Ask your friends for their plates and let them know they are for “art materials.” Do not tell them about this cool article until after you have their plates. Just sayin’! Not, really. Don’t do that to your friends…well…don’t do that to some of your friends. There are those others who…well… Never mind. Mamma always said if you ain’t got nothin’ nice to say… You finish that sentence. And…their plates (if they give them to you) are fair game!
Did You See that Crack?
Did you see that crack in the lid of my 16-inch cast iron Dutch oven? This was a Dutch oven that I found on Facebook market and paid $80.00 for it. Want to read the story of my cracked cast iron Dutch oven? Sure, you do. Here’s the link: https://beerandiron.com/2023/05/what-is-my-cast-iron-worth
Summary
There. You’ve got it!! It’s that easy. If you show off your awesomeness at camp and post your license plate windscreens, I’d love the tag.
Facebook: @beerandiron
Twitter: @IronRecipes
Instagram: @ironrecipes
YouTube: @beerandiron
Hey. My name is Sulae. And I love to share the magic that comes out of my black pots and pans. Y’all keep hanging out here at BeerAndIron.com and take a moment to sign up for the newsletter. Trust me, I ain’t gonna bug you.
We’ll see you all next time. And keep on cooking in those black cast iron beauties and enjoying those frosted glasses of that fermented barley pop! Que the pop, hiss, and gurgle-gurgle of beer pouring into your frosted Shaker Pint!
Pork and Spuds Cooked in the Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven Recipe
Pork, rosemary, potatoes, bell pepper, and thickened with seasoned bread crumbs. An easy Cast Iron Camp Dutch Oven Recipe with few ingredients. Easy. Delicious.
Story of My Wagner 1891 Original Cast Iron Skillet
“Sulae, you’ll be cooking with these long after I am gone and in the ground.” – Granddaddy
Chipped Cast Iron – What Is My Cast Iron Worth…TO ME?
What is Your Cast Iron Cookware Worth?
Some of you may ask that question about some of your cast iron cookware. But, I am guessing that all of you have a piece that is worth more to you than what you’d find that same piece selling for at a garage sale, eBay, or even in a flea market. Some of our cast iron cookware tell us a story each and every time we cook with it.
My son just turned 16-years-old. He’s rocking the 10th grade and is excited about his future. Rolling back in time to his 4th grade year, his elementary school sponsored an old west learning day with an outfit called Wagons Ho! I was his school’s school nurse and tagged along on his field trip “just to make sure no one got hurt.” Hey! It’s a legit reason.
I also brought my camera; the principle asked me to take photographs of the Wagons Ho! field day. I do some stock photography as well. And, though I would not be able to sell the images of the children, there would be plenty to photograph that would work for stock.
Along with all the cool activities they had for the kids to participate in, they were cooking a tri-tip pot pie beef stew in a 16-inch cast iron camp Dutch oven that would feed all the teachers and also the children.
The cowboy fella placed that gigantic pot right into that fire. Being a cast iron junkie, the image of that pot sitting in the flames was beautiful. I took that photo of that pot in that fire and continued on with my day as daddy, school nurse, and event photographer. I was a man with many jobs and enjoyed every minute of it.
When I got home, my focus was to post-process the images of the children for the school’s presentation and to let the parents get a copy of their child’s photograph that the school gave each one. The images that I had taken for stock sat on my hard drive for sometime after that. How long? I can’t remember. It’s something I usually neglect.
Taking the photographs is fun; processing the photographs is work.
Anyway, after seeing that big pot, I decided I’d be on the lookout for one to purchase from someone. Sure! I found a few. They were big, black, and beautiful. And the prices ranged from $450-$600 US. Truth be known, my 14” often sat in the carry bag unused for months at a time. I didn’t need a 16” camp cast iron Dutch oven; I wanted one.
Lo and behold a Facebook market listing for a Lodge 16-inch camp cast iron Dutch oven came about. They were asking $100. Lickety-split and boogity boogity, I was over there faster than a knife fight in a phone booth! I’d been looking all over hell’s half acre for one of these and I was bound and determined to get this one.
As you mighta guessed it, it wasn’t perfect. There was a chipped off piece from the rim of the lid for that pot. The lid was intact and the pot was perfect. The chipped off piece would not affect the pot’s cooking none.
“How about $80?”
The lady took my eighty dollars and waved me bye.
I ordered a bag for it, packed it away and clicked “done” on that bit of a to-do.
That Wagons Ho! field day was in the spring of 2017. The summer was full of cooking, adventuring, and photographing (we school nurses enjoy them summers…yes we do [for me that’s a “did enjoy”]). Then, come along the fall, start of school, and eventually the winter.
I find that I do a lot of post processing on my photographs in the winter. The folder with those Wagons Ho! images came up and there was that image of that gigantic cast iron camp Dutch oven sitting in that fire…with a chipped off piece from the rim of the lid.
Now, you go figure that one out. I’ve had that pot since 2017 and it’s one of my favorite pieces of cookware…because it now has a great story. It’s an impressive beast of a Dutch oven and can feed an army…we know that well, it fed two hungry 4th grade classes and all the teachers including yours truly. I am always tickled when I take it out and cook with it; memories of that day…what a good day it was.
It’s also a treat when I see the notification that I have sold an image from one of my stock companies. Every once in a while, that image will pop up as having sold. That chip is such a tell-tale that I am glad it’s there.
I understand that Lodge put the hiatus on those 16-inchers in 2000 and then fired them back up in 2003 for another 10 years before calling it done. I’ve had this one going on 6 years as of 2023 and one day my boy will have it and remember that day with his old daddy there at his school on his field day.
Hey. Thank y’all for being here and letting me share this story. My name is Sulae and I love to share the magic that comes out of my black pots and pans. You all keep on cooking in those black beauties and enjoying those frosted glasses of that fermented barley pop. We’ll see you next time on Beer and Iron.
Heating a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven
Cook anything in a Camp Cast Iron Dutch Oven with these easy steps. How to heat the oven. How many Briquettes / Coal / Charcoal to use. Baking Frying Roasting.
Recent Comments