wisdomfamilyx5
missouri
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My sister just took me shopping and bought me a dutch oven to use camping. I am an experienced cook however and have never used one before. I understand the basic concept and I currently cook with a cast iron skillet at home and I am aware how to clean it but I am curious about the baking of breads in the Dutch Oven. Any advise would be great.
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refloyd
Baqubah Iraq
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Joined: 02/17/2008
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Hey,
I do not know anything about baking bread in one, but I am offering my services to sample whatever comes out! 
Good luck with your recipes, as I know you will receive many.
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mike54
Woodstock,IL
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visit the dutch oven university
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Bearnkat
Fort Worth, Texas
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Welcome to the wonderful world of Dutch Oven's. You won't believe what you can cook in a Dutch Oven!
There are lots and lots great resources on the Internet. Do a Google search on "Dutch Oven Cooking".
I checked our website "Lone Star Dutch Oven Society" and they didn't have any chapters close to you. You might check:
International Dutch Oven Society website to see if there are any chapters within your state.
I'm sure more folks will chime in with suggestions. Have a great time cooking in your Dutch oven.
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chasfm11
Dallas/Ft Worth Areas
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I'm a relative newbie to dutch ovens myself. I had used them as a Boy Scout a VERY long time ago and have bought and started using my own dutch ovens with in the last year or so. I've baked bread and biscuits without problems, following some very good advice that I got early in my new dutch oven career:
1. There is nothing magic about a dutch oven. If you cannot bake bread at home, you won't be able to do it in a dutch oven either. I found a recipe that I liked from the Dutch Oven Society and tried it several times at home. The key is to get the preparation process down.
2. Use charcoal, not burned wood to get your coals. Charcoal is much easier to manage for us beginners.
3. It takes less charcoal than you might believe. The LSDOS has a couple of write-ups on "rings". A ring of charcoal around the bottom means just that - NO coals in the center- your stuff will burn (trust me). I typically bake bread a loaf at at time in a 10" dutch oven, use one ring on the bottom and a ring on the top with about 4 extra coals inside the ring.
4. Get a good charcoal "chimney" to start it. I got mine at Home Depot for about $12. The advantage is that you don't use fluid and all of the coals start evenly.
5. Watch. The bread I bake has an egg wash coating (I like crunchy crust). I periodically check the bread while it is baking, sometimes rotating the lid when I replace it to try to keep the heat even throughout. The key is paying attention to what is happening and changing the heat (usually decreasing it for me) if you don't like what is happening. With the experience of baking bread at home first, you get a feel for about what it should look like through the baking cycle and can adjust the heat in the dutch oven to match that cycle.
Good Luck. Bread is one of my favorites. I did it for the recent regional dutch oven gathering in Tyler, Tx. It was gone in just a few seconds after I put it out.
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Winstonsdad
North Texas
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Here are a couple of links you may also want to check out:
Byron's DO page
Dutch Oven Doctor
Lodge
Lodge temperature guide
* This post was
edited 03/18/08 11:11am by Winstonsdad *
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SWMO
Southwest Missouri
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Quote: A ring of charcoal around the bottom means just that - NO coals in the center- your stuff will burn (trust me).
I don't use a ring of coals, never have and my stuff doesn't burn.
I know that many have adopted this method, but not all, so you might want to experiment. I use the specific number of briquet's method and its served me well for 20+ years. For most of my cooking I double the size and put 25% of the bottom half on top. A 12" would have 9 on the bottom and 15 on top for 325-350 degrees. If you have any wind you have to be careful about burning on the wind side, no matter how you place the coals, constant turning, rather than a couple of times, will generally avoid it.
I cook biscuits quite often, but bread only once. The key for me is a wire rack trivet that holds the pan off the bottom a 1/4" or so, and using the right amount of charcoal.
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swtgran
Brimfield, Ohio
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I don't just turn the lid. When I am turning, I turn the bottom on direction and the top the opposite.
Swtgran
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mypedlcar
Texas
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I cook bread, biscuits, monkey bread in mine in a pie pan. I set the pan on top of an other inverted pie pan in the cutch oven to keep the product off the bottom & help with burning. Dutch ovens make wonderful cobblers too!
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Dutchess
Texas
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One technique some Dutch oven cooks like to use when baking biscuits, rolls, and breads directly on the bottom of the oven is the "two-thirds timing method." What that means is you bake the food with both top and bottom heat for about two-thirds of the total baking time. Then, remove the oven from the bottom heat and finish baking with top heat only. I've used this method and it works great.
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