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**jfmorris** · October 19, 2022, 01:41 PM

Congrats on the new DO, sorry it arrived damaged. If it were me, I would contact Lodge. See my comment above about seasoning. Lodge has an article on it.

I don't see bacon grease as your best seasoning oil. It smokes at a low temp. Unless you mean to cook bacon and eggs in the DO - which while possible, will be a pain due to the high side walls.

For my first cook I would look for some type of one-pot meal recipe. The strength of the DO is that you can sear/brown your meat, then add a braising liquid, cook the meat down, then add some veggies to cook the last few hours. I've done a beef osso bucco recipe that my wife loved, using some beef shanks sourced from Porter Road. Their recipe is really really good:

Dutch Oven Beef Osso Buco

https://porterroad.com/blogs/news/dutch-oven-beef-osso-buco?_pos=1&_sid=a1ebb0393&_ss=r

This low and slow braise from Laura makes Osso Buco an incredibly approachable dish for cooks of all skill levels. Osso Buco is cut from the beef's leg, which means there's a bit of a tradeoff — the meat is naturally tough from constant use, but also features an exceptionally deep and beefy flavor. With the right recipe, and a few hours of patience, this cut is insanely delicious. Our friend Laura, of Cook at Home Mom, created this easy recipe to guide you through the process of turning this slightly intimidating cut into a fantastic meal. This recipe is gluten-free. Dutch Oven Beef Osso Buco Ingredients 2 lbs Beef Osso Buco 1 Tbsp Butter 2 Tbsp Olive Oil 2 Cloves Garlic, Minced 1/2 Onion, Diced 2 Medium Carrots, Diced 1 Cup Beef Stock 1/2 Cup White Wine 14 oz. Can of Diced Tomatoes 1 tsp Salt 1/4 tsp Black Pepper 1/4 tsp Dried Thyme 1/8 tsp Dried Rosemary 1/8 tsp Oregano Parsley, Chopped for Garnish Directions Step 1 Preheat oven to 325°F. Pat the beef dry and season with salt and pepper. If you'd like to serve your Osso Buco whole, you can tie kitchen twine around each cut. Step 2 Heat oil and butter in a 6 quart or similar sized dutch oven on the stove over medium-high heat. Sear the beef on all sides, until browned, about 4 minutes per side. Remove and set aside. Step 3 Add carrots and onions to the dutch oven, and sauté over medium heat for 5 minutes, add garlic and continue cooking for an additional minute. Step 4 Add the wine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add tomatoes, beef stock, beef, and herbs, and bring to a simmer. Cover and transfer to the oven to cook for 3 hours. Step 5 Serve over polenta or mashed potatoes, garnished with fresh parsley. Shop Osso Buco

Served over some mashed potatoes, that is an amazing meal. My wife said "I don't know what I am eating, but its the best thing I've ever had". High praise from her! Just adapt to cooking outside with charcoal using that chart someone published for getting your temperature inside the DO where you want it.

Another thought is to roast a chicken in the DO, along with some veggies. Options are endless!

There are also some web sites that specialize in camping DO cooking. Both of these are dated, but have some good recipes:

Everyday Dutch Oven

http://www.everydaydutchoven.com

Sharing my love of Dutch Oven cooking with everyday recipes and tips for the outdoor cook.

Dutch Oven Recipes

http://www.dutchovendude.com/dutch-oven-recipes.php

Dutch Oven recipes for camping

**CHNeal** · October 19, 2022, 02:12 PM

Originally posted by jfmorris View Post

Congrats on the new DO, sorry it arrived damaged. If it were me, I would contact Lodge. See my comment above about seasoning. Lodge has an article on it.

I don't see bacon grease as your best seasoning oil. It smokes at a low temp. Unless you mean to cook bacon and eggs in the DO - which while possible, will be a pain due to the high side walls.

For my first cook I would look for some type of one-pot meal recipe. The strength of the DO is that you can sear/brown your meat, then add a braising liquid, cook the meat down, then add some veggies to cook the last few hours. I've done a beef osso bucco recipe that my wife loved, using some beef shanks sourced from Porter Road. Their recipe is really really good:

https://porterroad.com/blogs/news/du...1ebb0393&_ss=r

Served over some mashed potatoes, that is an amazing meal. My wife said "I don't know what I am eating, but its the best thing I've ever had". High praise from her! Just adapt to cooking outside with charcoal using that chart someone published for getting your temperature inside the DO where you want it.

Another thought is to roast a chicken in the DO, along with some veggies. Options are endless!

There are also some web sites that specialize in camping DO cooking. Both of these are dated, but have some good recipes:

Everyday Dutch Oven

http://www.everydaydutchoven.com

Sharing my love of Dutch Oven cooking with everyday recipes and tips for the outdoor cook.

Dutch Oven Recipes

http://www.dutchovendude.com/dutch-oven-recipes.php

Dutch Oven recipes for camping

jfmorris

Thank you so very much for the info and advice. Great tip on the avocado oil, i happen to have a bottle on hand! Ive contacted lodge and Home Depot where I purchased it. Both are willing to get a new one in my hands and HD will do it in store so thats the route Ill take. Just have to postpone my first cook ( pot roast Im thinking) till next weekend.
I know its a cast iron work house and some dings and rough spots wont hurt it but why not start from perfect and create my own wear and tear…

Thanks also for the links I am so looking forward to this next evolution in my cooking.

**CHNeal** · November 3, 2022, 10:21 AM

Update on my DO hunt and acquire.

As I stated my 8 quart showed up just beat to hell! Went to exchange it and found Home Depot to be out of stock. Decided I would just return it and buy directly from Lodge.
Ordered from Lodge. Shipped the next day and that was the last its been heard of….UPS says delivered at certain time and date, ring door bell / camera says bullshit! Actually sent video clip of stated delivery time to UPS branch manager to show his guy is a lying piece….Also sent video of different driver delivering a different package to my house 2 hours later…they were very confused after that…Lodge refunded my purchase and promptly sent a replacement to someone else at a completely different and wrong address!!!
Gave up on Lodge and saw they were back in stock at Home Depot so I ordered from them again and today my new 6 quart ( yep wrong item) arrived! Im done! 6 quarts will just have to be big enough as I am obviously not supposed to have an 8 quart!

**jfmorris** · November 3, 2022, 10:25 AM

Good grief! That's horrible! It should not be so much trouble to get a freaking dutch oven!

Are there no sporting goods or camping type stores near you? All those places typically have dutch ovens in stock.

Hey - maybe your wife is interfering with these orders, since she did tell you that she needed a gift for your birthday.... maybe she is trying to delay you!

**CHNeal** · November 19, 2022, 06:07 AM

Morning all,
Thought I would toss an update in here. Used the 6 qt for the first time last night to do a pot roast. What a great piece of cookware that is!
I had so much fun with that cook and will be doing SheilaAnn suggested Osso Bucco as soon as I source the shanks.

I did discover that I still want the 8 quart as its a 12” deep oven and turns out i could have used the extra height to get the top away from my carrots. Until cooking last night I honestly just couldnt see much difference between the 6 and 8 qt but these need to be thought of as standard and deep.

So to sum it up…

Im hooked and can see myself cooking as much with cast as I will with a kettle for those weekend family supper cooks.

**jehlydonuts** · April 3, 2023, 07:59 PM

I am grateful for this thread as it spurred me to deep fry chicken in a DO on my BGE. The temperature control was so much easier than on a stove and it’s so nice to not have to deal with the splatter. I was sheepish about trying it until reading jfmorris’s comment. Thanks!

**Alan Brice** · April 4, 2023, 08:09 AM

I have had an enameled 8qt that I love. I got concerned when I heard others say to be careful with enamel in the fire. fzxdoc mentioned this Camp Chef. Orig $79.95 so I just kept looking. Then Amazon had one slightly used so I bit. It came in perfect condition.
8qt CI w/notch for your temp probe. $51-52.
Not even $60 after tax n title. 13 x 12 with a lid you can turn over for shallow cooking. 1 inch deep n base is 3 1/4 inch deep! Fits perfect in the base of the kettle with room around it for coals. Thanks Kathryn!

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