Serves: 5

Oven 325º 350º 375º 400º 425º 450º
8" 15 16 17 18 19 20
10/5 11/5 11/6 12/6 13/6 14/6

10" 19 21 23 25 27 29
13/6 14/7 16/7 17/8 18/9 19/10

12" 23 25 27 29 31 33
16/7 17/8 18/9 19/10 21/10 22/11

14" 30 32 34 36 38 40
20/10 21/11 22/12 24/12 25/13 26/14

16" 34 36 38 40 42 44
22/12 24/12 24/14 27/13 28/14 30/14

Using this chart: The top whole number on the same row as the Dutch oven size is the total number of charcoal briquettes needed to achieve the desired temperature. The numbers below the whole number represent how many briquettes you need on top of the lid then the number of briquettes under the Dutch oven. So, in the case of an 8” Dutch oven, to get a temperature of 350° you need a total of 16 briquettes. Below the 16 you will notice the numbers 11/5. 11 is the number of briquettes for the top of the oven. 5 is the number of briquettes to go under the oven.

1-ring: If you make a circle of hot charcoal with all of the briquettes lying flat and touching each other, with spaces left out for the legs on the bottom rings, that is "one ring". The outside edge of the ring is lined up with the outside edge of the pot, top or bottom.

1/2-ring: A "half ring" is the same size circle, but with every other briquette missing.

2- rings: is simply a second ring just inside the first, with the rings touching.

Full spread: means to put all the briquettes you can (one layer deep, lying flat) either under (very rare, except in frying) or on top of the pot. This ring technique is kind of self-correcting for the size of the briquettes used. If your charcoal has been burning for a while, the pieces will be smaller and will put out less heat. But, it will take more of them to make a ring, so you still get about the same temperature. Of course they won't last as long and the comparison is rough, but it's better than counting briquettes!

These cooking utensils were designed hundreds of years ago to cook food using coals from wood fires. Yes, of course you can cook with campfire coals, but the technique is beyond the scope of this booklet.

Most Dutch oven cookbooks tell you how many charcoal briquettes to put on the lid and how many under the pot. As mentioned above, the resulting temperature depends on the size, and brand of your charcoal, how long it has been lit, the wind, and even if it is sunny or shady (a black pot will cook 25 degrees hotter in the summer sun than in the shade). I have been able to cook almost everything there is to cook with just four temperatures.....slow, medium, hot, and very hot. For a 12-inch oven, slow will have 1-ring on top, and 1 ring under the pot and be 300 +/- 25 degrees F. Medium is 1-ring under and 1-1/2 rings on top and is 350 +/- 25 degrees F. A hot oven is 1-ring under and 2-rings on top and is 400 +/- 25 degrees F, and very hot is 1 ring under and 2-1/2 rings on top and is 450 to 500 degrees F or so.

Notice with this method that you never change the number of rings under the pot. The exception is for frying or boiling, where I start with a full spread under the pot, and cook with the lid on with a few coals on top just to keep the heat in. Once it is frying or boiling briskly, take a few coals out from under the pot until it is cooking properly. Add some back if it slows down too much. The above directions were given for a 12-inch pot. For larger pots, you will need more charcoal on top to maintain the indicated temperatures, and less charcoal on smaller pots. Temperature is controlled partly by how much (percentage) of the lid is covered with charcoal. A 10-inch pot with 2 rings on top will be considerably hotter than a 14-inch pot with 2 rings on top. This is because two rings on top of a 10-inch oven covers a lot more of the lid (percentage wise) than two rings on a 14-inch pot. You will quickly learn to adjust the absolute amount of charcoal for different size pots.

More Recipes from the Cast Iron "Covered Wagon" Cookin Cooking for Crowds in BIG Ovens Cookbook:
Cooking Measurements
Measurement Conversion Chart
Other Cooking Information and Jargon
Baking Temperature Chart for Camp Dutch Ovens
Beef Roast Cooking Temperatures
In A Pinch Substitutes