Serves: 5

For those contemplating making the switch from wieners-on-a-stick type camp cooking to Dutch oven cookin’ the basic investment to get started will not require a visit to your banker. Once you acquire a Dutch it doesn’t take much else to start creating your own menus, however, a few items are mighty useful and will make the tasks much easier.

Probably the most important accessory for the beginning cook is a lid lifter. The lid for a 12-inch cast iron DO weighs between six and seven pounds. With 18-20 charcoal briquettes on top, it’s more than is smart to pick up with a regular kitchen hot pad! After trying several different lid lifters I’ve settled on the MAIR Dutch Oven Lifter. Most lid lifters use a hook to pick up the lid and a brace of some sort to keep the lid from tilting and spilling ash into the Dutch. The MAIR lifter uses a clamp arrangement to stabilize the lid and give more control. On my larger 14, 15, and 16 inch diameter ovens, it really makes moving lids and dumping ash a lot easier and safer.

If you can find them a pair of ‘hot pot pliers’ will save scorching your knuckles. The jaws on these pliers are offset from the handles which allow the cook to take the lid off a DO to check on progress without subjecting knuckles to direct heat from briquettes on the lid. The hot pot pliers I have also have a small hook that can be used to hook the hot bail of a Dutch and carry it like a bucket.

I also recommend a pair of heavy leather gloves. Try getting a pair at a welding supply store. They are heavy enough to quickly grab a hot coal or briquette that’s fallen out of the firepan and toss it back in. When moving hot and heavy objects like DO’s they will save you or your helper a trip to the ER. I also keep handy a pair of metal kitchen tongs to pick up errant coals and to arrange coals in the firepan and on my DO’s.

As with any endeavor the more one ‘gets into it’ the more one can spend on accessories and gadgets. The bottom line, though, is a meal will taste the same with these few basics as one prepared by an ‘expert’! (Personally, I don’t really care for the term ‘expert’ which I once heard defined as follows: An ‘ex’ is a has-been and a ‘spurt’ is a drip under pressure!)

Spiced with More Tall Tales - Introduction

More Recipes from the Cee Dub's Dutch Oven and Other Camp Cookin' Cookbook:
_A Pinch Of This And A Dash Of That
_Basic Camp Kitchen Lists
_Basic Camp Supply List
_Basic Chuck Box List
_Basic Dutch Oven Equipment List
_Basic Kitchen Equipment & Utensil List
_Budgets For Camp Cooks
_Buying A Dutch Oven
_Cleaning And Storing DO's
_Cooking "Lite"
_Cooking Techniques
_Cooking for VIPs
_DO's Need Love Too!
_DO: Cast Iron vs Aluminum
_DO: Do's And Don'ts & Tips
_DO: Dutch Oven Care
_DO: Selecting And Buying A Dutch
_DO: Selection And Care
_Decking Your Dutch Ovens
_Dutch Oven & Cast Iron Cookery
_Dutch Oven Equipment
_Garbage DO's And DON'T's
_Gettin' Started
_Is It Done Yet?
_Planning Your Menu
_Table of Dutches
_Words of Wisdom I
_Words of Wisdom II
__Last Word