Why Dutch Oven Cooking is a Utah Tradition
Dutch Ovens in Utah: A Historical Legacy
There are more Dutch ovens per person in Utah than in any other state. Dutch-oven cooking has been passed down to many in Utah from our pioneer forefathers. I can remember as a young child anxiously waiting for my dad to take the lid off our big black oven. Only then could we eat the 2-inch-high sourdough biscuits that awaited each of us. We would break the steaming biscuits in half, spread homemade butter and honey over them and devour each biscuit. I honestly thought I was in Food Heaven!
Fun Backyard Cooking Ideas
Dutch ovens are wonderful tools to cook out in the wild, or even in your own backyard. In fact, there are several fun places to use your Dutch oven in your backyard. You can use the barbecue (which I will explain next) or a wheelbarrow. Even a row of bricks can make a great surface for Dutch-oven cooking. They will also protect your cooking area, whether it be grass or your deck.Barbecue
You can use your charcoal barbecue as the base. Place the briquets on a foil-covered pizza pan and place it on the grilling rack. Then place the Dutch oven over the briquets. This is a great way to use your Dutch oven if you don’t have any other nonflammable surface to cook on.
If you are going to be cooking several dishes all at once, you can stack the ovens to save space and briquets. Stacking works best if you put the foods to be baked at the bottom of the stack and foods to be fried in the smaller ovens at the top of the stack. Be sure to stack the ovens with the largest at the bottom and decrease them in size as you stack.
Cooking Techniques with Dutch Ovens
You can cook basically anything that your heart desires in your Dutch oven. Baking, frying, roasting, boiling and spit cooking are all possible. Just spray the inside of your Dutch oven with cooking spray before you get started and cleanup will be a snap.
Frying – Frying is a fast and easy way to prepare food in your Dutch oven. Simply put oil in the bottom of the pot and place it over the briquets. To test whether the oil is hot enough tobegin frying, drop flour into it – if it sizzles, you’re ready to go.
When frying, use the same number of briquets as the number of inches of the oven. For instance, if you are using a 10-inch oven, use 10 briquets underneath it.
Baking – Most people would never dream of baking outside, but you won’t believe the wonderful treats that can be baked in a Dutch oven. You can whip up cakes, pies and biscuits in the same amount of time that you could bake them in your kitchen. Baking can be done directly in the Dutch oven, or you can cook by placing a pan that is elevated with rocks in your Dutch oven. Using a pan allows air circulation and prevents your masterpiece from burning.
One tip you’ll want to remember is that when you are baking with sugar, be sure to line the oven with foil to make cleanup easy. You can also bake two dishes at once in one Dutch oven by lining it with foil and creating a foil divider down the middle. Two items baked at the same time should either have the same cooking time or the cooking times should be staggered.
World Dutch Oven Cook-off (1997)
The biggest Dutch oven event in the country is in Utah this Saturday. The World Dutch Oven Cook-off is taking place in Cache County, where 15 teams will compete for the championship. If you go to the Jensen Historical Farm, located at 4025 S. Highway 89-91 in Wellsville, on Saturday, Aug. 2, between 2-5 p.m., you’ll get to take part in the big event.
