# Tripod And Dutch Oven Cooking?



## Fanatical1 (Jan 9, 2006)

I have been considering buying a tripod and dutch oven to use when camping but am completely unsure about the 
idea and wanted the thoughts of my fellow Outbackers who may do this.

I like that we could use it to make a stew, chili or anything for that matter using the tripod to cook over the campfire, 
but what I keep debating about is that I have to lug the stuff (heavy/bulky) with me and the time it will take to clean 
everything after cooking to take home. Is it worth the trouble/work or is it one of those things you buy and then don't
use it much because it's too much of a pain?









Mark


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## GarethsDad (Apr 4, 2007)

I like cooking with cast iron. Start the fire, mix up your fixings, put your meal in the dutch oven, arrange the coals. Set the oven over the coals and walk away. It's the best way to make chicken and dumplings. I clean out the pot while its still hot. Pour out the leftovers if any, then rinse out the oven with water. Towel dry or let water evaporate, wipe with a papertowel with cooking oil on it and your done. James


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## H2oSprayer (Aug 5, 2006)

Although contrary to what we should be doing on a camping trip, we tend to keep busy with "activities" during the day and don't find that we are at the campsite until later in the day. We have a large dutch that we loved to cook with, but now with the boys (I know it sounds funny), we don't find that we have the time to cook in a dutch oven. When the boys are hungry, they are hungry. I would rather shave some of the time off and instead of cooking in the dutch oven, start a fire and simply place some chicken breasts, pork chops or other of the like over the fire to cook in just a few minutes. Although, from time to time, we still pull out the dutch oven to make a desert of some type.


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## Y-Guy (Jan 30, 2004)

I have to agree with H2oSprayer - I've had a dutch oven since the days of our Pop Up. Its fun to cook with, but as you noted heavy and cleaning is a PITA. Instead of using it we tend to be doing other things and when it comes time for meals I'm not into the long process. I'd rather relax by the campfire, eat, and relax. I will say I am glad I have it, and if I get the desire again I know I can use it, but for now its not in the cards.


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## campingnut18 (Mar 11, 2004)

the tripod is a great thing to have. it will help keep the oven off the hot fire .
its great for soup or stews.

one new thing out for dutch ovens, wal-mart sells is parchment paper.
its molded to fit all ovens ,wont burn. just take out after all the food is gone.
clean oven, heat back up on fire to remove all the water. oil it up and your ready for the next meal.

i love cooking on ours i just never find as much time while camping as i would like.

nothing is better than a southeastern dutch oven PEACH COBBLER.
man will it make your tongue slap your brain.









campingnut


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## 2500Ram (Oct 30, 2005)

I'm not sure on the tripod, we dutch oven cook maybe 2 times a year, cobblers, stews etc., hardly worth having it but when we do the pot is sitting on the coals with more on the lid for even cooking.

Ours has a lid like this








for the coals on top.

Great food.

Make sure you season the pot before the first use, butter the inside, outside, place in your home oven low temp for a few hours. Read the instructions that come with the pot to be sure.

Good luck.
Bill.


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## skippershe (May 22, 2006)

We haven't gone the dutch oven route yet, but if we ever do, it would be with one made by

Lodge Manufacturing.

They are pre-seasoned and ready to use


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## RizFam (Feb 25, 2006)

Everyone that I have seen cook w/ a Dutch Oven used coals.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

I'd try to avoid a tripod and go with a simple grill and rocks.

We use our grill all the time for just about everything we cook (ribs..burgers..chicken..etc). Grab a few rocks from around camp..place in the fire to make a stable area...and your good to go.

You should be able to place the Dutch over on here as well.


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## TDaniels (May 18, 2007)

I have to say I'm not the cook in the family, until it comes to camping, then the Dutch oven comes out on every camping trip. After going to leaders training for cub scouts I became hooked, and now have 3 ovens, 2 chimney starters, a set of tongs for the coals, a lid lifter, a trivet to set the lid on and a IR heat gun. Everything except the ovens fit in a small plastic bin we store in the bike area under the front bunk (we only take 1 or 2 of the ovens on every trip just depends on the number of people going). The hardest part of cooking with the dutch oven is keeping the temperature consistent (the reason for the IR heat gun).I have cooked lasagna, jambalaya, ribs, desserts and many other incredible meals in the dutch oven and the only time that cleaning becomes a pain is after the ribs and when warm water is in short supply. There is almost no better conversation piece than the dutch oven in cooking mode! I say go for a pre-seasoned dutch oven but leave the tripod at the store. Just my $.02 and I hope this helps. (It also helped justify the heat gun for other purposes like tire and wheel bearing temps since the DW won't complain when I do the cooking)!!

Todd.


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## Rip (Jul 13, 2006)

Where did you get this grill???????????????


Oregon_Camper said:


> I'd try to avoid a tripod and go with a simple grill and rocks.
> 
> We use our grill all the time for just about everything we cook (ribs..burgers..chicken..etc). Grab a few rocks from around camp..place in the fire to make a stable area...and your good to go.
> 
> You should be able to place the Dutch over on here as well.


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Rip said:


> Where did you get this grill???????????????


At a local store here in Oregon called "GI Joes". But you can find them anywhere they have BBQ stuff. You can even go to Weber's web site and order one online.


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## Rip (Jul 13, 2006)

Thanks


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

Rip said:


> Thanks


No problem...


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## happycamper (Jul 26, 2005)

We/I use the DO alot. I almost never put it over the fire anymore! We use charcoal. Find it makes prep and cooking a bit faster. The pot doesn't get as dirty for clean up. We put ours on the ground inside a cheap charcoal grill pan. If the inside is sticky empty it while hot add some hot water and place back over hot coals. Dry it out oil it up and pack it up for next time. We enjoy it but it's not for everyone depends on how you like to spend your time.

Steph


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## Fanatical1 (Jan 9, 2006)

TDaniels said:


> I have to say I'm not the cook in the family, until it comes to camping, then the Dutch oven comes out on every camping trip. After going to leaders training for cub scouts I became hooked, and now have 3 ovens, 2 chimney starters, a set of tongs for the coals, a lid lifter, a trivet to set the lid on and a IR heat gun. Everything except the ovens fit in a small plastic bin we store in the bike area under the front bunk (we only take 1 or 2 of the ovens on every trip just depends on the number of people going). The hardest part of cooking with the dutch oven is keeping the temperature consistent (the reason for the IR heat gun).I have cooked lasagna, jambalaya, ribs, desserts and many other incredible meals in the dutch oven and the only time that cleaning becomes a pain is after the ribs and when warm water is in short supply. There is almost no better conversation piece than the dutch oven in cooking mode! I say go for a pre-seasoned dutch oven but leave the tripod at the store. Just my $.02 and I hope this helps. (It also helped justify the heat gun for other purposes like tire and wheel bearing temps since the DW won't complain when I do the cooking)!!
> 
> Todd.


Wow. Sounds like you use it for just about everything! You are tempting me to buy one. I'm sure your right about it being a converstion piece.

Mark


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## Rubrhammer (Nov 27, 2006)

Mark,
I made the tripod for our Boy Scout troop. Do you have access to a welder? I used electrical counduit for the legs and just welded 3 washers together at the angle needed to spread the legs over the fire. I'll look fo pics. I hung turkeys from it also to roast.


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## MJRey (Jan 21, 2005)

We use our dutch ovens almost every trip for things like stew, trip-tip, and my favorite cobblers. I have always just used charcoal brickets on the ground or a dutch oven stand/table when one or our camping companions have one. I think a tripod wouldn't be all that useful but I'm sure it makes sense for some people. I have found the dutch oven to be very easy to clean if it's properly seasoned. The last dutch oven I bought was a Lodge and it came preseasoned and I picked up a nice carrying bag at Cabelas. The one thing I do to keep it clean is using heavy duty aluminum foil when cooking things like cobbler. The sugar baking directly in the oven is hard on the seasoning and can be hard to clean. I just pull out the aluminum foil and throw away the messiest part. When cooking meats it's very easy as well, after taking out the meat I just use hot water and a soft brush to clean out the oven. I've been doing this for years and my two ovens are still in good shape. Oh, I also spray the ovens with Pam once they're dry and ready to put away.


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## Fanatical1 (Jan 9, 2006)

Rubrhammer said:


> Mark,
> I made the tripod for our Boy Scout troop. Do you have access to a welder? I used electrical counduit for the legs and just welded 3 washers together at the angle needed to spread the legs over the fire. I'll look fo pics. I hung turkeys from it also to roast.


Unfortunatly, I do not have access to a welder (and I'm not sure I would want to display my welding ability to other campers).

Here is the tripod I was looking at on e-bay.

Clicky


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## GoVols (Oct 7, 2005)

Love our camp dutch oven. Don't use a tripod to hang it, I just scoop out some coals to the side to set the pot on. (It's a camp style with three short legs.)

Breakfast casserole and cobblers are our favorites.


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## mjatalley (Feb 2, 2006)

We started using a Dutch oven last year with a tripod over the fire and had some wonderful meals. So much so that we decided to invest in more ovens and and a table that works well for cooking with charcoal. With the table, you can stack the ovens on each other. We have enjoyed both methods. For recipies that take longer, we like the tripod over the fire instead of trying to keep charcoal going for a long time.


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## Collinsfam_WY (Nov 9, 2006)

I really enjoy our dutch oven. I am a novice at using it but not a novice at cooking in general so it all works out around meal time.

We tend to do hiking or other activities in the morning or mid-day and arrive back at our site in plenty of time to start a fire and cook in the dutch oven (and for me to take a nap!). We don't have a tripod, in my world that looks like an accident waiting to happen, but the grill idea may be just what I need to help out my DO cooking.

I need recipes more than anything...HINT HINT HINT to you experts. All the foods listed in previous posts would start me off nicely. Thanks!


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## 2500Ram (Oct 30, 2005)

I love our grill, best cooking over fire.










Bill.


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## mgoblue26rs (May 22, 2007)

We had a tripod and didn't like it very much, it was hard to cook on, because it's always swinging and over the fire. We bought an adjustable grill (similar to the one at Cabela's) that has a long stake to drive into the ground, and you can adjust the height as needed and move it off of the fire if you need to.

We haven't used a dutch oven yet, but we broke out the cast iron skillet, it's fantastic on the adjustable grill. We made a great breakfast casserole in a fraction of the time it normally takes to cook everything with the electric griddles and such.

One of our friends showed us how to season (bacon grease) and clean (salt), it's really great!!! We can't wait to try more recipes this spring.


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## Tonopah (Nov 17, 2007)

Good info on dutch oven cooking:

http://papadutch.home.comcast.net/~papadutch/


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

2500Ram said:


> I love our grill, best cooking over fire.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Now that's what I'm talk'n about!!


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## campingnut18 (Mar 11, 2004)

here are more recipes than you will ever need.

http://www.chuckwagondiner.com/categories.php?id=9

http://www.campfirecafetv.com/home1.html

enjoy campingnut


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## TDaniels (May 18, 2007)

I can take hints as well as anyone. Here are a few of our favorite recipes.

 for lasagna

[url="http://http://www.justdutchovenrecipes.com/dut-0016040.html"] for some incredible Ribs

[url="http://http://www.fabulousfoods.com/recipes/main/pork/folsejambalaya.html"] for Jambalaya

Todd.


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## bobbyg123 (Oct 9, 2007)

Like many things, once you have kids tradition gives way to convenience. Crockpots, convection ovens, george foreman grills, and the outdoor gas BBQ offer a much better solution when you're playing beat the clock with hungry little mouths. When we camp, we like to prep as much of the meals in advance as we can and have them ready to go. We bring big vacuum sealed bags of fresh veggies & cut up and seasoned meats, protein bars, egg whites in a carton, and shredded cheese. This allows us to whip together healthy meals in well under 30 minutes.

I love dutch ovens, but for us the only thing we prepare on the open fire is smores. Time is everything with twin boys!


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## KMinton (Mar 7, 2007)

We don't use our DO every trip - but wish we could. Some of our friends usually cook the Breakfast Casserole when we ask for it. I've cooked chicken enchiladas, mississippi mud cake and peach cobbler on several occasions - usually when we are dry camping up in Cades Cove. The recipes can be found at papadutch's site. If we aren't going to use ours on the trip, it usually stays at home in the garage (although the accessories stay in the storage underneath the couch for every trip).

When I cook with ours, I usually use a cookie sheet that I bought just for that purpose. The charcoal briquets are usually what we use - helps me with the idea of how much heat I have on the oven.

As for the tripod, we have ours with us all the time. We either have hot apple cider going during the cool months or boiled peanuts over the fire at other times. Mostly, it is used for the apple cider. (Speaking of, I need to remember to pack it for next months campout).

Like others have said, it's not quick - have to take time for the charcoal to get up to heat. But the food sure is good.

Kerri


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## Oregon_Camper (Sep 13, 2004)

KMinton said:


> Like others have said, it's not quick - have to take time ......


It's about the journey....time is on your side while camping.


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## Fanatical1 (Jan 9, 2006)

KMinton said:


> We don't use our DO every trip - but wish we could. Some of our friends usually cook the Breakfast Casserole when we ask for it. I've cooked chicken enchiladas, mississippi mud cake and peach cobbler on several occasions - usually when we are dry camping up in Cades Cove. The recipes can be found at papadutch's site. If we aren't going to use ours on the trip, it usually stays at home in the garage (although the accessories stay in the storage underneath the couch for every trip).
> 
> When I cook with ours, I usually use a cookie sheet that I bought just for that purpose. The charcoal briquets are usually what we use - helps me with the idea of how much heat I have on the oven.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the advice Kerry. I sure hope your next to me at a campground, because the hot cider and the peach cobbler sound great. and so does
the mud cake and the breakfast casserole and the peanuts and the.........ect. ect....


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## hpapa4 (Apr 11, 2007)

I bought my first dutch oven last year. So far I have not made much, but what I did make was great. I don't use a tripod. I put mine directly on the coals. A tripod might be nice also. I use charcoal for my fire to get better control. If I need it raised I usually put it in the campsite BBQ grill so I can use the grate adjustment as needed. This year I need to try some new recepies. I think they are great. Like a slow cooker outdoors.


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## Chasn'Racin (Mar 12, 2007)

You might want to check out this site...he does almost all of his cooking in dutch ovens. Lots of good recipes, too. If you can catch his show, he has tips on cooking in a dutch oven in/on an outdoor fire. BOL

http://cowboyflavor.com/


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