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Tag: Dutch oven

Campfire Cooking with Glorious One-Pot Meals

Wally W. of Cornville, Arizona sent me this message about his experience in preparing Glorious One-Pot Meals in a campfire rather than in an oven:

Hello Elizabeth,

I found your book at the library when searching for dutch oven cookbooks. When I go camping it’s fun to cook in a dutch oven (camp oven, with feet) over charcoal.  I’ve found that your recipes from “Glorious One-Pot Meals” work just fine in a camp oven.  The only trick is using enough coals for a hot oven.  Recipes that cook more than 30 minutes will require a new set of hot coals mid way through the cooking.  Otherwise, the recipes as given are wonderful in the open air.

Thanks for sharing, Wally! I agree that GOPMs are a great to make when camping!

Glorious One-Pot Meals Free Cooking Demonstration Sunday

Glorious One-Pot Meals cooking demo
Look closely and you can see me demonstrating inside a Le Creuset store in 2013.

My free Glorious One-Pot Meals cooking demonstrations are not available as frequently these days as they once were, but here’s a chance to stop in and learn this quick, easy, and healthy cooking technique. I’ll show you how to build a nutritious and delicious dinner in minutes that you can take and run with in your own kitchen to feed your family.

Cast iron Dutch oven
Do you need a cast iron Dutch oven?

I’ll have cookbooks for sale AND you can take advantage of steep “friends and family” discounts on all Le Creuset cookware in the store. It’s a great opportunity to grab gifts for the holiday season while learning a time-saving cooking technique that you can put to use in your own kitchen to improve your sanity along with your health!

Come by the Le Creuset outlet store at Colorado Mills in Lakewood, CO, this Sunday, December 7th, at 12 pm to join the fun!

Glorious One-Pot Meals cooking demo

Sunday, December 7, 12 pm

Le Creuset outlet store, Colorado Mills, Lakewood, CO

How to Clean the Outside of an Enamel-coated Cast Iron Dutch Oven

Reader question: Elizabeth, the outside of my Dutch Oven is getting black, with much cooking use.  Is there anything that will take this off.  I am still enjoying cooking this way.  I don’t do it all the time, but a lot. ~ Joanne E., DenverLeCreusetCleaner

Hi Joanne, Nice to hear from you and to learn that you are still enjoying GOPMs!

Le Creuset makes a cast iron cleaning solution that you can use to scrub your pot clean. There are retail Le Creuset stores (in Cherry Creek in Denver) and outlet stores that both should carry it, or you  get it online through Amazon.

Be sure to wear gloves when you use it because this is toxic. I usually make my husband do this chore as it takes a bit of scrubbing effort.

Happy cooking!  ~Elizabeth

 

Will Cast Aluminum Cookware Work The Same As Cast Iron Cookware?

Reader question: Possible addition to your Dutch Oven Deals blog post:  I spotted these Art & Cuisine cast aluminum cocottes at Amazon.com, at just under $40 for the 2.5qt size in a gorgeous purple.  This appears to have a metal lid knob & handles, too.  The only thing is that it’s manufacturer-rated oven-safe to only 400 degrees F – possibly because of the removable silicone handle grips included.  Here’s a link to the manufacturer’s website.  And here’s a link to the listing on Amazon. I know it’s cast aluminum, not cast iron – but would this be worth investigating? ~ Catherine M., Dwight, IL

A cast iron Dutch oven from Le Creuset.

Hi Catherine. Thanks for keeping your eyes open for good deals on a pot for making Glorious One-Pot Meals. I wish the pots you found would be a good option for making GOPMs, but here are the reasons why they won’t work and you shouldn’t use them:

1. Cast aluminum has different heat conduction properties than cast iron does. There’s a reason top chefs like to prepare food with cast iron cookware: it absorbs, retains, and distributes the heat differently than any other type of cookware. This affects how the food cooks.

2. You should never cook with aluminum cookware because it will leach aluminum, a heavy metal, into your food where you will ingest it. Aluminum is not biodegradable or digestible; instead it is bio-accumulative, meaning that it builds up in your body. Too many heavy metals in your body can cause symptoms of poisoning. Aluminum toxicity may cause effects ranging from flatulence and heartburn to skin problems, liver disease, mental retardation, and Parkinson’s. If you own any aluminum cookware, you should stop using it for food immediately.

Aluminum cookware will usually be value-priced as aluminum is a cheap metal, but this is one time when you should pass up the bargain.

Will a Full Dutch Oven Make My Oven Rack Sag?

Reader question: Anyone have trouble with the oven rack sagging under the weight of the pot? Is there a fix for that? ~ Molly S., Florida

Cast Iron Dutch Oven for Glorious One-Pot MealsMolly- I have never had the problem with the oven rack sagging under the weight of my full Dutch oven, but then again, I haven’t ever created a Glorious One-Pot Meal with larger than a 5 1/2-quart cast iron Dutch oven. Even my toaster oven‘s rack does not sag under the weight of a full 3 1/2-quart Dutch oven. When I teach cooking classes at The Seasoned Chef, we often have up to five or six 2-quart Dutch ovens on one rack without a problem.

If your oven rack is sagging, you may want to contact the oven manufacturer. Oven racks are made out of very strong steel and should never sag. I can’t imagine how large and heavy your Dutch oven must be to have this effect… I imagine it must be too heavy to lift easily when filled with food! Not to mention how long it would take to cook a huge pot of food in this method…

Other than that, I would recommend using two smaller Dutch ovens when cooking for groups larger than 6. For a family of ten who had this question for me I recommended they purchase two 5-quart Dutch ovens, assemble them simultaneously, and cook them together in the oven for about an hour.