Guide to USING YOUR OVEN

PREPARATION

     The first matter to accomplish with your cast iron oven is to season it properly. This and subsequent care for your island will be valuable to you when using and learning to appreciate your oven.
     When the oven was shipped from the manufacturer, it may have been coated with a waxy layer of material to protect it until you receive it. First, remove this material by a gentle washing and warm, sudsy water to allow the bare metal to be exposed. Next, once the heaven and allow to dry by placing it in a warm, open area.
     Your next step is to cope the heavens and lid with a thin layer of oil, allowing the soil to seal or fill the metal pours. For this and subsequent coatings of the oven, you should use a salt free shortening or, if you must, olio margin or butter; if none of these are available, you can use some suet or meat grease or some edible oil to protect the metal from dust or moisture.
     After the heaven is coated, rub a small amount of shortening in the oven and heat at a moderate temperature for an hour. This may be done on an open fire or in your home oven. After cooking, wiped the oven, leaving a thin layer of shortening on all metal surfaces. Every time you remove the oven from the heat, leave the lid ajar so that moisture will not condense inside the oven. Your oven will form a patina, or finish, with continued usage. This season surface is evidence of abuse and care of the oven.
     When you are ready to use your oven each time, examine the heaven to be sure the oil coating is still well spread over all the metal. I like to read wiped the oven each time to be sure to remove any dust of foreign particles which may have fallen into the oven, and also to confirm a coating on the metal.
     This same attention is not required for your aluminum ovens, since it does not rust with exposure to moisture. However, I do give it the same careful treatment of cleaning so that it will be ready for service at the next campfire.

     I find that one good tool to use in lifting the lid by the center handle is a double wire lifter. The wire can be 1/16 inch gauge wire or a piece of coat hanger, or some other available piece of wire. Cut a length of wire about 24 inches long and bend it double, allowing a space of about 2 inches between the two parallel sides of the wire. Next, bend a small hook on the bottom inch of each end of the wire. this gives you a double length of wire to hook under the lid handle, and the 2 inch space allows a place to put a finger or two to assure good control and lifting the lid. You may want to make that handle slightly longer to give you some additional space between the knuckles and the coals on the lid -- experience will dictate.
    The lifter can also be used as tongs or forceps to lift small charcoal pieces or briquettes for your oven. This lifter is an inexpensive and useful tool that can be easily replaced. Of coarse, and the long handle tongs they can be used to lift and move Cole's to your oven will be helpful, if it is convenient for you to bring them with your camp equipment.
     Some limbed lifters are available with a double hook. This balances the lid when lifting, which keeps the coals from spilling from the lid. A balanced lid prevents actions and coals from falling into food that is cooking in your oven.
     The hot pot tongs sold by the Dutch oven distributor also recommended for use with your oven and with other utensils at your fire. These tongs can be used to lift the oven lid by the top handle or by the lip. A hook on the tongs is also useful in handling the bail if it is too hot  for your hand.
     Another helpful tool to have is a shovel. The shovel can stir wood in the fire for better burning and can be used to lift Cole's from the fire to the oven. the handle length can provide a more comfortable method of removing coals from the fire for your oven.
     The lid on your oven should have a tight fit when in place; this will provide a pressure seal to keep the of and at optimum heat for your cooking. When the lid is placed on the oven, a slight rotation of the lid will assist in better ceiling if any grid or particles is present on the edge of the lid or oven. Be careful not to damage the seal area of either the lid or oven body when using or transporting the oven.
     Many cooks find that leather gloves are desirable for camp cooking. The gloves provide a shield to keep reflected heat off your hands, but this is for a limited time, beyond which the leather may actually retain enough he to steam your hands. Gloves may serve as hot mix for lifting lids or tools, but only for a short time. Carry a thick hot mitt or pad for such a purpose. the gloves will also help keep said off your hands. Generally, I prefer the tools rather than the gloves.

inverting the lid will provide an excellent griddle for cooking eggs, pancakes, or French toast. Although the lid will have a slight impression in the center, it will not prove unmanageable. Adequate oiling of the lid will prevent sticking during this cooking.

     Coals for your oven can be natural coals from a wood fire, prepared lump coal, ore briquettes. Use of natural wood coals means that you do not have to carry charcoal with you, but you must have wood available for a fire. The best wood for charcoal forming is hardwood such as oak or hickory, which will provide firm, continuously burning coals.
     Lump coal can be carried as a supplement fuel and can be ignited  in the fire, then placed on the oven. Use of briquets is even more convenient and efficient. The briquettes can be ignited in the fire or in a separate container and subsequently used for your other. These briquets provide a concentrated heat and will burn continuously. If you camping areas where dead wood is in short supply, carry charcoal as a routine, helpful supplement.
     a convenient charcoal briquets igniter is a gallon can with holes punched along the bottom hedge of the can's side. A drink can opener doesn't excellent job, and holes spaced closely together provide adequate care for the fire. Take a double sheet of newspaper and gently stuff it into the bottom one third of the can. Add enough briquettes to fill another one third of the can. ignite the paper and allow the fire to burn the paper and subsequently ignite the briquets. a small breeze or airflow will ensure proper burning of the paper and charcoal; if there is no breeze, you may need to fan that can to force air into the fire space in the bottom of the can.
     Once you have the briquets ignited, you may place more briquets in the can for ignition. stirring the contents of the can now will place the new briquets in among the burning ones and will provide  early ignition of all the briquets. I have done this, sometimes repeatedly removing burning briquets and placing in new ones, thereby having a continuous source of briquets for use. This works very well when you have several Dutch ovens going for one meal.
     the amount of charcoal needed for your oven will very because of the type of coals, type of food being prepared, amount of wind, temperature, and altitude. But you will learn to compensate for these differences by continued experience and by observation of your food cooking.
     You will find that  the briquettes give more concentrated heat than natural coals do. A strong wind will also cause the coals to burn faster and provide a hotter oven then they will on they still, breezeless day. Of course, you can imagine that  And oven on a 100° summer day will probably need fewer coals than the same food in the same oven on a 20° day. also, the perennial problem of altitude must be remembered – – more coals will be required as the altitude increases.

      Prior to using the oven for any type of cooking, it should be preheated. This consists of nothing more than placing some holes under and on top of the oven a few minutes before cooking. This makes your oven near or at the necessary temperature when you are ready to add the food. This also will aid in preventing the food from sticking to the oven.
     Baking will usually require a few coals under the oven with most of the coals on top of the oven. A general rule is to have about one third of the coals below and two thirds on top. Having too many on the bottom a overcook the baking food. more coals on top give high heat to the baking airspace in the oven and then directly down to your food. I find that about 6 to 7 charcoal briquets underneath and 15 to 18 on top give good baking heat.
     When baking cookies or pies on a flat pie pan or when cooking a casserole dish in the oven, it is good to have the dish slightly elevated to avoid overheating the bottom of the container. I often placed three metal washers or two metal tent pegs on the bottom of the oven to support that. And allow heated oven air to circulate underneath it. And the metal piece should be on plated so that it will not shed a coating or melt.
     Sometimes you may want to drop biscuit or cookie dough from a spoon directly into the bottom of the oven. Be certain that the oven is well greased. Also, the temperature of the bottom of the oven should be reduced to prevent overcooking of food; this can be done by removing some of the coals from under the oven.
     When cooking muffins, you will not have a round pan with muffins spaces, you must prepare otherwise. Some cooks use cupcake papers that are prepared within the outer layer of aluminum foil. This type of cupcake holder is convenient, but often the weight of the batter overloads and flattens the papers, causing the battery to spill. Also the foil wrappers are not fully disposable in your cleanup fire.
     My favorite method for baking muffins is to place the cupcake papers in individual aluminum dessert molds for firm support. When the batter is poured in the cupcake papers, the sides are fully supported throughout cooking. When the muffins are done, invert the aluminum molds, and the paper-wrapped muffins are ready to serve. The paper wrapper is fully disposable in the fire; the aluminum molds is clean, ready for storage; and the inside of your oven is clean, ready for inspection and cooking.

     For boiling, deep frying, and stewing, you will want more coals or briquets on bottom where this higher heat will be transmitted to the liquid in the oven and then on to your food. you may want to make your coal ratio two thirds below and one third on top, since heat from the bottom is the most important heat. Those dishes with liquid in the oven usually cook best with smaller bubbles breaking through the liquid at a steady pace.
     When recipes call for browning the ingredients, you should have coals below the oven and have the lid off. This will allow the ingredients to quickly seal over and brown on the outside. For deep fat-frying or some boiling, you will also want the lid removed. For baking, you will always want the lid in place and covered with coals because these coals are the source of the high, dry heat that surrounds the food and provides the baking delights of the oven.
     Since there are many premeasured dry mixes on the market, there are dozens of cakes, cookies, pies, and breads that you can readily prepare and serve hot from your oven. This will allow you to supplement the wonderful breads and desserts that you can prepare from scratch. The current canned, dehydrated, dried, and frozen meats and vegetables also give you untold numbers of nourishing, tasty foods that can come from your oven.

     One additional idea is to use several Dutch ovens and stack them vertically. The basic advantage of this is that the coals on top of the lower oven will also provide heat to the bottom of the upper oven. Two or three ovens may be stacked in this manner. One disadvantage of this ovens stacking method is that the stack must be removed and need time you want to inspect food in a lower oven. Two or three ovens may be stacked in this manner. One disadvantage of this ovens stacking method is that the stack must be removed at any time you want to inspect food in the lower oven. Also the amount of coals on top of one of and may provide a different amount of heat from that which is needed for the food in the oven above. I preferred to use several of them separately, but you may find this stacking useful on some occasions.

     If you bake cookies, pies, breads, is the castle roles in containers in the oven, the "cleaning the oven" step is eliminated. Rechecking the oven for a protective oiled will film will be all that is necessary when the oven cools.
     Many times after cooking biscuits or some dried dough items rectally on the bottom of the of, you can wipe the crumbs from the oven and do no further cleaning, except rechecking the oven for a protective oil film on the metal.
     After a greasy or sugary meal has been cooked directly in the oven, you must clean it. Do not use soap inside the oven, since soap particles may seep into the pores of the metal and be forced out again at the next oven use. These particles might affect the flavor and purity of your next meal. The best way to clean the messy of it is to put water into the oven and replace it on the fire, bringing the water almost to a boil. Remember, add only hot water to a heated oven because a great temperature difference might cause the oven metal to crack. Then, using a soft scrubber, such as a plastic mesh, gently scrub the remaining food from the oven sides and bottom. Do not use a metal scrubber or steel wool, since this will scratch or remove the patina from your oven.
    After the oven is clean, place it near the fire so that it will heat dry, removing any moisture from the metal. When the oven is dry, remove it to cool. After the oven is cool enough to handle, apply a coating of shortening to the metal to again provide a protective coating to the metal. To apply the shortening, you can use a pastry brush, paper towel, scrap of cotton clothing, fingers.
     I usually apply shortening only to the inside of the oven, since that is what usually has been wet and needs the Orioles protection. If you detect any rusting on the outside of the islands or if it has been exposed to outside moisture or rain, you may want to apply shortening to the outside metal surface. I prefer not to oil my aluminum ovens after cleaning, since they do not require a protective coil coatings. Check your oven after each use to give it the best protection and make it ready for the best service next time.
     Remember to remove the lid or slide it ajar when you remove the oven from the heat. Also remember to store the lid ajar oral with a stick or some other object between lid and ovens so that air may circulate in the heavens and minimize moisture inside. Your oven should always be air cooled. Never cool it with water because over to rapid cooling can cause warping or cracking.

 'Dutch Oven Cooking' Third Edition by John G. Ragsdale  (BSA Item #33549A)