A
Dutch oven is a thick-walled iron (usually
cast iron)
cooking pot with a
tight-fitting lid.
A cast iron Dutch oven can be used in the
oven, on a stove top or over a campfire. Dutch ovens can be used for many different cooking techniques
from simple steaming through to baking.
American History The Dutch oven is as
popular now as ever. Dutch ovens have evolved over time with the addition of legs
to keep it above the coals, it became shallower and a flange
was added to the lid to keep the coals out of the food
whilst removing the lid.
Colonists
and settlers loved the dutch oven for its versatility and
durability. It could be used for roasting, frying,
baking, stews and boiling. Just about anything could
be prepared in a dutch oven. They were so valuable
they were mentioned in wills in the 18th and 19th centuries.
The dutch
oven was part of the equipment carried by Lewis & Clark when
they explored the great American Northwest in 1804-1806.
It's popularity quickly spread across the North American
continent as the early pioneers settled. It has become
Utah's official state cooking pot.
Dutch
ovens were also used by the mountain men when exploring the
great American frontier in the late 1800s, and on cattle
drives from the mid-1800s into the early 1900s. Every
chuckwagon cook had numerous Dutch ovens. He was able
to cook up a pot of beans, make pies, chili, biscuits and
even a full roast dinner. Enough to keep the cowboys
well fed whilst working hard on the cattle drives.
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A
Dutch oven is a thick-walled iron (usually
Colonists
and settlers loved the dutch oven for its versatility and
durability. It could be used for roasting, frying,
baking, stews and boiling. Just about anything could
be prepared in a dutch oven. They were so valuable
they were mentioned in wills in the 18th and 19th centuries.
