Serves: 5

An all too familiar phrase to cooks, especially if there are kids around. In camp where appetites may border on the ravenous, it may be next on the list of most asked questions in the kitchen after, “What’s for dinner?” Nearly every recipe I’ve ever looked at gave specific directions for temperature and length of time to cook.

In the ideal kitchen environment such directions are usually in the ball park. I’ve not yet rode into a camp equipped with all the latest kitchen technology plugged into a currant bush. For instance, if your favorite cornbread recipe calls for the batter to be baked in a 400 degree oven for twenty-five minutes or until golden brown, that’s pretty easy. One simply has to turn on the oven light and look for the “golden brown” or stick one’s trusty tooth pick into the center to see if it comes out clean.

In camp though, there are some other variables to consider, baking the same corn bread in a Dutch oven is different. If cooking a roast or stew it doesn’t hurt to take the lid off and check on the progress. When baking in a Dutch oven, however, you don’t want to do that. Each time you remove the lid, heat escapes. As a result, whatever you’re baking won’t brown. The charcoal and/or wood coals used can’t recover the high temperatures quickly enough for browning to occur.

So, how do you know when something is done when you can’t look at it? For dutch oven baking I use a simple smell test. If it smells done, it’s done if it smells burnt, it’s burnt and if you can’t smell it, it’s not done or burned. Besides trusting your nose, pay attention to the time. If following a recipe, plan on the time called for, plus a few minutes longer in most cases.

A Back Country Guide to Outdoor Cooking Spiced with Tall Tales - Camp Cooking with Dutch Ovens

More Recipes from the Cee Dub's Dutch Oven and Other Camp Cookin' Cookbook:
_A Pinch Of This And A Dash Of That
_Basic Camp Kitchen Lists
_Basic Camp Supply List
_Basic Chuck Box List
_Basic Dutch Oven Equipment List
_Basic Kitchen Equipment & Utensil List
_Budgets For Camp Cooks
_Buying A Dutch Oven
_Cleaning And Storing DO's
_Cooking "Lite"
_Cooking Techniques
_Cooking for VIPs
_DO's Need Love Too!
_DO: Cast Iron vs Aluminum
_DO: Do's And Don'ts & Tips
_DO: Dutch Oven Care
_DO: Selecting And Buying A Dutch
_DO: Selection And Care
_Decking Your Dutch Ovens
_Dutch Oven & Cast Iron Cookery
_Dutch Oven Equipment
_Garbage DO's And DON'T's
_Gettin' Started
_Is It Done Yet?
_Planning Your Menu
_Table of Dutches
_Words of Wisdom I
_Words of Wisdom II
__Last Word