Getting it Off the Ground

By Keith Fisher

Back when our forefathers cooked in Dutch ovens, Chances are they cooked in a campfire on the ground. It was a back bending proposition and probably took longer than it should. Some folks still cook on the ground or in a hole. Today, I’d like to show you a better way.

As a Boy Scout, I learned that if I lay my sleeping bag directly on the ground, most of my body heat is absorbed into the earth. If I use a tarp or piece of plastic under my sleeping bag, I sleep warmer at night. The same holds true for Dutch ovens on the ground. You might suggest that’s why we put coals on the bottom.

It’s true—we use heat on the bottom, but instead of cooking our food, the majority if the warmth is sucked into the cold earth. Also, there’s the problem of putting coals on a concrete patio, making heat marks and damaging the cement.

It’s simple. A sheet of tin foil under the oven will do wonders to slow the heat loss and protect the concrete. You can also use a garbage can lid or any metal surface. In competitions they require at least 18-inches off the ground to protect the grass but there are other reasons.

Stooping and kneeling over a pot all day can give you serious back strain. Lifting full pots is easier, since they’re already halfway off the ground. There are about as many types of Dutch oven tables as there are cooks. Everyone has a different preference. Whether sold commercially, or fashioned in some way.

For some people, a wheelbarrow works fine, others use a barbecue without the grill. Garbage cans and inverted metal buckets also work. I’ve seen old farmers put legs on used plow disks.

My Dutch oven table began life as a conveyor bed. Scrap metal can be fashioned in many shapes. Mine had a bend on one side and I welded a lip on the other, to keep the coals from falling off. The legs are mounted so that gravity keeps them spread and stable.

I loved my table but I spent sleepless nights wondering how I could keep my tools handy, but out of the way at the same time. The answer came in the form of a fireplace transom. I mounted a bar to the table, brought it up vertically before making the bend. Now I have a bar at eye level that holds my fire tools. My table has served me through many backyard parties, camping trips, and Dutch oven competitions, but there is one thing I would do differently. I would make it taller. I sometimes stack my ovens, but for the most part bending over becomes a burden.

Take a look at some of the tables I’ve seen, and start making plans. There are many fine commercial tables on the market, and several good craftsmen who will make them for you. Keep in mind, there’s noting wrong with cooking on the ground, but I promise, cooking is better at arms reach.

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Snacking Around the Campfire

By Keith Fisher

Have you ever sat with your family around a campfire? You ate supper hours ago, but you were hungry for something, You don’t know what? Digging through the camp kitchen might not be a good idea (especially if you’re not the cook). I may have a solution for you.

25-years ago, I used a tool that pleased a troop of boy scouts and brought me high praise. I’m not sure where the tool came from, and I haven’t seen it for years. I looked for a picture on the internet, and found this on an antiques website. It’s worth a little money now—I wish I’d kept tract of mine. As you can see from the picture, it’s a campfire popcorn popper.

Now you can keep the kids busy and give your family a treat before bedtime. Just pour a little vegetable oil in the bottom, add popcorn, close the lid, and shake it over the fire. You don’t need to look in antique shops either. There are newer versions of my popper. If you can’t find one in your sporting goods store, ask them to order one. Some of the same manufactures that make Dutch ovens make these too.
Last time, I promised to tell you about an even easier way to make bread in camp. Do you remember the dairy-case bread I made a couple of weeks ago? Let me tell you how to make it.

I use an Ultimate Dutch oven. You’ll notice there’s a cone in the center, but I’ll talk about that on another blog. Any cast iron Dutch oven works fine.

Start by spraying the inside of your oven with cooking spray. Next, take five to six packages of dairy-case biscuits, (The kind that comes in a tube). Line the inside with the biscuits by setting them up on edge. Make a ring, then fill the ring with another ring. Pack them in tight so they will rise and bake together.

When you fill your pot, cover it, and let the bread rise in a warm spot about 45 minutes. Bake with 10 coals on the bottom, (see below for coal placement) 16-18 on top. Keep rotating the lid and the pot like we discussed before and it’s done when it’s golden brown. You can slice the bread and use for sandwiches, or use it for pull-apart, finger bread. With butter and jam, it makes a wonderful treat.

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Be a Hero in Your Camp

By Keith Fisher

There is a scene in Lonesome Dove that whets my appetite. It shows Gus reading a book by a campfire in the front yard of the ranch. He opens the lid on a Dutch oven and checks the bread rolls he’s been baking. Finding them done, he takes the pot into the ranch house and sets it on the table.

How would you like to eat hot rolls with melting butter on a camping trip? What if I promised strawberry jam?

To many people, baking bread rolls is an overwhelming task, not to mention doing it while camping. You don’t need to worry any longer. I’m going to teach you an easy way, and an easier way, to bake bread in a Dutch oven. I promise it won’t hurt, and you’ll be a hero in your camp.

In either method, there is a little preparation involved, so you must decide before you pack which method you’re going to use. The easy method is as follows: In a 12-inch shallow Dutch oven, spray your favorite non-stick cooking spray. Get a big bowl with a tight closing lid. I use a green Tupperware bowl. I’ve been told you shouldn’t use metal, because it inhibits the yeast.

Now follow the recipe below:

1 ¼ cup warm (not hot) water

1 tbsp. Active dry yeast

1 egg room temp

½ cube soft margarine

¼ cup sugar

1 tsp. Salt

3½ heaping cups sifted flour

Mix the water with the yeast and let it sit a minute. Mix the egg, margarine, sugar, and salt then add the water and yeast. Add the flour a little at a time. (You may need more flour, but be careful, you want the dough moist but not sticky). Push the palms of your hands into the dough and fold it over. Keep this action up until the dough is soft and elastic. This is called kneading it.

Roll the dough into a big ball—place it in a bowl and cover. Set the bowl aside in a warm place, and Let the dough rise for about an hour. When risen, roll the dough into little balls between your hands. Make the balls about 2-inches in diameter. Arrange the balls in a circle in the Dutch oven, with one ball in the center. Cover with the lid and let rise until double in size before baking. Use 10 coals on the bottom and 16 on the top. The chart below can help you place the coals. Every 15-minutes, while baking, turn the lid ¼ turn. At the same time, turn the oven ¼ turn the other way. (This will avoid hot spots). Bake until golden brown.

What is the easier way? Frozen bread dough of course. Just make sure it has enough time to thaw before you place the little balls in the oven. Let them rise like above, baking the same way. Frozen dough gives the cook a little more sleep time in the morning, but making bread from scratch will make you proud of yourself. And just like Augustus Macrae of Lonesome Dove, you will be respected and admired by your campmates.

Check back and I will talk about another easy way to bake bread in camp. Don’t let me forget.

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The Musical Sound of the Sizzle

By Keith Fisher

How could I resist? It was big and shiny, and it pulled me down, down, toward . . .

I exercise a ritual every spring—perhaps you do the same. I head to the home improvement store to pick up sprinkler parts. I also check out, (covet rather) the collection of new barbecues.

The store displays thousands of the little beasties, chained together to keep them under control. There are no gags on their mouths, however, so the units call out as they lie in wait for me.

I try to resist, really I do, but the voices are too strong. The price on the bigger unit makes me laugh. It costs more than my first car, but I don’t care. I secretly succumb to the testosterone driven desire to posses one of the little beauties.

My hand quivers as I read the tag. I learn the manly grill has all the features. Including the AM/FM, satellite radio, with surround sound and CD exchanger. It has chrome plated controls that think for themselves, making it impossible to burn anything. The grill knows the difference between medium and rare, and scoffs at the whimp who orders steak, “Well done”.

The manly grill is too large to carry home in the back of my truck, but for a few dollars more I can purchase the optional motor and licensing to ride my unit home, grilling steaks along the way. Oh, please . . . hold me back.

Finally, the practical side takes over when I realize I would need financing. I go home, hanging my head in dejection. I skulk into the backyard and find my old best friend, the barbecue I purchased years ago, sitting on the patio waiting for me to fire it up. I sigh, and lovingly strike a match.

You know, there’s nothing like good food with old friends, and I can get steak with the money I saved.
Men have been enjoying the art of charring meat since fire was discovered, but today the options are endless. We even have a choice of fuel type. Propane is perhaps the most convenient. A propane grill stands just outside your patio door, ready to be fired up.

Charcoal takes time to get going, but the smoke adds flavor to the meat. Natural lump charcoal tastes better, but pay attention to the container. Chemicals in some types of charcoal can actually be tasted in the food, and it isn’t good to breathe in the fumes. However, you can use charcoal almost anywhere. In a fire pit, even in a wheelbarrow.

All things considered though, if you really want to be a manly man, place a raw steak on top of the coals in a fire. Turn it over and brush the ashes off before you eat it. It works great, and you’ll have something in common with your thousand-year-old grandfather. It’s all about the musical sound of the sizzle anyway. Happy Father’s Day.

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Tinfoil Treasures

By Keith Fisher

In this blog, I’ve talked about all things outdoors when it comes to cooking. I’m reminded today, of my teenage years—when cooking at scout camp meant burned food, poor cleanup, and starvation. If I only knew then, what I know now . . .

In scout camp, I learned a few vital lessons. One of them was; unless you’re roasting hotdogs, a roaring fire is not the place to cook your food. The heat of it drives you back, the smoke is hard to breathe, and you have to dodge the people standing around. I’ve since learned to trust the heat from coals.

When we are young, we tend to seek the flames. Have you ever watched a child roasting a marshmallow? The child isn’t content to leave it over the hot coals. They have to have it over the flame. Seconds later, the marshmallow bursts into flames and turns into soot.

Sooner or later, the child gets older and tastes a perfectly roasted, golden brown morsel that melts in their mouth. We get hooked by both roasting over coals, and by taking our time.

Getting back to the scout camp experience, A trick I learned, not only uses coals, it exploits them. It’s a quick and easy way to cook in camp for your family. It also gives you time to chat with your fellow campers. I’m talking about the tinfoil dinner.

You can prepare your dinner at home in minutes, pop it in the ice chest, and take it to camp. When the campfire has provided a healthy bed of hot coals, use a shovel to dig a hole in them, or take some coals out. Put your foil bundle on top, and cover it with coals. Sit down and relax. The dinner will be done in the same amount of time it takes at home in your kitchen. If the coals are real hot you might want to check it using your leather gloves.

All you need are two sheets of aluminum foil (double or triple the thickness. Protects against tearing. Some kind of meat (hamburger works best) potato chunks, and carrots. Surround the meat with the veggies and when the meat is done, the vegetables will be too. Wrap your dinner bundle and roll the seams to lock them closed. Roll the ends up the same way. See the picture I borrowed from the internet.

Tips:

• Mark the spot where you put your bundle.
  
• Keep your spot away from the main fire.
  
• Use thick aluminum foil.
  
• Hamburger is good. Thick steak doesn’t work as well. Cook veggies separate since there is a shorter cooking time.
  
• Fish works great (leave the skin on while cooking).
  
• Always have some tongs to retrieve your bundle and gloves to open it.
  
• Salt and pepper to taste. Maybe use ketchup.
  
• Mix and match, try different things.
  

By the way, when you want smores, try fudge covered cookies in place of graham crackers and chocolate bars. It’s easier.

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Easy Cobbler or Faking Your Way Into Fame

By Keith Fisher

Last time, we talked about having fun while you cook for large groups. One of the ways it can be more fun is to make it easy on yourself. There are many shortcuts and cheats you can use, and I’m going to tell you one.

How many of you have been to an event where somebody makes Dutch oven cobbler and it’s delicious? Have you noticed how many people rave over it and don’t care how it’s made? Did you also know that most of those cobblers are really what we should call dump cake?

You can take some time and make a real cobbler by placing fruit in the bottom of pot, adding some kind of batter to the top, and baking it. It will be delicious and you’ll get high praise. Or, you can make what we call dump cake. You can still use real fruit, but you can also buy pre-made fruit pie filling in cans. Place two on the bottom and spread it out. Instead of batter use a cake mix, yes, a dry cake mix (don’t mix it up). Pour the powder over the pie filling. Spread it out with your hands (use rubber gloves for sanitation), breaking up the big lumps. Then for moisture we will use carbonated soda water.

Most people use 7-up, not sure why, but I use club soda. I do this to keep the sugar level down. By the time you add ice cream or whipped topping, the dessert becomes too rich. The carbonated water reacts with the baking soda in the cake mix and makes it rise.

There are no mixing bowls to wash, and the cobbler is divine. Since sugars tend to remove the seasoning, you can line your pot with aluminum foil. It also helps with easy cleanup. However, cast iron adds flavor, and some folks worry about cooking in aluminum. It’s your choice.

Remember the cobbler is done when the cake is done. I use the inserted toothpick method. If you line with aluminum, ask your guests to be careful they don’t tear it with the spoon. Top the dessert with ice cream. The cold will do battle with the hot in your mouth for a tantalizing treat.

Ingredients:
2 cans fruit pie filling. Use your favorite flavor.
1 cake mix. I like yellow, white, or try chocolate with cherry filling.
1 can club soda

Use the can to stir the club soda into the cake mix. Be careful not to disturb the filling. Use a 12-inch Dutch oven, 15 coals on top, 9 on the bottom. See the process at this link

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Cooking Has It’s Own Rewards

By Keith Fisher

We raced up the canyon at eight in the morning. My cooler was on the verge of being pitched out of the truck at any moment. Every curve in the road brought a new threat of losing the load.

We were expected to cook a Dutch oven dinner for the teachers and staff on the last day of school, and we were late.

Of course we arrived safe, and everything went well. The two pots of chili, two fourteen-inch pots of corn bread, dairy-case bread, three cobblers and mandarin orange dream cake were delicious. The shredded cheese, sour cream, and honey-butter condiments were a nice touch. The cooks had a great time.

When you learn to cook in Dutch ovens and people find out about it, you’ll start getting invitations to cook for others. You'll be invited to all the family events, not to mention church functions. Don’t despair, it’s a little more work, but the rewards are greater too. Let me give you an example.

We cooked for Girls camp several years ago. It was a lot of work, but before we left the girls sang to us and gave us a poster, thanking us for the good food. By comparison, we won $1500 at the World Championship Dutch Oven cook off in 2005, but the song and the poster mean more to me than the money we spent years ago.

That doesn’t mean you should do it all for free. If it costs you time and money, you should get reimbursement. If you ask for more than reimbursement however, you must have a license for catering. So, be careful what you agree to and don’t be afraid to say no, but keep your calendar open.

When many people are faced with the task of cooking for a large group they ask about quantities. I admit, I wonder the same thing sometimes. There are many formulas to figure it out, but it’s a bit overwhelming. I asked a friend for his opinion about how much beef stew to cook for 120 people. He crunched some numbers in his calculator and told me I need 9 gallons . . .

Try this: Think about how much you would take for your portion then multiply by the number of guests. You also need to consider the list of people. Men in camp tend to eat more than a room full of women who are trying to impress the men. Hungry boys don’t necessarily eat more than girls do, in fact it seems to be the opposite.

So my advice would be; 1 potato per person, 1 chicken breast each, and 1 cob of corn cut in half. Multiply it, and cook a little extra because too much is always better than running out. As for the stew, make a pot full in advance and see how many bowls it fills. Give the leftovers to someone special and enjoy the fun.

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