I’ve been fascinated with kitchen armamentarium ever since I spent summers and an occasional holiday on my aunt and uncle’s West Texas ranch. The implement that interested me the most was a heavy black cast-iron Dutch oven. Those first summers, cooking was done on a huge wood-burning stove, and water was pumped from a concrete cistern that collected rooftop runoff during rainstorms. The first minutes of downpour washed prairie dust off our roof, then we pulled a lever to divert water into the cistern, which sat outside our kitchen window. One of my jobs was working the big hand-powered lever that pumped water from the cistern to our tin sink. A huge Dutch oven, a big black cast-iron frying pan, and a water kettle always had a place on or near the stove.
Ever since then, I poke my head into kitchens, whether at a lodge, restaurant, private home, or camp. I’m interested in what they use to prepare meals, including stoves, outdoor grills, and tools of the trade. More than a decade ago, a partner and I had an opportunity to fish Smith Creek Ranch, which lies east of Fallon, Nevada, on the old Pony Express route. Remnants of an original horse-changing station are on the property. The ranch was accessed by a remote secondary road that takes off into the desert eastward from Highway 50, “the loneliest road in America.” Roadside signs were peppered with bullet holes, a diversion that is tolerated in rural Nevada, but that will get you in serious trouble here in California.
Guests at this now-closed pay-for-play stillwater venue slept in the original ranch house, and meals were prepared by a female cook on a huge, pale green six-burner propane-fueled O’Keeffe and Merritt “Ranch Range.” While we were fishing, the ranch was gearing up for spring roundup in mid-May at the spread’s seven-thousand-foot-plus altitude. Four hundred and twenty calves needed ear clipping, tagging, branding, antibiotic injections, and castrating. Three roping teams would use separate corrals to accomplish the task. Ghostlike riders brought the cattle in through a misty on-and-off snowfall that fell over three days, waving if they saw us hooked up to a large trout. When asked, the owner told me his best guess was that between his holdings and BLM leases, they controlled 498,000 acres. Meals were needed for 40 contemporary vaqueros and their retinue. Large pots and Dutch ovens dominated pantry and shelf space.
When I went off to college, I took a black cast-iron frying pan, utensils from my mother’s pantry, and a stovetop Dutch oven, which was really a thick-walled, high-sided pot with a tight-fitting lid. Over the years, that Dutch oven and its replacements have been a mainstay in my kitchens. It was only since we moved to Gold Rush country that I got interested in the big cast-iron camp ovens that can be hung over a campfire, heated with coals stacked on the flanged lid (supposedly a feature invented by Paul Revere) or on a burner of any kind of camp stove or range top. Cast-iron versions have been around for three hundred years or so for campfire use, but stove-top Dutch ovens now come in ceramic, hitech alloy, and aluminum models that are a delight to cook with.
For camp, however, you still want a thick-walled, triple-prong-footed pot with a rimmed lid. The three stubby iron feet allow for the ovens to be placed directly on coals or even stacked when using burning briquettes on the lid. Some ovens of this type have slightly curved lids pimpled with little nubs inside that catch liquid condensation and return it evenly to the cooking food. Others have flat lids that can be reversed to use as a griddle. If you buy one, you should also get a lid tool.
A deceased angling friend grew up on a farm in Nebraska. He cooked in camp in a passed-down Dutch oven that had been tweaked with valve-grinding compound to make the lid fit tighter. I remember a meal he prepared at Cove Palisades State Park on Oregon’s Lake Billy Chinook. He cooked fresh lima beans from a field in Tracy with ham hocks, spices, and native mustard greens all day on the lowest simmer that a whitegas-fueled Coleman camp stove could produce. Because of the tight-fitting lid, there was no fear of the dish drying out. Famished anglers returned in the dark from a long day of fishing and exploring to find our oven-cooked meal ready.
On one of many excursions chasing history and interesting restaurants, my wife and I drove to the Markleeville, Minden, Gardnerville, and Genoa area east of Lake Tahoe. A day’s route could also take us through Carson City to Virginia City and the back way into Reno. We were prowling and looking for interesting antiques.
In Genoa, the first town in Nevada, the eastern terminus of Snowshoe Thompson’s route from Placerville, site of the oldest bar in Nevada and home of several interesting antique shops, we stumbled on a Mormon reenactment at Genoa’s Mormon Station State Park. That’s where I was first introduced to the uses of the Dutch oven with three iron legs. Eager participants in the reenactment fed me green-chili-laced corn bread, tasty beef stews, and aromatic peach cobblers and were happy to talk about refinements in using this implement, which was a mainstay in wagon-train cooking and the westward migration. As luck would have it, one of Genoa’s dusty antique shops was open, and I stumbled on a rusted Dutch oven that had come across the plains in 1849. It wasn’t in perfect shape, but with the help of an angling friend, we sand-blasted, polished, and seasoned my antique into a special cooking instrument. Then, a few years later, on a fishing trip to the North Yuba above Downieville, I saw a pile of “free” junk at roadside in Sierraville and walked away with another historic iron implement. Again, some TLC produced a workable Dutch oven. And knowing of my fascination with all things related to cooking, my wife gave me a large contemporary cast-iron Dutch oven made by Lodge for a birthday gift. The extra capacity has added another dimension when cooking for large groups.
A number of offerings are out there, but Lodge, with their top-quality cast iron and seasoning process, seems to be the forerunner. But don’t overlook antique and used kitchen collectibles shops. I forage a lot and found an alcove in a Graeagle antique shop that featured reconditioned antique cast-iron skillets and Dutch ovens at very reasonable prices.
Large cast-iron Dutch ovens and skillets are heavy and difficult to lift, but it is the thick-walled cast iron that captures, retains, and evenly distributes the heat. A few years ago, I was taking in the “Smokin’ in the Oaks” barbecue contest in nearby Penn Valley, poking my nose into some of the traveling barbeque-rig kitchens and asking questions. The contestants were anticipating a catered dinner that night put on by a cowboy chef from Chico who cooked over a slit trench using a dozen Dutch ovens, some of which were already capturing heat from the coals. You could close your eyes, smell the tasty aromas, and imagine a circled wagon train encampment where the evening’s cooking was a communal endeavor.
With the advent of machine-pressed, even-burning charcoal briquettes, Dutch oven cooking has risen to new heights, and there are many contests and recipes. It all revolves around the “circle” concept of adding briquettes beneath a legged Dutch oven and again on top of the flanged lid. Start with one outer circle of ignited briquettes underneath the oven and another on top of the flanged lid. Raise or lower cooking temperatures by adding or subtracting briquettes, and consider adding a second ring for medium and high temperatures. Recipes suggest the number of briquettes that should be used, and they should be placed as soon as they are started, not after the ash has burned for 30 or 40 minutes. Metal-cylinder charcoal starters work well here, or you can pull from briquettes piled on the edge of a campfire.
Realize that cooking temperatures are influenced by ambient air temperature, wind, humidity, and the quality of the charcoal. You may have to adjust the number of briquettes and cooking times. On overland treks, our forefathers didn’t use charcoal much. Finding fuel was a major problem, and most cooked over campfires or narrow slit trenches that might use buffalo chips, brush, or whatever wood could be gleaned or hauled in. If available, hardwood produced better coals. Forty-eight thousand travelers on the trail to California in 1849 cleaned out everything near the trails that would burn. A general rule is to use fewer coals underneath. If you oil the interior bottom and sides beforehand with bacon grease, lard, butter, or cooking oil, stews clean up nicely. My Mormon mentor used an aluminum-foil liner for breads, biscuits, and cakes to make cleanup easy. For that, use warm water, but avoid soap, because it can enter the pores of the cast iron.
Jon Carcenaro is a regular at our Lake Davis and Frenchman’s encampments and joins us when I cook something interesting for the campers who help with our big barbeque. His timing is perfect, and he produces tasty Dutch oven dishes that complement our choice of roasted entrées. It could be a sumptuous cobbler for desert, a rich cake, or chicken and rice. This year, he outdid himself with a bacon-cheddar potato gratin that paired nicely with a roast pork loin (See “Cooking for a Crowd,” in the September/October 2017 issue of California Fly Fisher). Jon saw a Barbecue Pit Boys YouTube video on this recipe that used an iron skillet on a Weber kettle. Like all good cooks, he took the idea and improved on it, adapting the recipe for use in a camp Dutch oven using the circle-of-briquettes concept:
Dutch Oven Potatoes Au Gratin with Bacon, Cheddar, and Herbs
(Ingredients for a twelve-inch oven)
4-5 pounds of thinly sliced, peeled russet potatoes
2 cups diced white onions
1/2 cup finely chopped chives
1/2 cup chopped curly parsley
1/2 pound cooked and chopped smoky bacon, or commercial bacon bits
2 cups grated high-quality cheddar cheese
Salt and pepper Unsalted butter Half-and-half
Wash, peel, and slice potatoes into oval medallions. Cook, drain, and chop the bacon. Reserve the bacon grease and use it to wipe the inside of your Dutch oven. Place a layer of potato slices on the bottom. Sprinkle that layer with onions, chives, bacon, butter pats, and cheese. Dress with modest amounts of salt and pepper. Repeat the process, working toward the top. Finish with more onions, chives, butter, and cheese. Top with more cheddar, bacon bits, and then parsley. Fill with half-and-half two-thirds of the way up. Your Dutch oven is ready for briquettes. It will take an hour and a half to cook, and you may need to refresh the coals. Amounts can be adjusted for different-sized groups.
When our pork loin roast came off its adjustable grill, allowing a 10-minute rest period for the meat, the dishes came together at the same time. Despite there being 10 diners, we even had leftovers that were perfect when combined with sausage and fresh strawberries for breakfast. The Dutch oven is a versatile cooking vessel at home, in the backyard, or in camp. It can serve as a skillet, soup or stew vessel, a water boiler, or as an oven. You can flip the lid and use it as a griddle. It works on a stove top, hung over a campfire, or set next to or over coals. Perhaps the most fun is watching it silently cook while you are star-gazing at lakeside with friends and a favorite beverage in hand.
A.D. Livingston’s Cast-Iron Cooking
Judging from the number of cookbooks on Amazon that deal with the subject, cooking with cast-iron pots and pans remains extremely popular in the United States. And there are good reasons why this is so. Cast-iron cookware applies heat evenly and holds it well. It’s especially wonderful if you’re braising, baking, or slow-roasting. My French-made Dutch oven is in constant use here at the house. Fly fishers who cook with cast iron might be intrigued to know that angling writer A.D. Livingston, a master of fly fishing for bass, had a book published back in 1991 titled Cast-Iron Cooking: From Johnnycakes to Blackened Redfish. It’s worth seeking out, even if only as a curiosity.
— Richard Anderson
