Home is where the hearth is. If outdoor country cooking is fun and heart warming, it is because of its simplicity and down-to-earth methods of cooking. The tradition of country cooking is associated with nomadic tribes and early settlers of North America. Over the years these have been refined and modern techniques have simplified the way we cook, but the spirit of country cooking is different from cooking in kitchens.
The Freshness of Country Cooking
The basic difference in country cooking and kitchens is the freshness of the ingredients used in cooking. All food is cooked from scratch and from what is available. In kitchens we pull out pre-cooked food from refrigerators lying in cold storage for weeks and flavor food with packaged and ready-to
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Cooking over an open fire, providing even heat to the food was always a challenge and certain foods were just not able to be prepared over a flame. Until Dutch oven cooking made it to Europe in the 1700’s there were limitations to the type of cooking available, but since then, food items were not limited to boiling and roasting. With the use of Dutch oven cooking food can be boiled, baked, fried and even roasted.
In its earliest form Dutch oven cooking used a cast iron pot with a heavy lid designed to hang over an open fire. The lid, developed by the Dutch had a raised rim on which hot coals from the fire could be placed to provide heat at the top for cooking instead of just heating the bottom of the pot. Dutch oven cooking became extremely popular in the United States during the travels westward and was one of the main items that Lewis ad Clark carried with them on their journey.
Today, Dutch oven cooking is used when camping to provide a wider array of foods that can be enjoyed in the wild. It can be used for stews as well as for baking and in colonial times was equipped with a small removable screen for large families. Once the food in the oven was done, the screen could be removed and replaced with another type of food.
Making Dutch Ovens In The Ground
Dutch oven cooking is not limited to the heavy pot over a fire as many early baking ovens were also called Dutch ovens as the process involved heating the vessel and allowing that heat to cook the food. Early versions of Dutch oven cooking was to line a small earthen depression with fire bricks and heat the bricks. Once they were hot enough, the food was placed in the oven and baked. Some of the earliest bread was baked in these versions of the Dutch oven.
The main aspect of Dutch oven cooking is to have the heat fully surround the food being cooked, much like today’s modern ovens. Although the heat is applied at the bottom of the cooking area, it is confined to a small area in which the food is placed. Modern vessels used in Dutch oven cooking may also have short legs so the pot can be placed over the fire without it being suspended above the flames. Hot coals are still needed on the top of the lid to provide even heat distribution.
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