CAMPGROUNDGOURMET
LODGE’ S BABY DUTCH OVEN REALLY
By C. R. Lovald
COOKS!
As any Dutch oven enthusiast can attest, the only thing better than one Dutch oven is more than one.
So once I laid eyes on Lodge’ s # 6 camp oven, I knew I had to take it for a spin. The Lodge Cast Iron Manufacturing Company( www. lodgemfg. com) has been in business over 100 years and is now the only company producing cast iron camp ovens in the USA. Lodge ovens, with proper care, will last practically forever. Their latest baby, the # 6, is manufactured with the same care and attention to detail as Lodge’ s larger ovens. I expected a lot from this little oven and it did not disappoint.
This little darlin’ holds only one quart, making it the perfect size to melt butter for popcorn or chocolate for dipping, or to make sauces or gravies. But because space is always at a premium in the pop-up, I wanted to make it work harder than that. In my mind, it needed to be as much of a workhorse as my larger Dutchies, not a cute novelty. So the experimentation began.
I discovered desserts and side dishes for two to four people and main dishes for one or two were all possible with this mighty mini. With a surface area at the bottom of the pot of only about twenty square inches, this little oven does well using one-fourth of the ingredients intended for a # 12 camp oven, or one-fifth of a recipe intended for a 9x13 pan. Bisquick Impossibly Easy Pie recipes, among our favorite things to make in a Dutch, are easily halved and bake up wonderfully in the # 6.
One of the best recipes I developed for this tiny oven is lime cheesecake. By lining the little Dutchie with foil, I was able to easily lift the cheesecake out when it was done baking. This allowed me to chill the cheesecake and move on to prepping
Lodge’ s 6-inch baby Dutch oven poses with its larger 12-inch cousin.
the side dish, green bean casserole. This is a favorite of ours and because it uses canned goods, it travels well and mixes up quickly and easily. Cheesy potatoes with bacon cooked up nicely as a side at another meal. A complete meal for one was made using a sliced potato, a half can of corn, a hamburger patty sprinkled with onion soup mix, and topped with a half can of cream of mushroom soup, then baked till the potato was tender.
The # 6 DO can replace foil for many packet recipes, thus making tiny Dutch ovens a‘ green’ selection because they eliminate the need to throw away used foil. Using your favorite packet recipes is a great way to utilize the # 6, because packet recipes are often sized for a single serving, and so fit nicely into a small Dutch.
I can’ t say enough good things about this fun little oven. Given how much I’ ve enjoyed experimenting with it and how versatile and useful I’ ve found it to be, I expect it to be in my cast iron collection for years to come.
22 Autumn 2009 |