Dutch Oven Cooking

Why "Dutch Oven"

A Dutch oven is a heavy cast iron cooking pot. The camping variety typically has three feet (or legs) on the bottom of the pot to allow the pot to sit over a bed of charcoal. The lid typically has a rim to contain the coals on top.

The "Dutch" name has to do with process for casting the metal pots and not where the design for the pot was originated. The theory suggests that Abraham Darby traveled to Holland in the early 1700s to learn about the Dutch casting process. The Dutch were casting brass vessels in dry sand molds. When Darby returned to England, he began experimenting with the process he had learned in Holland. Darby eventually patented a process which used a special type of molding sand as well as a process for baking the mold to improve the casting. Eventually, these pots were shipped to the new American colonies and throughout the world. Darby called these pots "Dutch" ovens to honor the original techniques. ¹

There are other theories about the name, but this is the most widely accepted.

Coal Placement When Cooking

Depending on the type of cooking you are preforming with your dutch oven, you will need to place the charcoal briquettes in different configurations. Here are some general tips for coal placement.

• Roasting
  • When roasting, your heat source should come from the top and bottom evenly. This will require twice as many coals on the top as on the bottom.
• Baking
  • For baking, your heat source should primary be from the top. For this, place approximately 3 times as many briquettes on the lid as under the oven.
• Boiling, Frying, Stewing, Simmering
  • For any "stovetop" style cooking with a dutch oven, your heat source is from the bottom. All of your coals should be placed under the oven.

Your briquettes under the oven should be placed in a circular pattern slightly smaller than the diameter of your oven. The briquettes on the lid should be in a checkerboard type pattern. The most important tip is to avoid crowding coals in any one area. While cooking, you may want to rotate your oven periodically to avoid any hot spots.

Depending on the size of Dutch Oven and the desired temperature, your number of coals will vary. The tables below give a good initial estimate of coals needed for cooking.

8" Dutch Oven

Temperature	Total Coals	Top	Bottom
325	15	10	5
350	16	11	5
375	17	11	6
400	18	12	6
425	19	13	6
450	20	14	6

12" Dutch Oven

Temperature	Total Coals	Top	Bottom
325	23	16	7
350	25	17	8
375	27	18	9
400	29	19	10
425	31	21	10
450	33	22	11

16" Dutch Oven

Temperature	Total Coals	Top	Bottom
325	34	22	12
350	36	24	12
375	38	25	13
400	40	27	13
425	42	28	14
450	44	30	14

10" Dutch Oven

Temperature	Total Coals	Top	Bottom
325	19	13	6
350	21	14	7
375	23	16	7
400	25	17	8
425	27	18	9
450	29	19	10

14" Dutch Oven

Temperature	Total Coals	Top	Bottom
325	30	20	10
350	32	21	11
375	34	22	12
400	36	24	12
425	38	25	13
450	40	26	14

Tips for Care and Cleanup

With a little care, your Dutch Oven will last for your Scouting journey, your child's, and beyond.

Footnotes

1. Brief History of Where the Dutch Oven Got its Name. https://www.montana.edu/extension/blaine/documents/dutch_oven_fun_facts/where%20it%20got%20its%20name.pdf Accessed: April 27, 2026 ↩