Posted in Homestead Kitchen

     I have both traditional cast iron cookware – a Dutch oven and skillets which were my grandmothers’ – and modern porcelain enamel over cast iron cookware made by Le Creuset.  My 4 quart Le Creuset round oven is by far the piece of cookware I use the most.  The large 10 quart round oven comes in handy for serving a crowd or boiling a whole chicken for broth.  When I make pot roast, it is always in my grandmother’s perfectly seasoned 4 quart cast iron Dutch oven.

     Lodge Manufacturing Company, the largest producers of cast iron cookware, distinguishes between the two most common types of cast iron ovens.  According to Lodge, the “Dutch” oven is the one with the rounded top and flat bottom (no legs).  The oven with the flat lid with the lip around it and the legs on the bottom is a “Camp” oven.  Obviously, the camp oven is the one you would want to use in coals or over a fire in an outdoor setting.

     I use my cast iron every day in my kitchen.  The Le Creuset is expensive, yes, but I know I will be able to pass these pieces on to my daughters and their daughters after them.  A wise investment.  I have collected it piece by piece over the last 20 years and have often asked for a piece for my birthday or Christmas.  Lodge also makes porcelain enameled cookware.

     Porcelain enameled cast iron would not be appropriate for the outdoor-style cooking – that is what the traditional cast iron camp ovens are for.  The ability to cook virtually anything for your family with only a good campfire or hot coals is a useful skill indeed and one I plan to work on this summer.  During power outages, I have used my cast iron on top of our wood burning stove to make everything from pancakes to stew.  Cast iron is an indispensable part of the homestead kitchen.  Here are a few resources from the web to learn more:    Lisa                     

Byron’s Dutch Oven Cooking Page –

Very informative site with lots of resources and recipes.

Lodge Manufacturing

Family owned and operated out of S. Pittsburg, TN they are the largest producer of cast iron cookware in the U.S. for over 100 years.  Order their free catalog  and get on their “What’s Cooking” email newsletter list for recipes and specials.

International Dutch Oven Society

The premier organization for all Dutch oven enthusiasts.

Perfect Cornbread

      Sift together 1 ½ cups cornmeal, 1 ½ cups flour, one tsp. salt, three tsp. baking powder and ¼ cup sugar.  Add just enough milk to make a thick batter consistency.  Add one egg, and two tsp. warm bacon fat and pour into hot lavishly bacon-greased pan and bake in hot oven until done, ½ to ¾ hour. 

 The above excerpt is taken from Woodstove Cookery, by Jane Cooper, Garden Way Publishing, 1977.  This recipe was originally created for a wood cookstove, but can be made in a regular oven at 400 to 450 degrees.

 Old-time temperature equivalents:

Very slow oven              200 - 250°

Slow oven                     250 - 325°

Moderately slow oven    325 - 350°

Moderate oven              350 - 375°

Moderately hot oven       375 - 400°

Hot oven                      400 - 450°

Very hot oven               450 - 500°                   

 Lisa Vitello

From the January/February 2008 issue of New Harvest Homestead