"Indoor" Dutch Oven Outdoors?

wintermute

wintermute

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Oct 18, 2007
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My wife got me an awesome Lodge 12" dutch oven for my birthday. It's the indoor type with a semi-domed lid. Does anyone know of a good way I can adapt this thing for cooking outside with charcoal? It doesn't have a lip around the lid to keep the coals in place. I was thinking about using aluminum foil to create a temporary ring. Does anyone have any recommendations?
 
You got it buddy, make a foil ring to hold the coals or turn the lid upside down !

You will also need to place a few rocks underneath it to take the place of the legs !!!!
 
Don't turn the lid upside down...I tried that with mine and soon discovered I had no way to raise the lid to check the food. You can try the foil ring though, that might work. Otherwise just get a second lid for it.

Hope this helps
David
 
Echo4v said:
Otherwise just get a second lid for it.
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I e-mailed Lodge to ask them whether a camp oven lid would fit on my indoor oven...they said no. whether this is true, or just an attempt to make another sale, who knows.
 
For bottom heat, Lodge also sells a lid stand.

stand.jpg


It is meant to have a place to set your lid down (instead of the dirt :D ) while checking the contents of the dutch oven.

I have also used it for setting a skillet on and frying stuff, or using the dutch oven lid upside down in order to cook on (like pancakes).

You could easily use it to hold the indoor DO off the ground to use bottom coals. I have a couple and didn't have to order it special. I found it at stores that generally carry Lodge stuff.

Have fun with that thing!

B
 
See if you can find a SS hose clamp to lay on the lid that is close to the diameter of the DO...all you really need to do is have something there to prevent the coals from falling off the lid...
 
You could take one of those disposable aluminum baking trays/pans, cut a slot in it for the lid handle, then set it on top of the lid with the coals in it. It might be sturdier than using plain aluminum foil. Might permit you to lift the coals off the lid (in the tray) so you could more easily lift the lid for a food check.

DancesWithKnives
 
DWK2 said:
You could take one of those disposable aluminum baking trays/pans, cut a slot in it for the lid handle, then set it on top of the lid with the coals in it. It might be sturdier than using plain aluminum foil. Might permit you to lift the coals off the lid (in the tray) so you could more easily lift the lid for a food check.

DancesWithKnives
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I was thinking the same thing but I haven't tried it yet, I bet it would work. The good news here is that you only need top coals for baking so most of the time you'll only need bottom coals anyway, for that you can set it on rocks or use that thing that Brian Andrews posted. The big hose clamp also sounds like a good idea. As for the lid fitting I would just measure the oven you have and then look for a lid that size. Since both styles of DO come in different sizes I would bet that there is a lid that will fit.

Hope this helps
David
 
DWK2 said:
You could take one of those disposable aluminum baking trays/pans, cut a slot in it for the lid handle, then set it on top of the lid with the coals in it. It might be sturdier than using plain aluminum foil. Might permit you to lift the coals off the lid (in the tray) so you could more easily lift the lid for a food check.

DancesWithKnives
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That is a great idea. Nice and clean. Makes your cast iron do double duty, camping and home use. I just picked up an aluminimum 12 in dutch oven with legs and flat lid for 12 dollars at an estate sale. I have plenty in cast iron that is probably easier to heat. The alumimum would be better when weight was an issue. I will have to try the foil tray idea on my home cookers.
 
As Pitt says just turn the lid around. Never mind others it aint brain bending to figure a way to crack the lid and lift it off.

Skam
 
I ran into the same problem and ended up taking a 12" cake pan and cutting the bottom out of it with a dremel. I was left with a perfect ring that sits inside my d.o. when not in use and is just right for holding coals when set on top.:thumbup:---KV
 
wintermute said:
I e-mailed Lodge to ask them whether a camp oven lid would fit on my indoor oven...they said no. whether this is true, or just an attempt to make another sale, who knows.
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I don't know about that. I have several size 12 skillets and dutch ovens, both with legs and flat bottoms. All the lids fit all the skillets and dutch ovens, some even aren't the same brand. Look around Ebay, flea markets and yard sales. Some of my favorite cast iron stuff came from those places, and they all ways have odd pieces, like lids, stands, etc.. Your right though, you don't need the baking lid to cook stews, gumbo, chili...
A cool thing about those lids is you can cook hoe cakes on them while cooking a roast or what not in them. Some of mine don't have the "basting bumps" on the underside so they make a dandy frying pan when flipped over and set above the fire on a make shift stand.
 
To stop wind/breeze creating uneven heat on one side of the oven ( by blowing the coals hotter) a standard trick here in OZ is to dig a hole very slightly bigger than the diameter of the oven and put the oven in the hole ontop of a shovel full of coals. If your really close size wize, coals can sit on top of the lid some will fall down the edge but that isn't a bad thing.
The areas where we do that is normally very exposed and there is no chance of fire running throught the ground There is no ( or very little) vegetative matter in the soil
The ovens we use here don't have legs, normally we sit them straight on coals.
If you had a steel ring made that fit just inside the diameter of the lid and inch or so high. It might sit there easily and would pack around base ( your ovens are tapered to the bottoms?)
Carl
 
I was going to suggest "why not just buy a proper camp dutch oven, its not like they are that expensive" until I checked the actual prices on new Lodge dutchies. Wow! Around $100 for an equivalent sized camp dutch oven!

I'm glad I got mine as a hand me down from my father!
 
mdauben said:
I was going to suggest "why not just buy a proper camp dutch oven, its not like they are that expensive" until I checked the actual prices on new Lodge dutchies.!
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That and my wife would kill me. I just christened it (in the oven...I know, I'm a wimp)...currently enjoying peach cobbler.
 
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