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Monday, August 23, 2010

2010 Dutch Oven Cook Off

The third annual dutch oven cook off was once again a time of laughter, good natured competition and great food!

This year, eight guys brought their dutch ovens to our place, threw on some coals and made our mouths water.

Most of us are familiar with the dutch ovens that are used in our kitchen oven. The ovens these men were using are heavy cast iron pots with three legs and a rimmed lid. These are the pots that traveled with the pioneers and cowboys. With a little practice, any food baked in the oven can be prepared in the outdoors in a dutch oven.

This year, we enjoyed pizza,

stuffed chicken breasts,


crusty cheese bread, and more.
But the voted  favorite  was the Vaun's Chocolate Babka.


This bread tasted as good as it looked. Vaun made the dough totally from scratch following the recipe in Peter Reinhart's Artisan Breads Every Day. Impressive!

Can't wait for next year! You can also see pics from last year's dutch oven cook off.

I've been asked where you can purchase your own dutch oven. Many sporting goods stores sell them such as Cabelas and Gander Mountain. Look for an oven that is pretreated, has three iron legs and a rimmed lid for holding coals. If at all possible, purchase one at a store because the shipping can get rather expensive! Lodge is a good name, may be higher priced then some other brands, but Amazon gives free shipping. Beware of very cheap cast iron cookware as the iron may be pitted and rough and will be very hard to season well.

10 comments:

  1. Oh my they did really well! It all looks good.

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  2. Any chance your friends would be willing share their recipes with us? (please?)

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  3. Kari -
    What recipe would you be interested in? I think I could get some them for you!
    Gina

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  4. ALL of the recipes, Gina! =) Looks sooo good, and what a fun fellowship!

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  5. Lodge cast iron products are the best. They are made right here in East Tennessee. Pigeon Forge, Tennessee has a wonderful Lodge outlet. Gina Lodge who is the wife of the owner is the current Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Human Services and is a wonderful person who gives freely of herself in helping others, always

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  6. Everything looks so good. What fun it must have been.

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  7. The main dish recipes are the ones I'm MOST interested in! But I agree all would be welcome. :)

    The cheese bread, pizza, and stuffed chicken are the ones that first popped into my mind, though.

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  8. Oh my! This all looks good! What a fun idea.

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  9. Wow! That a neat idea! That sounds like such a fun celebration of yummy food and dutch ovens!! :)

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  10. What a fun idea! i love it! Reminds me of the chili cook-offs where I grew up.

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