A Week of Easy Dutch Oven Recipes • Binkies and Briefcases (2024)

FAQs

Is there anything you shouldn't cook in a Dutch oven? ›

Be Mindful When Cooking Acidic Foods

In an enamel-coated Dutch oven, prolonged cooking with acidic ingredients may discolor the interior coating but doesn't erode it.

They originated in the UK using a Dutch casting process, but the term is more common in the US - British English speakers tend to say 'casserole dish' instead. A Dutch oven is also slang for farting in bed and then pulling the duvet over your partner's head so they can enjoy the aroma.

The most popular size for a Dutch oven is somewhere between five and seven quarts. If you're cooking for family or friends fairly regularly, something like a 5.5 quart Dutch oven might be ideal for you.

I think your 3 qt will be just fine, simply adjust your recipe. The recipe I make in a 5qt dutch oven uses 6 cups of flour. That makes for a BIG loaf. If 3qt is 60% of 5qt, why not simply reduce everything and start out with 3 1/2 C of flour?

Don't preheat an empty dutch oven on your stovetop—this can cause your cookware to crack or break. Some bread recipes call for preheating the dutch oven in the oven. This is perfectly safe to do since the heat will be more consistently distributed across the entire dutch oven.

Highly acidic foods: While enameled cast iron is generally resistant to acidic foods, prolonged exposure to high acidity can damage the surface over time. It's best to avoid long-simmering highly acidic dishes, such as tomato-based sauces or dishes with high vinegar content.

Dutch oven is a slang term for farting in bed and pulling the covers over your partner's head, sealing in the stench of your gas. This gassy gag is named after an actual cooking device called a Dutch oven: a large metal pot that traps heat (and smells) under its lid.

A Dutch oven is a cooking pot, usually cast iron. It sometimes has legs and a handle for cooking over coals or an open fire. They originated in the UK using a Dutch casting process, but the term is more common in the US - British English speakers tend to say 'casserole dish' instead.

The idea behind a Dutch oven is slow cooking so flavors develop and tougher cuts of meat can slowly braise and become tender. Our more modern answer to the Dutch oven is a slow cooker or crock pot. If you don't have either, a good stock pot with a tight lid will work similarly.

Is a Dutch oven better than a casserole dish? ›

If you cook frequently and for large groups of people, then Casserole pot will be more convenient and versatile for you. It can handle large quantities of food and different cooking methods. If you cook occasionally and you don't care about the weight, you can go with the Dutch oven.

When you buy from Le Creuset, you're paying for high-quality pots and pans that are designed to stand the test of time. Rather than aluminum or stainless steel, Le Creuset craft their pieces from cast iron, which has a much higher heat capacity.

Smaller Dutch ovens (around three to four quarts) are ideal for recipes that involve at least a few steps on the cooktop — like risotto or boeuf bourguignon. They're also a nice size for baking a loaf of Dutch oven bread. You can easily cook a whole chicken in a 3.5 quart Dutch oven too.

The Dutch oven is the master of the stovetop. Since it's basically a wider, heavier version of a stockpot, it's a good pick to simmer broth or cook up big batches of beans. The cast iron core can get hot enough to quickly sear chunks of meat and brown veggies.

Dutch oven sizes ranging from 3 to 4.5 quarts are best for small family meals and side dishes for larger gatherings. They can feed up to three or four people for a weeknight meal or one to two people with some leftovers. These Dutch oven sizes fit on the table for easy serving.

If you live alone or only cook for one or two people, a 3-quart Dutch oven should do the trick for most dishes. That said, we'd still recommend going larger for more versatility.

Because Dutch ovens are cast iron, they're champs under heat. OvenSpot says most enameled Dutch ovens can take up to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.