Under a yellow tent on a 100-degree day, the real heat came from the coals and competition at the World Championship Dutch Oven Cookoff.
“We’re under the big top, having more fun than a circus,” said Gary Loveland, wearing cowboy duds and in charge of rousing the crowd.
“This is part of our life in Utah and Idaho,” said Loveland, who lives in nearby Brigham City and is active in the International Dutch Oven Society, which stages the annual competition on the first Saturday in August. “If we couldn’t get around a black pot, we wouldn’t have as much fun.”
Dutch ovens got their name from itinerant German traders who traveled colonial America selling cast-iron cookware. Paul Revere is credited with developing a flat lid that would hold embers in place for top-browned cookery.
The entries in this year’s cookoff defy those who think that beans are the boundary of Dutch oven cooking. Consider the Viennese stollen, light and feathery, baked by second-place winner Heidi Sudgen of Bountiful, Utah. Born in Vienna, Sudgen and her husband, Ken, competed with a Germanic meal, the only international element to this year’s world championship.
“I feel like a pioneer,” she said, adding that she had learned the cooking craft during 10 years as a Girl Scout leader.
For the event, each team of two cooks had to prepare an entree, side dish (usually bread) and a dessert in their Dutch ovens. Those gathered this year in Logan were mostly from Utah and Idaho, where Dutch oven cooking remains a way of life.
Dutch oven cookery isn’t only for adults. Fifteen-year-old Erica Lynn Johnson, daughter of Bill and De Ann, has been going Dutch for five years and baked a beautiful berry pie for the competition. “She’s teaching me a ton,” said her cooking partner, Paula Simonson of Ogden.
Melissa Kendrick of Ogden, baking carrot cake, orange rolls and delectable mustard-sauced salmon fillets with her mother, Ruth, is a college student who has already learned that “you’ve got to watch your timing” when cooking with iron and charcoal.
Practice is the other way to get to this Carnegie Hall of Dutch oven cookoffs. “Mom made the carrot cake 25 times to get it right,” Melissa said.
The youngest by far was 4-month-old Brandon Linton, who contentedly sat in the shade of the table where his mom and dad, Brian and Tammy Linton of Logan, prepared pork roast with apricot sauce, hot rolls and lemon wagon wheels on raspberry sauce. Their meal earned them third place in the contest.
The Lintons began “Dutch-ovening” when they rescued a rusty pot that had been a wedding present to Brian’s parents.
Dale and Judith Hamaker of Delta, Utah, were firing up an even older pot, a 75-year-old. “It’s all black and satin inside and cooks great,” she said of the oven inherited from an uncle. The Hamakers keep collecting pots “because as our kids go away to school, they all take one of our Dutch ovens.”
The cooks were judged not only on the taste and appearance of their finished dishes, but also on their own appearance–appropriate western costume added points. They also were judged on cleanliness, technique and how well they interacted with the crowd.
“We also check the bottom of their food to make sure it’s not burned,” said one judge, walking around with a score sheet.
Outdoor cookery on a day when the temperature flirts with 100 has its hazards. Dough for the Kendricks’ orange rolls was rising too fast in the heat, and had to be chilled to slow it down. The one advantage of the sultry afternoon: the cooking temperature started at 100 even before coals were introduced.
Each glowing briquette contributes about 25 degrees to the process. Some cooks calculate the number needed by subtracting two from the diameter of the pot, and placing that number of coals under the oven. Then they add two to the diameter number to calculate the top layer of coals.
“There’s no one way to do it,” Loveland said. The average coal, he said, lasts 45 minutes. If the dish requires more time, burned-out charcoal is replaced with fresh briquettes. Colder, windier weather requires piling on even more coals.
When winners were announced, the $500 top prize went to Carla Bowcutt and Sally Ottley, longtime friends from Elba, Idaho. Their strawberry-bedecked white chocolate cake ruffled with shards of solid white chocolate was a showstopper. No beans about it.
Selected here are some of the easier entries, which can be adapted to regular baking methods if you don’t own a Dutch oven.
DUTCH OVEN BARBECUED RIBS
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Marinating time: 8 hours
Cooking time: About 3 1/2 hours
Yield: 6 servings
Adapted from a recipe from Jim Dyer and Tawona Hart of Hurricane, Utah.
1/2 cup vinegar
2 tablespoons Cajun spice mix
1 tablespoon each: salt, black pepper, ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
8 pounds baby back pork ribs
About 1 1/2 cups water
Barbecue sauce of choice
1. Mix vinegar with all spices in large bowl. Add ribs; cover and marinate 8 hours in refrigerator.
2. Remove ribs and pour off marinade. Place rack to 14-inch Dutch oven about 1 inch above bottom. Add 1/2 inch water (about 1 1/2 cups). Place ribs on rack. Cover; steam 2 1/2 hours with 10 coals under Dutch oven and 12 on top of cover. If water evaporates, add more.
3. After 2 1/2 hours, coat ribs with barbecue sauce; continue to simmer 1 hour more with 4 coals on bottom and none on top. Remove ribs, coat with additional sauce and serve.
Nutrition information per serving (without sauce):
Calories …… 850 Fat ……….. 65 g Cholesterol .. 260 mg
Sodium ….. 635 mg Carbohydrates .. 0 g Protein …….. 62 g
DUTCH OVEN PORK ROAST WITH FRESH APRICOT SAUCE
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 2 1/2 hours
Yield: 14 servings
Brian and Tammy Linton of Logan, Utah, garnish their roast with green mustard leaves, cooked apples and apricots.
1 pork loin roast (4 to 5 pounds)
1 jar (10 ounces) apple jelly
1 cup apple juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
5 to 6 whole fresh apricots, or 3/4 cup chopped dried apricots
1. Place roast in deep 14-inch Dutch oven; cover with lid. Place over 12 to 15 glowing coals; place 36 to 40 coals on top of lid. Roast 1 1/2 hours.
2. Combine apple jelly, apple juice and cardamom in separate small Dutch oven or pan; cook and stir over heat of larger Dutch oven until heated through and smooth. Reserve 1/2 cup of sauce for later use.
3. Continue cooking roast until pork is done or until meat thermometer reads 160 to 170 degrees, 40 to 60 minutes longer, brushing roast with sauce every 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, combine water and cornstarch to make a smooth mixture; add reserved 1/2 cup fruit sauce. Cook and stir in small pan over medium heat until sauce boils and starts to thicken. Add apricots and cook until heated through, about 5 minutes. Transfer roast to lid or serving platter; serve with apricot sauce.
Nutrition information per serving:
Calories …… 265 Fat …………. 9 g Cholesterol .. 75 mg
Sodium …… 70 mg Carbohydrates .. 19 g Protein ……. 27 g
DUTCH OVEN ROSEMARY POTATO ROLLS
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Rising time: 45-60 minutes
Cooking time: 20-30 minutes
Yield: 16 rolls
Adapted from a recipe by Dale and Judith Hamaker of Hinckley, Utah.
1 cup milk
1/4 cup each: sugar, olive oil, hot mashed potatoes
1 teaspoon crushed rosemary
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dough enhancer (gluten), optional
1 scant teaspoon yeast softened in 2 tablespoons warm water (105 to 115 degrees)
3 1/2 cups flour
1 egg, beaten
1 scant teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Topping:
1/4 cup melted butter
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Crushed rosemary
1. For dough, scald milk (see note), then add sugar, oil, potatoes, rosemary, dough enhancer, if using, and salt. Let cool until warm. Add yeast mixture. Stir in about 1 cup of the flour; add egg, baking powder and baking soda. Stir in enough additional flour to make soft dough. Knead a few minutes until smooth and pliable. Put in greased bowl. Cover with towel; let rise until double in bulk, 45 to 60 minutes.
2. Punch down dough. To shape rolls, divide dough into 16 pieces. Roll each piece into a ball. Dip each roll in melted butter, then Parmesan cheese, and put into well-oiled 12-inch Dutch oven. Continue until all dough is used. Sprinkle with crushed rosemary. Let rise until about doubled in volume.
3. Using 9 coals on bottom and 17 on lid, bake, covered, until golden brown, 20 to 30 minutes. Garnish with fresh rosemary, if desired.
Test kitchen note: To scald milk, heat to just below boiling point.
Nutrition information per roll:
Calories …… 180 Fat …………. 6 g Cholesterol .. 17 mg
Sodium ….. 195 mg Carbohydrates .. 26 g Protein …….. 6 g
DUTCH OVEN CARE AND HEATING
– For camp cooking, you need a Dutch oven with a flat bottom set on three short legs, fitted with a flat lid surrounded by a flange to hold coals or charcoal in place. To find outdoor iron pots, shop in a camping or hardware store.
– To season a new pot–essential before it’s used–wash off the factory-applied preservative with dishwashing liquid, dry it well, then rub with a paper towel soaked with a good quality cooking oil. Rub all surfaces. Place the pot and lid upside down in your oven, with a pan or foil underneath to catch dripping oil. Heat oven to 350 degrees and “bake” at least an hour. Turn off the oven but don’t open the door until the oven and pot have cooled.
– After you cook your meal, scrape out any residual food, then use hot water and a scrubber to wash out the Dutch oven. Use detergent only if the pan is exceptionally greasy (and re-season the pan afterward). Never pour cold water into a hot pot–iron can suffer damage. Dry the pan and give it a light coating of oil to protect it until next use. Don’t store it tightly covered or it may rust.
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For more information
The International Dutch Oven Society has a web site, www.idos.com. The e-mail address is idos@idos.com, and regular mailing address is IDOS, 41 E. 400 North, No. 210, Logan, Utah 84321. An annual membership costs $15 and includes a quarterly newsletter filled with recipes and information on equipment and upcoming regional cookoffs.
