Dudes, I've gone Dutch! (oven that is) Recipes Requested!

[Drako]

That IS a casserole, what is a casserole to you?? This thread is getting hilarious :biggrin:

Give him a break, he's from the UK. They have very specific requirements over there for casseroles. 😀

Oh, and you don't want to get into an argument about what is a stew and what is a casserole.

 

[Kaido]

Give him a break, he's from the UK. They have very specific requirements over there for casseroles. 😀

Oh, and you don't want to get into an argument about what is a stew and what is a casserole.

So I've heard :biggrin:

At any rate, a stew is just thick soup & a casserole is baked mush :awe:

 

[Kaido]

They can be crazy expensive if you insist on a Le Creuset, Staub or anything with the name of a Food Network host on it. But you should easily be able to find a 5qt Lodge or similar for under $50 and I've seen a 4qt at BJs for something like $35 or so. Well worth buying, it's a very versatile piece of cookware. Just make sure you get a real cast iron model and not something like stainless or anodized aluminum under the enamel. There's a big different in performance.

I haven't been sold on enamel enough to buy one yet. However, I'm getting back into baking & breadmaking now that I can have gluten again (yippie!) and I'm thinking about giving one a shot for no-knead bread since my previous dutch oven is a jumbo 8-quart camp model (too big). Lodge has some budget-friendly models that I've been looking at. Some interesting reading on camp vs. enameled here:

http://www.derekoncastiron.com/2009/02/article-enameled-cast-iron-vs-bare-un.html

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Give him a break, he's from the UK. They have very specific requirements over there for casseroles. 😀

This from a country that can't even make a decent sandwich.

 

[notposting]

Kaido, check out the Tramontina enameled dutch ovens at Walmart. Good quality, good regular prices, and when they go on sale the pricing is insane. Think I got my 6.5qt blue and red for $40. Have a couple smaller ones as well.

Really nice cookware. Oddly enough, I don't have a "traditional/plain" finish dutch oven, and we are going camping next weekend. Of course we are renting a cabin...with 20amp electric service...so the Anova is coming. *Roughing it*

(Cooking for the grandparents on the one visit we get all year, but since my wife just nodded like she expects this level of crazy...)

 

[Kaido]

Kaido, check out the Tramontina enameled dutch ovens at Walmart. Good quality, good regular prices, and when they go on sale the pricing is insane. Think I got my 6.5qt blue and red for $40. Have a couple smaller ones as well.

Really nice cookware. Oddly enough, I don't have a "traditional/plain" finish dutch oven, and we are going camping next weekend. Of course we are renting a cabin...with 20amp electric service...so the Anova is coming. *Roughing it*

(Cooking for the grandparents on the one visit we get all year, but since my wife just nodded like she expects this level of crazy...)

Hah, I was just reading about that brand! Looks like they've jumped up in price to $60:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tramontina-6.5-Qt-Enameled-Round-Cast-Iron-Dutch-Oven/29114481

1000 reviews with 4.6 out of 5 stars, sold!

 

[MrSquished]

That looks small. 😛

it's a 6 quart 🙂

although now I wish I bought an 8 quart. I cooked a short rib and potato stew yesterday and all the stuff was almost at the tippy top. it fed 3 hungry dudes and enough leftover for one more.

 

[notposting]

Yeah, they have a ginormous 7qt oval version for a few bucks more that I just haven't gone to. Can't imagine wrestling that thing around on cheapo electric burners.

You can find the slightly more premium version (stainless handle, basically) of the 6.5 qt on ebay for about $5 less - I would just wait and if really smart, set up an alert on slick deals or something for a sale. (I'm not that smart, I just try to remember things I want and search for them periodically. 😛)

 

[Kaido]

it's a 6 quart 🙂

although now I wish I bought an 8 quart. I cooked a short rib and potato stew yesterday and all the stuff was almost at the tippy top. it fed 3 hungry dudes and enough leftover for one more.

Yeah my 8-quart feeds a good amount. My FIL has like five or ten of them. He does a bunch with scouting & all that and they eat like kings when they go camping. Food tastes stupid good out of those things! :thumbsup:

 

[CraKaJaX]

Serious question: What is the difference here to make the $$$ so much different?

http://www.amazon.com/Creuset-Signa...2259862&sr=1-1&keywords=le+creuset+dutch+oven

http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-EC6D43-...TF8&qid=1442259824&sr=8-2&keywords=dutch+oven

I know Le Creuset is 'high quality' ... but for $200 more what am I actually getting? I own two Lodge cast iron pans and they are completely fine. Unless Le Creuset makes me dinner every night, I'm not much sold.

 

[Drako]

Serious question: What is the difference here to make the $$$ so much different?

http://www.amazon.com/Creuset-Signa...2259862&sr=1-1&keywords=le+creuset+dutch+oven

http://www.amazon.com/Lodge-EC6D43-...TF8&qid=1442259824&sr=8-2&keywords=dutch+oven

I know Le Creuset is 'high quality' ... but for $200 more what am I actually getting? I own two Lodge cast iron pans and they are completely fine. Unless Le Creuset makes me dinner every night, I'm not much sold.

It's the fit and finish. Plus they are hand crafted by snootie French artisans. 🙂

 

[ElFenix]

Let crueset isn't finished in China with heavy metals in the glaze.

Costco had a house brand dutch oven that was hecho en France, so probably either le crueset or staub. Been waiting for them to bring it back.

Anyway, brisket chili:

 

[WelshBloke]

That IS a casserole, what is a casserole to you?? This thread is getting hilarious

Oh god! It's the biscuit thread all over again! 🙂

A casserole is cooked with a lid on, that's a bake.

 

[Drako]

A casserole is cooked with a lid on, that's a bake.

WTF is a bake? :biggrin:

 

[Chaosblade02]

I got one of these too, and I love cooking pot roast in mine. Here is what I do:

Ingredients:

- +1 nice chunk of beef, whatever you can find on sale. Sometimes this can be loin, london broil, or roast, etc. Most of the time its 2-3lbs of beef, maybe more.

- Freshly peeled potatoes, carrots, and chopped onions. Fill the dutch oven up, use whatever ratios of these that you want.

- Add 2 cups of water to the dutch oven, or about where there is 1" of water at the bottom.

- 1 package of lipton onion soup, dump it in and mix it with the water.

Instructions:

- Preheat oven to 325 F.

- Sear the meat on all sides. I use one notch above medium heat. I pat the meat down with salt and black pepper, then put some butter in an iron skillet. The butter helps sear the meat and keep the meat from sticking at the same time. Heat the skillet up until the butter is completely melted and is sizzling before sticking the meat in.

- Gravy (optional) There will be residue in the skillet from searing the meat. You can dump a little water in there, and mix some flour in and make gravy, and dump this on top of the meat and vegetables if you want. I usually do this by eye, with no specific ratios. Etc, mix a little bit of water, and add flour and mix until I get the consistency I want. You need to let it cook down a bit. Like maybe 5-10 minutes at medium high heat.

- Place the meat in the bottom of the dutch oven with the water and soup mix.

- Scatter the vegetables in the dutch oven, and fill it up. I sprinkle a little bit of garlic salt on them.

- Cook @ 325F for 4 hours. Stick a fork in the meat, and make sure its tender, if not, put it back in and give it another 30 minutes. If you can't cut the meat easily with a fork, then it needs more time.

For chunks of meat more than 3 lbs, like for example, I cooked a 5lb roast one time, and had to cook it for 6 hours. I cooked the meat for 3 hours, pulled it out, dumped the vegetables in and cooked it for another 3 hours. Don't want the vegetables to cook into complete mush.

Its pretty hard to overcook a pot roast, you can go 30 minutes over and be perfectly fine. Mistakes are made with people undercooking the meat, and it comes out tough. If its tough, cook it more.

*optional* - You can make beef stew with the left overs. Day old pot roast makes the most awesome beef stew. I chop up the meat, and vegetables, and dump the juice in (skim the fat off) and add some water + a can of tomato sauce. You can include some other vegetables like corn of green beans to the stew. Let it simmer on low heat for 2 hours. Taste the broth before you add any extra spices to it, and add some salt, garlic powder, pepper, or a little bit of chili powder if you want to spice it up.

 

[WelshBloke]

WTF is a bake?

 

[Drako]

Bake is a verb, not a noun.

 

[WelshBloke]

Bake is a verb, not a noun.

So is casserole. 😉

 

[Drako]

So is casserole. 😉

Defuq 😵


:biggrin:

 

[WelshBloke]

Defuq 😵

And roast. 🙂

 

[WelshBloke]

But not soup. 🙁

 

[Kaido]

But not soup. 🙁

Or stew :awe:

 

[WelshBloke]

Or stew :awe:

You can casserole a casserole.
You can bake a bake.
You can roast a roast.
You can't soup a soup.
You can stew a stew.

 

[Kaido]

It's the fit and finish. Plus they are hand crafted by snootie French artisans. 🙂

That plus:

1. Have to pay import fees from France
2. The higher-end stuff apparently has double the coats of enamel on it.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

You can casserole a casserole.
You can bake a bake.
You can roast a roast.
You can't soup a soup.
You can stew a stew.

You can make a vitamin, but you can't make a hormone.