Just looking to see if has anyone on here has got one and are they any good, or will I just go for a cast iron one ?.....thanks
Aluminium dutch oven
- Thread starter JAG009
- Start date
Scots_Charles_River
Bushcrafter (boy, I've got a lot to say!)
Great bit of kit. I converted a french casserole dish I bought from Biker and use it more often than my cast iron one.
Doesn't retain the heat as well as a cast iron one but it's a lot lighter for carrying round
Doesn't retain the heat as well as a cast iron one but it's a lot lighter for carrying round
I know some people have fears of ali D/O's melting, it would depend on how you were going to use it, and what heat you were wanting to put into it, if your only using a few coals under and on top then the heat should be no problem , if your putting it directly on a roaing fire the yeah it may well do, I use cast iron myself.
Thing to remember is that Aluminium has a melting point of 660degC. Anything you cook at that temperature will probably end up a tad crispy. 
People are happy to use ali billys to cook over the fire with so a ali DO is going to be fine and to be honest at a lot less risk of melting than a billy would.
People are happy to use ali billys to cook over the fire with so a ali DO is going to be fine and to be honest at a lot less risk of melting than a billy would.
It depends what you're going to use it for Jason. If it's to be put on the fire and left alone to stew and simmer for hours on end, then no. It's not a good idea. I melted a thick walled aluminium dyebath on a fire when it boiled dry. Doesn't take long either.
If it's only to be used while you're nearby and keeping an eye on it, then it's a very good thing. It's a lot lighter and it doesn't need the same proofing bother that cast iron does. It can be scoured out and put by without a thought. You can also leave food in it overnight without the food becoming very 'black', so it's easier for soups and stews.
It doesn't retain heat as well, but you can work around that quite easily. It does make good baking pots though, if you're careful not to burn the backside out of it.
If I'm going with the car, and I know I've more than just me to feed, I take the cast iron. For convenience and lightness I take the aluminium or stainless steel.
You realise 'everyone' has an opinion on this ?
atb,
M
If it's only to be used while you're nearby and keeping an eye on it, then it's a very good thing. It's a lot lighter and it doesn't need the same proofing bother that cast iron does. It can be scoured out and put by without a thought. You can also leave food in it overnight without the food becoming very 'black', so it's easier for soups and stews.
It doesn't retain heat as well, but you can work around that quite easily. It does make good baking pots though, if you're careful not to burn the backside out of it.
If I'm going with the car, and I know I've more than just me to feed, I take the cast iron. For convenience and lightness I take the aluminium or stainless steel.
You realise 'everyone' has an opinion on this ?
atb,
M
I've got the 10" Gsi Jason, great wee pot. I sometimes wish I'd gone for the 12" but it was almost double the price.
Easy to clean, big enough for a stew for 3 or 4. It's got tiny ridges on the inside which I think helps with radiating the heat, it's highly polished on the inside too which pretty much non-stick, not had anything stick and burn yet anyway.
We usually do a stew for around 3 hours over the fire and I've not had any probs yet.
Spendy but good pots
Easy to clean, big enough for a stew for 3 or 4. It's got tiny ridges on the inside which I think helps with radiating the heat, it's highly polished on the inside too which pretty much non-stick, not had anything stick and burn yet anyway.
We usually do a stew for around 3 hours over the fire and I've not had any probs yet.
Spendy but good pots
I'd like a link to that one too please Rich
I've been thinking about it; maybe the question I really would like answered is, "How good is the lid on your aluminium dutch oven ?"
My dyebath didn't have one, and it boiled dry, I've seen one other aluminium pot with it's backside burnt out (they literally melt and run like slag) but that was years ago. I cleared out most of the aluminium camping pots and bought titanium, but there's no getting away from it, food sticks to them
Good thread interesting,
cheers,
M
I've been thinking about it; maybe the question I really would like answered is, "How good is the lid on your aluminium dutch oven ?"
My dyebath didn't have one, and it boiled dry, I've seen one other aluminium pot with it's backside burnt out (they literally melt and run like slag) but that was years ago. I cleared out most of the aluminium camping pots and bought titanium, but there's no getting away from it, food sticks to them
Good thread
interesting,cheers,
M
This is the one mate, I got mine off Lurch though when he had the shop ..
http://www.gsioutdoors.com/products/pdp/10_aluminum_dutch_oven/camp_cookware_dutch_ovens
I see they do the anodised ones now too, I saw one in an outfitters in Minnesota last summer and they looked very good, not sure how they compare though.
I'd like a link to that one too please Rich
I've been thinking about it; maybe the question I really would like answered is, "How good is the lid on your aluminium dutch oven ?"
My dyebath didn't have one, and it boiled dry, I've seen one other aluminium pot with it's backside burnt out (they literally melt and run like slag) but that was years ago. I cleared out most of the aluminium camping pots and bought titanium, but there's no getting away from it, food sticks to them
Good thread
cheers,
M
My pot is in the loft at the moment Mary but from memory it must be 7 or 8mm thick, the lid is the same too.
I thought I had some better pics somewhere
Cheers Rich looks like a new bit of kit getting ordered from the states not a bad price for the 12" one £60 + postage......
The key to me is if you want to actually use it as an oven and bake in it. In that case I'd avoid aluminium
Does Ronnie Sunshine not do them in the UK ?
Tbh, I was eyeing up this one for under £30 icluding p&p, and thinking how to add a bail handle to it.
http://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk/d...c-3326-p.asp?gclid=CLHjpt_gmrUCFe7MtAodkWIANw
Loads like them around. Look for cooking instead of camping for links.
cheers,
M
Tbh, I was eyeing up this one for under £30 icluding p&p, and thinking how to add a bail handle to it.
http://www.theasiancookshop.co.uk/d...c-3326-p.asp?gclid=CLHjpt_gmrUCFe7MtAodkWIANw
Loads like them around. Look for cooking instead of camping for links.
cheers,
M
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Looks good Mary just drill out two holes in the lugs and fit a bail handle ally is easy to drill
That's a good looking "pot" Mary. But not a proper DO with rimmed lid and tripod legs.
These look good value from Greenman ..
http://www.greenmanbushcraft.co.uk/outdoor-kitchen/pots-pans/lightweight-stew-pots.htm
http://www.greenmanbushcraft.co.uk/outdoor-kitchen/pots-pans/lightweight-stew-pots.htm
Most Dutch ovens here don't have wee legs.....I think that's a mazurka ? Might be wrong about the spelling.
British Caribbean and Indian cooking Dutch oven pots are slightly rounded on the base to sit comfortably in or over a fire. They also bake well because of that rounded base, it's easy to free bread and the like. They might not have the deep edge of some of the DO's but they have rim enough to hold ontohot embers.
I have very old iron cauldron with three legs though, it's missing it's lids.
Old cauldron's had two lids. An inner concave one that sat over the top of the simmering pot but under the top, convex, lid. The space created was used to bake breads and scones.
cheers,
M
British Caribbean and Indian cooking Dutch oven pots are slightly rounded on the base to sit comfortably in or over a fire. They also bake well because of that rounded base, it's easy to free bread and the like. They might not have the deep edge of some of the DO's but they have rim enough to hold ontohot embers.
I have very old iron cauldron with three legs though, it's missing it's lids.
Old cauldron's had two lids. An inner concave one that sat over the top of the simmering pot but under the top, convex, lid. The space created was used to bake breads and scones.
cheers,
M
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Ronnie sadly doesn't do them... only cast iron
As for handles this is my ali DO I got from Biker
And how I attached the handle which was from an old bucket
And Amazon have loads of Caribbean cookpots
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