Which Dutch oven & why?

[Grendel]

I'm after a Dutch oven so i can cook on the open fire rather than heating up my mess tins next to it.

The Ronnie Sunshine ones seem cheap just under £30 but all i hear is bad reviews of them so what do others use and how much did they cost you?

 

[Tadpole]

I bought mine on ebay from 20-20mobile-eyes, for £16.99 +postage three years ago. It was unseasoned, but once that was done I've used it with no problem, both in the oven at home and over a fire. They are still selling them now with a few hours to go.
Great addition to the camp and to the home barbeque set up.

 

[MartinK9]

Had mine from Ronnies, no problems at all. Got the large 12 litre one, you don't have to fill it and when required; will be up to the large meals, whether an indoor stew:

or an outdoor 2 leg Lamb Roast:

 

[dave53]

hi tad pole have you a linky please regards dave

 

[jackcbr]

Which Dutch oven: A big one
why: Big appetite


I'll get my coat...

 

[ateallthepies]

I have several sizes of Ronnie's dutch ovens and can't fault them. I only wish the 12 litre ones were still available. They come pre-seasoned but I always do several cycles myself.

Which size to get is a good question. The bigger it is the bigger the joint of meat you can roast. If it's just a couple of people the 4 litre will be fine but bigger joints and more people definitely go for the 8 litre.

Steve.

 

[shaggystu]

......or an outdoor 2 leg Lamb Roast:.....

a two leg lamb roast...........that's.........well.......twice as good as normal!

for the love of all that's holy, stop taunting us!

 

[Retired Member southey]

I have used these pots a fair bit very good quality, just be careful clicking the link! you may go bankrupt!

Mopani Trading

 

[Grendel]

This one looks OK but suspicious why it's cheap?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120898893398?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

[shaggystu]

This one looks OK but suspicious why it's cheap?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120898893398?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

'cos it's not really all that big?

 

[Tadpole]

hi tad pole have you a linky please regards dave

dutch oven
No link to the seller other than I bought one off them years ago.

 

[Tank]

I have a 4ltr one for Ronnies (not heard anything bad about them before) but mine is great, but if i could buy again i would get larger than a 4ltr.

4ltr is fine, but if your cooking for a load of people then it tends to bubble over when cooking.

 

[Native Nathan]

Another Thumbs up for Ronnies Sunshine Here.

 

[santaman2000]

The capacity (in liters or quarts) isn't as important to know as the dimensions. What is the diameter? What is the depth? Capacity only tells you "how much" you can cook but tells you nothing about "what" you can cook.

I like a 10 inch or 12 inch DO personally. If you're only going to cook soups, stews, and similar one pot meals in it then it isn't as important. But if youu're going to bake in it (a good blackberry pie needs room to fit a 9 inch pie pan in with room to spare round the edges) then it DOES matter. For most cooking or baking the regular depth will do fine but it you're going to bake breads that rise, or taller meats (whole hens or small turkeys or taller roasts) then you'll need the deep sided ones.

I prefer the camp style with legs and a rim around the lid for a couple of reasons:
1. If you're baking (or even stewing) it needs a way to hold live coals or charcoal on the lid to maintain even heat all round like a conventional oven.
2. the lid can be inverted and placed on the coals in the morning (or whenever) and used as a griddle.

Here's a link to a series of good videos on the subject from Texas Parks and Wildlife: www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2iG4aMKBCQ

 

[Native Nathan]

Thanks Santaman200 Thats really usefull never done anything other than a stew in mine, but you have opened my imagination.

 

[TurboGirl]

I bought mine on ebay from 20-20mobile-eyes, for £16.99 +postage three years ago. It was unseasoned, but once that was done I've used it with no problem, both in the oven at home and over a fire. They are still selling them now with a few hours to go.
Great addition to the camp and to the home barbeque set up.

I'll second that- my 4.5l was from there and its been cooked with a fair few times now on fire and stove. Not the biggest but its ok size for 2-4 and good service from 20/20- I got mine cheap on one of their auctions like this one but at this time of year, there might be more competition!

I bought small to see if I got on with it- now I know the mids meeters I tend to cook with have these and 8 litre dutchies, I'll look for something in between so we have the flexibility of setting up a tower stack between us when I've got the readies or Christmas comes around

Cracking video link there santaman, I'm especially loving yer mans' campfire cooking bowls!

 

[Man of Tanith]

I have used these pots a fair bit very good quality, just be careful clicking the link! you may go bankrupt!

Mopani Trading

i saw the warning
i ignored the warning
i regret not listening to the warning

i've not heard any problems with Ronnie Sunshines dutch ovens?
certainly mine is fine and dandy if a little smaller than i want now

 

[greensurfingbear]

I got the Ronnie Sunshine 4litre one myself. Usually just cooking for 2 when camping. It does the job only thing I'm still not sure about is the wee legs on the bottom. Think I would prefer it to be flat bottomed. Would make using it at home on the hob or oven easier. Would also allow me to put it flat on top of my frontier stove.

 

[Native Nathan]

Do the legs not allow for airflow when used in an open fire?

 

[santaman2000]

Do the legs not allow for airflow when used in an open fire?

On most DOs the legs aren't really long enough for substantial air flow but they do work to some extent (if you're careful i your selection, you can find some with longer legs) They especially make towering the DOs possible (see the link I posted)