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Most of us when we think about a Dutch oven think of something that looks like this
...this is a new Dutch oven.
Functional and versatile, this bad boy can go from stove top to oven in 0.01 seconds flat! Yep! Nothing to break, scratch, ding, or melt on this bad boy!
Cost today new?
About $60.
But what was our grandparents, or great-grandparents cookware like when it came to the old Dutch oven?
Most of us have seen this kind of Dutch oven...
...but what do we really know about it?
Well, when I think of my ancestors cooking, I think back even before there was a wood stoked kitchen stove. Back to when Great-Grandma learned to cook on at an open hearth.
Margaret Perkins Bean probably cooked something like this...
...in a fireplace.
This kind of pot is called a "spider" Dutch oven. [See the long legs? Resembling a "spider".]
In very warm weather, she may have cooked like this...
...outside over an open fire. This would have prevented heating up the house on a hot summer's day.
There's even a method of burying the Dutch oven in a pit of hot coals, and then covering the top with more hot coals.
This makes a real oven effect. Great for roasting or baking!
And there's another method!
Those great little short legged Dutch ovens can be stacked!
Yep, hot coals placed on each lid, and then stacked.
In this manner, a person could cook an entire four course meal and time it just right so that everything would be done at the same time!
Meat, veggies, bread, and dessert!
If you're lucky enough to have one of your ancestors Dutch ovens, pans or pots, treasure it!
Cookware today simply is NOT made like it used to be!
And nothing tastes as good as good home cooking done in a well seasoned cast iron pot!
Dutch ovens just happen to be my favorite!
