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Henry County Conservation Dutch oven cooking workshop — a delectable event

By Virginia Ekstrand

May. 25, 2023 3:27 pm

Placing the Dutch ovens on coals in the pans gets the recipe started. Coals are then added to the lid so the heat is contained within the cast iron. Meats and vegetables take an equal number of coals on top and bottom.

Henry County Conservation offers workshops to lure many people to learn more about the outdoors and how to enjoy it. Thursday, May 18 at the Oakland Mills Nature Center Dutch oven Cooking experiences were offered. Shania Hansen, HC Naturalist, oversaw the workshop and it was her very first experience at this form of outdoor cooking. The participants ranged from first time Dutch oven operators to experienced cooks looking for new ideas.

The Nature Center has an outdoor viewing and relaxing area with a beautiful stone fire pit. For this cooking experience, the cooking was done with charcoal briquettes in hog water pans with holes cut in the sides for air flow. The stones were protected from staining by using this method but it is really a great idea to use anywhere.

The menu explored three breakfast dishes. The planners of the menu actually interviewed everyone and made sure no allergic ingredients were used. The dishes were Cinnamon French toast Bake, Caramel Apple Dump Cake and Mountain Man Breakfast. A simple handout was also given to everyone explaining how many briquettes to use top and bottom for the proper cooking temperatures for the various dishes.

It was suggested that another Dutch oven lesson be taught again in the Fall. Keep your eyes out for all these interesting activities and more from the Henry County Conservation Department. Some of the workshops have a fee. The cost of the Dutch oven workshop was $10. Most are free.

Hog water pans with side openings for air flow make a perfect container for charcoal briquettes. The chimneys used to get the charcoal started without use of lighter fluid are a great addition to any BBQ pit.
Participants are concentrating on preparation of the dish. Actually the recipes used would be pretty hard to mess up. Their error proof selection was a good idea.
Reading the recipe for Mountain Man Breakfast holds everyone’s attention. As they say, do the recipe the way it is stated. After you taste it start making your changes. Using aluminum foil really helps in clean up. Proper seasoning of cast iron is also critically important.
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