BRAND NEW OVEN: Thoroughly clean with soap and water. This will be the last time you use soap in the oven. These ovens are factory coated with protective wax and oils. Dry it quickly after washing to keep from rusting.

SEASON: By coating with vegetable oil or lard using a cotton cloth. Coat all surfaces, inside and out, including the lid. Do not use butter, margarine, salad oil, or any item with animal fat in it. Place in oven, with lid ajar, with temperature set at 350 Deg.F. for at lease one hour. Some people use a lower temperature over a longer period of time You may want to open the windows. After this cools some, while the Dutch Oven is still warm, apply another thin coat of oil to all surfaces. Bake again for another hour. You can repeat this several more times, or apply one final coat and stop. You are now ready to use the Oven.

Example Formulas for controlling heat in a Dutch Oven:

1. Size of Oven = 12"
2. Number of coals added to top = Size + 3 = 12 + 3 = 15 coals.
3. Number of coals added to bottom = Size - 3 = 12 - 3 = 9 coals.
4. This should maintain a relatively even temperature of about 325 Deg.F. to 350 Deg.F.
5. Every two coals added to or subtracted from this amount changes the temperature by approximately 25 Deg.F.
6. Apply this formula to other size ovens as well.
7. This formula is a good “go by” example, but actual conditions influence the temperature in the oven due to food type, wind, and ambient temperatures. You can only learn from experience.

Helpful Hints:

1. Soups, Stews, and Liquid Dishes: You need more heat on the bottom than on the lid. Place 2/3 of the coals on the bottom and 1/3 on the top.
2. Meat, Poultry, Potatoes, Vegetables, and “Cobblers”: These require equal heat distribution. Place 1/2 of the coals on top and 1/2 of the coals on the bottom
3. Cakes, Breads, Biscuits, and Cookies: These require most of the heat on the top. Place 1/3 of the coals on the bottom and 2/3 of the coals on the top.
4. Rotating an oven is also suggested. Rotate the oven 1/3 turn every 10 minutes is a general “rule of thumb”.
5. Rotate the lid at the same time at 1/3 rotation in the opposite direction.
6. For Bread, Rolls, and Cakes: Remove the oven from the bottom coals after 2/3 of the expected cooling time. It will finish cooking from the top heat. This keeps the bottom from burning. A cake rack placed in the bottom of the oven can help prevent burning, sticking, and make cleaning easier.
7. Other Useful Information:
8. A 12" oven has a 6 quart capacity; and, when loaded, can serve 12-14 main dish servings.
9. The lid placed upside down on a fire can be used as a skillet.
10. Flat bottom ovens (called “bean pots”) are better for cooking on a stove.
11. You can “stack cook” by placing one oven on top of another, cooking different portions of a meal at the same time.

Cleaning and Care of a Dutch Oven:
Scrape it out with a spatula. Then boil 1" - 2" of water in the oven to steam it out. After it has steamed awhile, scrub it clean with a scrubby pad, then pour out the water.
Now, wipe the oven out dry, and coat it with a thin coating of oil while it is still hot.

NEVER:

1. Allow oven to sit in water or water to sit in it.
2. Use soap on cast iron. It gets in the pours and will taint your food.
3. Place an empty oven over a hot fire, it will warp and crack.
4. Be in a hurry to heat cast iron. It will burn food or damage the oven.
5. Put cold liquid in a hot cast iron oven. It might crack.

Other Useful Tools While Using a Dutch Oven:

1. Leather gloves to protect hands.
2. Shovel to move coals.
3. Whisk broom to sweep ashes from lid.
4. Long lid lifter.
5. Hot pot pliers