Choosing the right size oven

Dutch ovens today are available in a variety of sizes.  You can get ovens ranging from 8 inch to 22 inch and the depths of the ovens will run from about 3 inches deep to nearly 12 inches keep.  As you can see, with that kind of variety to choose from, you want to get the right one for the right job.

One of the most frequently asked questions is “what size oven should I buy?”  I would suggest that if you are starting out, get a 12 or 14-inch oven 4 inches deep.  You can then add other ovens of different sizes as you can afford to and have a need.

As you expand your stable of Dutch ovens you can save on fuel by stacking them on top of each other. The coals that you place on top of the bottom Dutch oven are the heat source for the next higher pot, up as high as you want. Well, maybe not as high as you want as it is impracticable and not safe to go over about 4 Dutch ovens high.

For the people who do not think that you will ever use a Dutch oven out side OR that you will want to use it a lot on your electric stove, there are totally flat bottom which gives good contact with the heating element. All of the advice given earlier for picking it out and the care of it is the same. If you have only the totally flat bottom ‘modern’ Dutch ovens and you need to use it outside on a real fire, you can use it with 3 rocks or bricks to hold it up off the coals.

Strange as it may seem Dutch ovens are not always the best tool for the job in cast iron cooking. Some times you want or need something with shorter sides like fry pans and griddle.

Currently we have some cast iron that came into the family with our great grand parents and will easily be handed down to our grand kids who are teens already or we may give some of it to their kids. Some of it is known to be at least 100 years old and are still used almost daily.

HEALTH ISSUES

People who use cast iron often, seldom IF ever, have iron poor blood. The best foods to make the iron in the pot more bio-available have acidic ingredients such as tomatoes. Foods like chili and spaghetti sauce are great.

With my OB patients especially, I would advise them to start cooking in cast iron to maintain or increase the iron in their blood to replace what they had lost during and after delivery and to help them build ‘better’ blood during their pregnancy as the baby grows and blood volume increases.

Is there such a thing as having TOO much iron in your body? Yes, there is! But not very often, only lab work can tell you for sure. There are conditions that cause you to hold onto iron too much, but those are rare.