Ever watch "Good Eats"? Well Elton recommended that you could save a lot of money by going to your local old fashioned hardware store instead of a fancy pants gourmet cook shop. There is one left in our area Taylor's Do-It Center. So I toddled over there today looking for a Dutch Oven. Didn't find one but they did have a good selection of Lodge Logic skillets and one lonely cornbread pan -- the kind where the cornbread is shaped like corn on the cob. Makes yummy crispy corn bread. So I bought that, and asked if they could special order other things. Sure enough they could so I've ordered the 8 quart deep 12 inch one. It will cost $54 with no freight. I couldn't match that price anywhere on the internet.
I'm Happy! They also have stores on the eastern shore and in Moyock NC, for anyone in the area. I mentioned the idea of using the shallow one for reheating pizza and making your own tortillas - They sold two before I left the store.
Paula
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Hey Paula great tip! Can't wait to see you again and try some of that cornbread!! I picked ours up, a Lodge 12 (Holds 8 qt, 12½"OD x 5¼"D, 1¾" legs, 21 lb), at Walmart, and they have parchment liners there too which are nice for clean up as I think someone with more experience pointed out earlier in the thread! Happy shopping!
__________________ Steph in MI Air# 6996- I Hockeytown USA!!
Tin Sista... we got the same one exaccle! I looked in our local WalMarts and also checked the local camping store -which had only the cheapo Chinese ones. I'm really off buying anything from China lately. I'd be afraid they made it with nuclear waste or old battery cores.
Paula
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Today is a gift. That's why they call it "the present"
I have a Griswold cast iron 'snack skillet' - barely a pan, the lip on it is less than half an inch. It's mostly useless... except for toasting my tortillas. I use it almost exclusively for tortillas. Then I hang it up and it looks good for another month.
It would be perfect for warming pizza, if the slices were short enough.
On my snack skillet, I make super thin cornbread. It comes out really crispy - sort of like flatbread. I use it like cornbread and I also crumble it up in a glass of sweet or buttermilk. Tasty snack!
I do a lot of dutch oven cooking while camping and prefer to burn the wood down to coals and bury the dutch oven in the coals for 4 to 5 hours.....
Here is the prep work...Notice 6-8 pound roast browning in the dutch oven in the firepit....
This is buried in the coals and covered with the ashes.....
And the finished product... A mouth watering roast and vegetables..Make sure you have biscuits or bread to sop up the savory juices...
When I entered Tennessee a few weeks ago I stopped at the state welcome center and picked up a brochure from Lodge with a discount coupon entitling the holder to a $3.99 factory second 10 and a half inch skillet. Very difficult to spot the reason for it being a second. They also sell other items that are seconds. Most are seconds because of very minor pitting.
Very good deal if you are in the area.
Al
Seconds can be a screaming deal, but inspect the cooking surface closely.
Lodge has a store at the factory (South Pittsburg, TN) and another I am aware of around Pigeon Forge. The last time I was in South Pittsburg there were no seconds. I don't know if they sell them anymore, but I will be stopping by the middle of May so I'll see.
Please make sure you purchase the camp oven, the one with the flat lid with a rim to hold the charcoal, rather than one intended for use in a oven.
Almost all Dutch Oven cookbook receipes are intended for use with a #12. A #12 is a bit large for two people, and I prefer a #8 for just two. Easy to store also. With a 3 to 1 charcoal brickett ratio top to bottom temps of 350 are easy to obtain and maintain.
I find a charcoal chimney the best was to light the charcoal. You will want a lid lifter, long tongs, a pair of welding gloves, and a lid stand if using the oven on the ground. I put down some aluminum foil for reflective heat to cook on and to control any mess.
If you line the oven with foil clean up is easier. Just some hot water, let it soak for awhile, scrub with a brass chore girl (no soap, please), let dry over the remaining charcoal, then recoat with vegatable oil after the oven has cooled. Some crumpled newspaper in the oven will help absorb moisture and you always have some for the charcoal chimney.
As mentioned, anything that can be cooked in your home oven can be cooked in a camp oven.
Bottom (double for 12" DO)
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup melted butter
1 & 1/3 teaspoons vanilla extract
Top (double for 12' DO)
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 Tablespoons cocoa
1 & 1/4 cups Hot Water
Mix the BOTTOM batter and beat until smooth. Pour
batter into an ungreased 8" DO (into 12" if you doubled it)
In the same bowl mix TOP dry ingredients, sprinkle evenly over batter.
Pour 1 & 1/4 cups hot water over top, Do Not Stir!
Bake with 6 (10) briquettes under and 12 (16) briquettes on top for
35-40 minutes or until center is almost set. Let stand for 15 minutes,
spoon into dessert dishes, spooning sauce from the bottom of DO over the top. Garnish with whipped topping if desired.
Quick Links
I picked ours up, a Lodge 12 (Holds 8 qt, 12½"OD x 5¼"D, 1¾" legs, 21 lb), at Walmart, and they have parchment liners there too which are nice for clean up as I think someone with more experience pointed out earlier in the thread! 
Happy shopping!
Yumm!
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