Can I cook in the Dutch oven using wood as a heat source?
With a little know how and practice you can learn to effectively use wood as a heat source without cremating your meal. The best type of woods for cooking are hardwoods such as hickory, oak, mesquite and hard maple. Pecan, walnut, and Osage orange would also work. Not all hardwoods produce good coals. Soft woods such as pine, poplar, and cottonwood don’t make good coals for Dutch oven cooking because they burn hot for a short period of time, and then burn out quickly. Start the hardwood fire at least 45 minutes before you need to start cooking. If you use a “Key Hole” fire ring (see drawing) you can keep a fire going at the circular end and move the coals to the long thin end to cook. Try to keep the wood coals a uniform size. Use a long handled shovel to move the coals where you need them. Put about twice as many coals on the lid of the Dutch oven as you put on the bottom of the oven. It is best to arrange them in a ring around the outside edges of the pot. Don’t over do on the amount
