Dutch oven cooking

Sounds logical. In our more "primitive" camping days, we'd simply roll potatoes in aluminum foil and throw them into the coals of the camp fire. Turn them a few times, and about 30-45 minutes later ... baked potatoes!

I don't see any reason why charcoal in a dutch oven would not do the same thing, as long as there's no lid to smother the embruing coals. (Inside the house ... nah .. not a very smart idea, even for the Japanese.)

Charcoal and a lid doesn't sound right. Maybe the insulation value of the lid retains enough heat even if there is no fire in the coals.

Actually I have heard of using wood/charcoal in low oxygen settings. That's how they make charcoal, but for cooking-it produces a very low/slow cooking environment.
I've seen outside stoves. After they got a fire going, they would put a large pig/goat in, and then brick up the opening. Hours later, they would knock down the bricks and take out the meat.

we do baked potatoes wrap in foil in the dutch oven with the charcoal outside all the time. in a number 12 dutch oven put 15 charcoal in a circle under the DO and 9 around the lid on top.

Dutch Oven cooking is our hobby.

There's a whole society for campers that cook 'everything' in a dutch oven. Watching the TV shows on campers cooking this way is nothing short of amazing. Big competitions every year. Dutch oven cooking is most certainly is not just stews and cobblers any more!

This year's competition attracted cooks from Australia, Canada, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Alaska, Arizona, Washington, Iowa, Idaho and Utah. Each team prepared three dishes: a dessert, a bread and a main dish, all in Dutch ovens using only burning coals for heat.

http://www.idos.com/

Super_Dave wrote:
Charcoal and a lid doesn't sound right. Maybe the insulation value of the lid retains enough heat even if there is no fire in the coals.

This is what came to my mind also. We used to do the potato in foil thrown in a fire also. We wrapped ours, eventually, in white paper towels water soaked. This cut down on the area that got 2 hot.