Using cast iron Dutch oven on Coleman stove - raise it up?

larry2c · 12-09-2019, 11:06 PM

We have used our Lodge 10" Dutch oven many times and mostly on a bed of charcoal. However, when we're doing something like corned beef where it needs to be cooking for a long time it's nice to put it on the Coleman stove. Unfortunately, even at the lowest flame, it still seems to be too hot for long slow cooking.

The last couple times we used it on the Coleman, I Jerry rigged a "lift" for the grill to raise it about an inch. I'm thinking of making some aluminum blocks to do this in a way that's a bit more stable. Just thought I'd ask if anyone else has done something like this - don't want to recreate the wheel!

yetavon · 12-09-2019, 11:38 PM

I'm assuming you have a camp oven with legs, and on the stove its setting on the burner lik a regular pot. I would set a trivet on the burner and the pot on the trivet.

rbq · 12-10-2019, 12:09 AM

Camp Chef makes a product called a Flame Tamer. Put this over the burner and then put the Dutch Oven on top of it. https://www.campchef.com/flame-tamer.html

CincyGus · 12-10-2019, 04:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbq

Camp Chef makes a product called a Flame Tamer. Put this over the burner and then put the Dutch Oven on top of it. https://www.campchef.com/flame-tamer.html

X2- Have one I had to use with an older stove I had that didn't have much in the way of low heat settings. Have a better stove now with better adjustability and don't have the need and gave it to a friend who was having the same issue. Work nicely.

cavie · 12-10-2019, 08:29 AM

think outside the box. Do you have a counter cooling rack? turn it upside down over the burner. set the dutch oven down on the feet pointing up.

**Bama Rambler** · 12-10-2019, 08:50 AM

Here's another take on the heat diffuser.

Cast Iron Heat Diffuser

Really any good cast iron trivet could possibly work.

NJKris · 12-10-2019, 12:03 PM

good posts. along those lines, I guess you could always set the dutch oven inside another cast iron pan to diffuse the heat. Now I want to cook something in my dutch oven!

jjkd · 12-10-2019, 01:23 PM

I have a six inch square piece of 3/16 inch stainless I got cheap as surplus/scrap that I use for this. Also gets used sometimes on my indoor cooktop as I really can't turn that one down enough either.

Gene and Pam · 12-10-2019, 08:04 PM

Lehman's has a simmer mat. I bought one several years ago, when we moved to the country, to keep stuff from burning while cooking on my gas (propane) stove. Since propane burns hotter, I really had to adjust to keep from burning foods. This works so well! I'm sure you could use it on your Coleman. https://www.lehmans.com/product/the-simmermat/

mxtreme30 · 12-10-2019, 08:49 PM

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=gas+cookt...l_4h9cx6dbj4_e

Plenty of choices unless you're just itching for a "project". Lol

bcintx · 12-11-2019, 12:13 PM

I made one of these:

https://kentrollins.com/shop-1/Horse...ivet-p84994751

May or may not work for your stove but it is great for use in the fire ring so the oven does not get too hot. Weld nuts to the horse shoes and use different length bolts for different heights. Also packs relatively flat for travel when you unscrew the bolts.

NJKris · 12-11-2019, 01:13 PM

bcintx, that is clever and country!

larry2c · 12-11-2019, 02:38 PM

There's some great ideas in this thread, thanks all! And bcintx, you win the most clever solution award!

I like the looks of the cast iron "trivet" in Bama Rambler's post and it isn't too pricey.

I hadn't thought of using something like this on the inside stove burners but it might help with low simmer since that doesn't seem to be a setting I can achieve with the knobs!

NJKris · 12-11-2019, 04:24 PM

Haven't played with inside gas range knobs yet, but I when I discovered the burners on the table top bbq I bought weren't going low enough to slow cook ribs, I turned the knob PAST the low setting, as if I were turning the flame off. There was a sweet spot between low and the flame actually going out if I turned it slow enough. I had to be looking at the burner while making a micro-turn of the knob to achieve that low of a flame. Probably would have blown out if it was breezy.

rbq · 12-11-2019, 04:59 PM

A Dutch oven cooking story from many years ago. Back when I had a pop up trailer we were planning on having a dinner of Roast beef with potatoes and carrots & onions in a Dutch oven for Sunday dinner at the camp site. Turns out that was the day it decided to pour rain all day & we had no awning or outside cover to cook under. So I put the Dutch oven on the stove top inside the pup & browned the roast & then turned down the stove top to low and put the lid on the oven and let it simmer for several hours. Added the veggies and then let it cook a little longer. It worked out just fine. A delicious hot meal as planned, just not cooked with charcoal as planned. The legs would just straddle the stove top and the bottom of the oven sat on the stove ring that went over the burner.

yetavon · 12-11-2019, 08:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcintx

I made one of these:

https://kentrollins.com/shop-1/Horse...ivet-p84994751

I See TX... but was given the same exact thing at AJ DOG in SC this fall...

bcintx · 12-12-2019, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yetavon

I See TX... but was given the same exact thing at AJ DOG in SC this fall...

I didn't mean to imply that it was my idea. That isn't my website - just where I got the idea from and a convenient way to post a picture. I will say that it is handy to have a welder in the garage.

NJKris · 12-12-2019, 08:48 AM

Welding is cool. Wish I could do it.

yetavon · 12-12-2019, 01:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bcintx

I didn't mean to imply that it was my idea. .

Let me clarify.... "I see TX" meaning I see your probably in Texas.. So it was doubtful that it was you in SC that had made and gave me an identical one.
He actually handed out half a dozen..

Welder is great to have around.... Kinda kick myself every other week for getting rid of alot of the shop equipment a couple years back when we sold the house and downsized. Torches,welders, hydraulic press and the list goes on..

dbledan · 12-14-2019, 12:11 PM

For scouts we do lots of dutch oven cooking and I frequently use the burners. Rather than diffuse the flame (it works great but we didnt have anything to diffuse the fame) I put it on the burner direct. We use liners to prevent having to clean too much (parchment paper or aluminum) and I just put some cardboard under the liner. We would do this in the restaurant I worked in to keep pies from burning on the bottom as well. It works great. If we dont have any cardboard we have just balled up news paper or foil to raise things off the bottom just enough.

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