# coals=Degrees and cooking times?

[Micro469]

I know somewhere in these threads someone posted a chart on how many coals you need for a certain temp depending on you DO. If any one knows where it is, maybe Mike can put it in the Important Information forum so that Us with poor memorys can refer to it once in a while. It's great to say to cook something at 350* but if you don't know what it takes to get a DO to that temp, Then all is in vain..... Help Anyone???

[Ma3tt]

some say Take the number of inches of the oven put 3 coals less then the number of inches under and 2 over the number on top so a 12" oven would have 9 under and 14 on top. Some say it's 25 degrees per coal, well with that logic if you only put one coal on you could make ice cream

[rainjer]

Here are a couple links I found helpful learning to use my DO.

http://papadutch.home.comcast.net/LodgeBakingTempChart.doc

http://papadutch.home.comcast.net/dutch-oven-cooking-tips.htm#Temp

[Aussie Nomad]

The link was. http://www.uglybrothers.net/RECIPES/dutchoven.htm

I can't remember the thread either.

Ian.

Edit: I found the thread. http://www.tnttt.com/viewtopic.php?t=8868

[Kurt (Indiana)]

some say Take the number of inches of the oven put 3 coals less then the number of inches under and 2 over the number on top so a 12" oven would have 9 under and 14 on top. Some say it's 25 degrees per coal, well with that logic if you only put one coal on you could make ice cream

That's my formula as well. It works well on all my 8" and on the 12"

The cooking time "keeping the lid on" (not peeking) helps a lot.

[Mike B]

I know somewhere in these threads someone posted a chart on how many coals you need for a certain temp depending on you DO.

A chart is a good place to start, but you have to learn how to adjust the heat from there. The temperature of a Dutch oven is affected by

Outside temperature
Amount of wind
Humidity

The number of coals used top and bottom is also affected by what you are cooking. If you are baking, you need to adjust the number of top coals upward and the bottom coals downward, so the food will be browned correctly. (If you are baking, don't forget to rotate the lid and the pot every 10 minutes or so to prevent hotspots from burning the food).

Some of the recipes I have posted on my web site have recommendations for the number of coals to use, but that assumes you are cooking on a calm day of average temperature. As we all know, there is hardly any such day, so I now just give temperatures in degrees.

BTW, for more good DO recipes, check out http://www.iedos.org/

Mike
Hayden Lake, ID
http://www.blogicalthoughts.com/

[Kurt (Indiana)]

I tried the "flour" experiment today to see what combination of coals is right for my 8" DO.
http://www.buckskin.org/Resources/Outdo ... h_oven.htm

At 350 degrees, the flour should turn "light brown". The coal arrangement I used was 8 (top) and 6 (btm). It worked, but I started with only 6/4 combination. The 6/4 was too cool so I turned up the heat and waited another 10 minutes.

The charts that are published are good starting points, but a good temerature test is worth the effort.