What exactly is a dutch oven?

[DixieJ]

I have an old cast iron dutch oven that was my mothers that I use all the time. It's great for stews, soups and chili. I use it for cooking beans of any sorts. I also use it for frying chicken and fish. I don't think I could cook without my cast iron skillets and dutch oven.

Dixie Jean

[MVS0122]

Aldi has a nice red one on sale this week.
They have the matching grill pan with panini press too.

I got a Dutch oven for Christmas from my husband, for camping. I don't really know what to do with it but we'll figure it out I guess.

I also got one of those enamel covered cast iron skillets and LOVE IT. So I was thrilled to see Aldi had them on sale this week, I'm going to go tonight and pick up another one.

[Holly]

I have 2 that I got at garage sales
for $1.00 a piece.
I use them on the woodstove for soups and stews and spaghetti sauce and simmer all day

[kestrel91316]

A true Dutch oven has three little feet and a lid with a rim so you can pile the coals from your campfire onto the lid for the food to cook surrounded by heat, like in an oven.

My "Dutch oven" is more properly called a chicken fryer - nice deep pot with a wire bail handle attached, and the cast iron lid has pointy things sticking downward for condensation to baste the food as it bakes. It also has a class lid for when it's in "chicken fryer" mode, presumably.

Weighs a ton. I use it stovetop for soups and stews (sans tomatoes) and also in the oven. I feel like pioneer woman when I haul it down from its storage place and set it on the stove, lol.

[greenturtle36]

Well, there are two kinds of dutch ovens.

There's the original ones, with 3 legs and a flat lid, meant for using outdoors on coals, also known as "camp ovens". Coals are put on top of the lid for baking.

And there's the ones that look like regular pots that are used indoors, on the stovetop or in the oven.

If you ever see a "cast iron covered casserole dish", that's just a fancy name for dutch oven.

Now, the pots suitable for indoor use, if they are in traditional cast iron, they can be used outdoors. Since they don't have legs, you can't put them over coals, but you can use them on a propane burner or barbecue grill. If they have a wire handle you can hang them over a fire, but not if they have the side loop handles.

Enameled cast iron should NOT be used outdoors.

It's not really a "stock pot" although you can certainly make stock in it. Traditionally stock pots are thinner, taller, more slender.

In other words, a dutch oven can be used as a stock pot, but a stock pot can't necessarily be used as a dutch oven.

Oh, and anything you can cook in a crock pot, you can cook in a dutch oven on low heat.