My first DO/charcoal foray

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azkitch

Smoke Blower
Original poster
May 26, 2008
112
10
Phoenix, AZ 85053
I got a nice fat 4.5 lb chuck roast yesterday at SafetyWay. (Safeway...) I don't usually shop there, and I base that solely on the price of ONE item!! Mrs. Renfro's salsa is $3.50 + shipping from their website, I find it for $3.60 at Albertson's, under $2.50 at Stupor Target. SW wants $4.95 a jar. That's like asking $7.49 for a gallon of milk. But I digress. They had round tip roast(?) for sale for $1.99, but were out, so the butcher subbed this nice looking boneless chuckie. I just put it in a marinade of 1C Wyler's onion/garlic bouillon, 6 oz. Screw Kappa Nappa Cabernet, some water, half an onion, a mess of garlic, some Simon and Garfunkel minus the parsley. I'll fire up the charcoal tomorrow morning after I go for a bike ride.
As a side note, my local Big Lots, a clearance type store, has Cattlemans--or was it SBR? Sweet and Spicy sauce in a LARGE bottle for $3...I've gotta go get some!!
 
Good Luck on your first Dutch oven experience. If you have any D.O. questions, give me a hollar! theres also a group lead by Mark Wilkind in Phoenix and Mark can help you also.
Dave
 
Good luck on the first DO cook. You had me for a bit there with the Simon and funklegar thing. but I finally deduced the solution. Good one.

The biggest problem that DO newbies have is caused by the use of to many coals. The 2/3 rule is a very good starting point. Remember to rotate your pot a quarter turn in one direction and the lid a quarter turn in the other direction every 15 minutes to a half hour to eliminate hot spots and you should be ok. Peek only very carefully or you will get ashes in the food. When its done I like to remove the lid ashes carefully before opening the pot. Not doing so has caused me some gritty meals.

8" oven - 10-11 coals on top/ 5-6 coals on bottom
10" oven - 13 coals on top/ 7 on bottom
12" oven - 15 on top/ 9 on bottom
14" oven - 17 on top/ 11 on bottom
16" oven - 19 on top/ 13 on bottom

Here is the Thread about the use of coals. The numbers are a general starting point, You will learn to adjust them a bit depending upon what DO you have and what brand of fuel you use. It comes with a bit of practice but is not hard to learn.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61292
 
The good news is dinner was terrific! The bad news is we were having high wind advisories, so I used the small (#8) DO stovetop. I wound up with lots of liquid, so I went a bit beyond braise. Ah, well, I'll try again soon. And thanks for all the feedback. I'll look up the local fella, NCO. Thanks.
 
here are links to the idos chapter in arizona and the main site. below are some other Dutch oven groups also.

http://www.idos.org
http://www.idos.org/Arizona.php
http://www.lsdos.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/castironitis
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dutchovencooking
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/campcookingwithdacapn
http://roundthechuckbox.blogspot.com
http://castironitis.blogspot.com
http://www.camp-cook.com
http://castironitis.webs.com
http://castironcooksofthewest.blogspot.com
check them all aout and join membership for idos (international dutch oven society)
or lsdos (lonestar dutch oven society) im a member of both and love the nfomation through both organizations. and the newsletters are awesome!
 
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