what size dutch oven

[weberbeast]

I love to fry lots of chicken and do gumbo i was leaning towards a 20qt dutch oven and i was wondering just how much room i would have. I have no experience at all with dutch ovens. Any info will help THANKS IN ADVANCE!!!!

 

[kc5tpy]

Hello.  I am not sure how big of an army you are cooking for.  You also don't tell where/how this large dutch oven will be used; inside gas stove, outside dedicated propane burner, campfire?  For deep frying large volumes using a LARGE vessel might I suggest you look in to a wok unless you want to invest into a commercial deep fat fryer.  Restaurant size woks are really large and the recovery time for the oil temp is shorter due to the thinner metal.  Save your dutch oven for things like gumbo, stews and baking.  I found that when I used my dutch oven for deep frying, it worked great but the next time I wanted to use it for a stew it still had perfectly good cooking oil in it ( just me being lazy I guess ).  Of course the wok isn't mean't for campfires and requires a large burner on the gas stove, but then a dutch oven that size would require a large burner on the gas stove.  A very large outside propane burner  might be safer and more efficient for deep frying in those size vessels.  A 20 quart measures 17" diameter and is 8" deep.  That's a lot of oil for deep frying.  A 12 quart is 13" diameter and 7" deep.  According to Amazon.  Google 20 quart dutch oven.  If you can't find a place to LOOK at one then may I suggest you buy a cheap poster board and "mock" one up so you can visually see the size.  Just some food for thought.  Others may have a better idea.  Hope this helps.  Good luck.  Keep Smokin!

Danny

 

[weberbeast]

Thanks a bunch