I know I'm jumping in late, but I'll add a few more highlights or tips to Tom's list:<br><br>1. Most prefer cast iron over aluminum DOs. Alumininum heats faster and is lighter, but cast iron is a bit easier to control the heat as it's a bit more even. (Hence the interest in black anodized aluminim DOs in a thread a few weeks ago, as they may be a cross between the light aluminum DOs and the more even cooking cast iron DOs)<br><br>2. Line the DO with aluminum foil for dishes that use sugar. It's not neccessary, but it makes cleanup easier.<br><br>3. Use a ball of aluminum foil to scour dirty ovens with hot water (put water in the oven and sit it back on the coals). NEVER use soap in a cast iron DO.<br><br>4. Season with a bit of oil and a paper towel while the oven is hot. The oil will be drawn into the pores in the iron as it cools. Don't forget the inside of the lid.<br><br>5. Don't start ith a breakfast recipe as your first attempt into DO cooking. They are worth the effort, but you need to remember that you first need to get the coals started first, so most breakfast recipes can take 1 1/2 hours or more to prepare, starting from when your alarm clock goes off. Start with a diner or a dessert, it's easier on your schedule if dinners a bit late!<br><br>BTW, where in northern Wisconsin will you be?<br><br>The links the others provided will give you more info and recipes than you need. One favorite that may work well with your kids is Monkey Bread on page 31 in the DO Cookbook. Have the kids each roll the biscuit quarters and coat. It's a recipe where they all can have a hand in making. The Dump Cobbler recipe on the same page is another real easy recipe that the kids will love. One of our favorites is to use devils food cake mix and cherry pie filling!<br><br>

Mama, Bag, Tom, Willie, Chris<br><br>Thanks to you guys, I can happily report a successful venture with kids and the Dutch Oven. The tips were VERY helpful and, although I can't claim any real proficiency, we had a GREAT time and no ptomaine! We went to the Hayward area in northern Wisconsin which IMHO is truly "God's Country."<br><br>I dug a pit in the back 40 and practiced as much as I could. You guys would have giggled yourselves to death if you had seen my first few attempts (ok more than "few"). <br><br>The sites you gave me were great. I think the best for a beginner to read first is the 'ol buffalo cook (Tom's First Link).<br><br> Willie-The Monkey bread and Dump Cobbler were huge favorites. Thanks again....<br><br>Robb<br><br><br>

I would never giggle at anyone's first attempts! The dutch oven fairies would turn my cobblers sour in revenge for forgetting my own early efforts. If a cobbler starts to ooze in your direction remember Steve McQueen in THE BLOB.

Excellent!!!<br><br>BTW, I'm a neophyte with a Dutch oven too! The cobbler at last week's camp was my first solo. I modified a recipe from Cee Dub's website, his Blackberry Basque Cobbler, except I used red rasberries because that's what was available. The 5 pints of berries looked thin when I poured them into the oven, so I added 2 cans of cherry pie filling. So it's easy to improvise, and no one in their right mind is going to complain... unless they don't want to eat any cobbler!<br><br>It was an exhausting day. I had just returned from a 4 mile hike with two scouts who needed it for their Camping merit badge requirements. It was hovering around 100 degrees heat index and the mesquitoes and flies where madening. I mixed the dough and placed it in the cooler to chill, ran to the shower, then came back to assemble the and cook the cobbler. The other leaders where cooking our dinner, as it was the one night to eat out in the camp site instead of the dining hall (a BSA National recomendation ). And the boys were preparing and practicing for the presentation.<br><br>One group of 6, wearing Burger King crowns (Camp Tesomas, Where Camping is King) was our kazoo band. Another group rehursed the Tesomas Hymn while a third practiced the Tesomas chant. We are an out-of-council troop so we were not familiar with these songs. The older boys lashed two short tripods to hold the cobbler bearer's stave at presentation.<br><br>We marched into the pavilion led by the kazoo band. We then gathered around the picnic table and the "choirs" sang the hymn and chant. They parted to the side as two boys set up the tripods. They held them steady while the cobbler bearers carried in the Dutch oven in on their stave over their shoulders and placed it onto the stands. I then approached, spatula in hand to serve them. Our troop bugler sounded a little flourish (ala the old margerine commercials) as I lifted the lid to present the cobbler. <br><br>It was a lot of fun. I was excited to see the whole troop rally around the event as team. Not one scout was left out and they were all excited and enthused. To me, that was the real prize.<br><br>I have an open question. I cut the butter, cream cheese, flour and salt with a spatula, then formed it into a ball to chill in the cooler. After about an hour, I pressed it into a circle on foil and laid it on top of the berry mix. Should I have folded and kneeded the dough more? One one hand, I seem to recall that you want to work the dough as little as possible so it doesn't get too warm. On the other hand, I seem to remember that one should fold and roll out multiple times to get a flakier pastry crust. Any ideas?<br><br>Lastly, next year I think we should bring a box of wine crackers and decant some distiller water for the judges prior to presentation in order to clear their paletes before they taste our entry!

You need to mix corn starch with any berry fruit to thicken. You could have folded the pastry a little more safely. Dutch ovens are very foregiving. I have never quite used the same exact proportions and it still comes out O.K.

Oh, I forgot to mention that in addition to the berries and cherry pie filling, i mixed in some brown sugar, cinnamin, and nutmeg. I was upposed to add lemon juice but I forgot. Then on top I drizzled a stick of melted butter and sprinkled a half a cup of flour.<br><br>You're right. DO recipes are very forgiving <br><br>