I couldn’t convince you to get the enameled cast iron Dutch oven reviewed at jojoshouse.com/best-Dutch-oven. Hey I understand, you wanted that rugged look of the cast iron to take camping with you. Now camping season is done, and I’m still going to help you take care of your oven. Let’s get ready to store that baby for the off season. We need to keep it from rusting and getting stinky. First we gotta get that baby clean, and we don’t want to soap it to death. Let’s just get the excess food off of it so we can give it a nice coat. That’s right like all rugged hibernating animals we gotta give it a nice coat to sleep in. Our coat will consist of a thin coat of the oil of your choice (corn or vegetable). Wipe your oven down and let it sit for about an hour or so. Now you need to come back with a dry rag or paper towel and wipe the excess off of the iron. This is going to keep any excess oil from gathering and going rancid. This is very important if your oven I s only a few years old. If you fail to get that excess oil off of your oven, then Spring time is going to five you a nice smelly surprise and present you with limited options. It might not be as simple as wiping the oven down, you may have to restore it which is a whole other process. Next we need to store our freshly and properly oiled dutch oven. We need to keep it dry while in storage, because moisture is our enemy. Think of all the places in your home where this may be an issue, damp basement, humid attic, and eliminate from your list of potential storage places. Often times the garage will be the best place to keep a pot, as it will be cool and dry for months in most geographical locations. While in a garage with nice cool air moving through it, you may want to allow some of that air to hit your pot. Best way to do that is crack the lid on the Dutch oven (not literally crack the lid), but simply slide it to the side. I like to put a paper towel inside the oven which will continue to grab any moisture which develops over the storage cycle. It may seem like overkill, but it is definitely effective and you’ll be likely to find the paper towel has absorbed oil you thought was gone. Don’t be afraid to use more than one, we want to get to cooking when the new season comes around, so let’s make life easy. Lastly you could purchase a nice storage bag. You’ll want to be careful in choosing your bag, as you won’t want it to cause an issue where it actually insulates and cause the development of moisture. A bag would be more suitable for the enameled cast iron ovens, to protect their finish and keep them from being dusty.
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I'm Kelly
I love to cook and travel. I find new ways to cook old favorites in a dutch oven. ArchivesCategories |