Thread: Teaching Scouts Dutch Oven Cooking

My younger son is in the BSA and we do plenty of camping trips as the weather cools down.
Every camp is a classroom for more than just Merit badges and advancement, but for diverse life skills too.
This trip was centered on a 5 mile hike and ID'ing at least 10 flora including at least two poisonous plants, and 10 forms of fauna by sight, sound, spoor or feces.


Along with that I've been recruited to teach Dutch Oven campfire cooking.
A very useful skill to have.
Today I started with giving them a lesson on how many coals, coal placement for cooking methods and a delicious recipe which was devoured for breakfast.


Dutch Oven Breakfast Casserole
This can be done as the popular Five Layer or mixed



12" Dutch Oven
2lbs Ground Pork Sausage, lightly browned

2lbs Hashbrown Shredded Potatoes, fresh or frozen

2C Onion/Bell Pepper, chopped (optional)

1.5 dozen, Eggs
2C Shredded Cheese
2 packs canned Biscuits
2T Seasoned Salt


Preheat dutch oven
Layer or mix together, pork, hashbrowns and onion/bell pepper.
Atop that add the eggs and then the cheese.
Finally top with biscuits, you can easily fit 12, 14 if tightly packed.


Set coals in a circular pattern around the bottom, 10 briquets or equivalent in coals.
Set coals in a circular pattern around the top and a few more in the center top, 12-14 briquets or coals.


Cook 45-60min or until biscuits are browned and eggs are set.
Generously serves 12-14.


Gooey Cheese Pic








We also cooked 2 DO's full of biscuits to go with several skillets of crisp bacon.

Cool! Adding this to my list formour camp outs. I’m a Cubmaster for a pack of 35 Scouts.

I was a Scout Master for a number of years and taught cooking in a Dutchoven Real easy once you know all of the tricks. Good food anytime.

Yah couple years ago we had a new parent decide they needed a good cleaning and ended up stripping 6 of their seasoning.

camped last weekend when it was below freezing and made Dutch oven pizzas and cub cakes (I need to learn how to cold weather Dutch oven as the coal amounts are different)

Good stuff my son and I have been in scouts since he started 2nd grade. All he has to make Eagle is paperwork. Stick with it!
amazing what you can cook in a Dutch oven. Our scouts are pretty good at it.

You four will be remembered long after y'all are gone by several of those kids. This thread brought back several memories.....

Thanks guys.
I'm looking forward to teaching them more.
We've more camps scheduled and I'm already planning the meals.

Dinner
DO Scalloped Potatoes with Ham
Ranch Style Beans
DO Apple Dump Cake

Breakfast
Boil-n-Bag Omelettes
DO Biscuits with gravy or cane syrup

Originally Posted by CarlF

Good stuff my son and I have been in scouts since he started 2nd grade. All he has to make Eagle is paperwork. Stick with it!

Very impressive feat making Eagle, our respect and congrats to him... And you too.

Dump cake so so easy but so good!

Cane syrup must be a southern thing huh?

Thanks, its been a long road,

I think I've learned as much as he has, I served as Den Leader, Webelos Leader, Cubmaster, Merit Badge Counselor and Asst. Scoutmaster!

One bit of advice to anyone in Scouts, get your merit badges done before high school so all he has to do is his Eagle project. ONce they hit high school, priorities change!!