Dutch Oven nesting
If you’re tired if freeze dried backpacking meals, and after about five days of that, who wouldn’t be, then you might think about packing along a Dutch oven or two. Now, even though they’re light relative to their cast cousins, they still ain’t no backpacking gear. But, if you’re on a canoe or horse packing trip, they sure come in handy.
About three or four years ago, my bride bought me a set of anodized aluminum Dutch ovens for my birthday. Up until that time all I’d used was a cast iron Dutch oven but they’re not very useful for backcountry hunting due to their extreme weight. I enjoy using them, but they’re relegated to car camping which I don’t do much of. I was looking forward to having a light weight Dutch oven along on our hunting and camping trips. They sure open up a broad array of culinary opportunities so long as you can afford the weight of some real ingredients. That’s not much of a problem for me as I’ve got stock to carry the heavy stuff.
Anodized aluminum Dutch Oven
Now, there’s a lot of concern over cooking in aluminum. I share it, believe me. But, if you spend a little extra cash (they’re about 20% more expensive) on the anodized aluminum, you needn’t worry. These things are hard as a rock so you don’t run the risk of ingesting small bits of aluminum scraped off while cooking. I don’t hesitate to use a steel spatula in mine. Since there’s no seasoning, as with a cast iron Dutch oven, you don’t have to worry about scraping that off either.
Having a Dutch oven or two along on a backcountry trip sure makes meal time something to look forward to. Biscuits, peach cobbler, casseroles, you name it and, if you can pack the fixings, you can make it in a Dutch. Here’s a quick little video on how I nest my 10” and 12” ditches and keep them from raddling around while we’re headed down the trail. For more backcountry tips and tricks check out our other videos.
