Cooking Pots

Cooks Best Friend – A French Oven

French Ovens

A French Oven is known more commonly  in France as a Cocotte or is it is usually called a Dutch Oven..
It is not the traditional idea of an oven at all but is in fact a type of cooking pot..

You may well have seen one of these in your local Kitchen Goods store or Grocer

The main manufacturer in France is Le Creuset which still manufactures French ovens in the North of France in the town of Fresoy-le Grand.

Long ago Dutch Ovens werevery plain and made of molded Cast Iron.
Very early versions had a molded cast irontop with a handle and hung from avery heavy handle. Pots made of cast iron when full were very heavy and needed a strong handle to stop food falling in the fire.
Early Dutch ovens sometimes were made with tripod logs to keep the pot from falling into the fire.
Some ovens even had a flange to hold coals above the pot and to keep the coals off the food.

A Shropshire businessman named Abraham Darby (Who built the first cast Iron bridge in the world at Coalbrookdale over the River Severn) went to The Netherlands to find out about these handy cooking vessels. which were made there in dry sand molds and which gave a much superior finish to their  cooking pots.

Darby took out a patent on his own version and sold the Dutch Ovens (as he named them) both in Britain and in British Colonies (including America). Before that Ducth Ovens were very roughly finished.

Dutch Ovens were an essential in all homes at the time as they were (and still are) used mainly for roasts, stews , casseroles and other  dishes which needed very slow cooking over various outdoor heat sources.
A Dutch  Oven was a urgently needed possession and was left in wills specifically left to favourite sons or daughters to be handed on for use in their kitchens.

It was normal for any house with a large kitchen to be equipped with several of these pots. They were handy because they could then be stacked and several used to cook over  the same fire.

In faxt it formed such a basic necessity that almost every Prairie Wagon crossing America had one of these inside (and certainly inside the Chuck Wagon on Cattle drives). It even became the Official cooking pot of Utah.

In Southern Australia  the Dutch Oven became known as a bedourie camp oven but was made of steel instead of fragile and easily broken cast iron.
South Africa had their own version  with A Tripod to use over a camp fire. This was commonly used by the Voortrekkers as they explored the bush of Southern Africa and they called it a potjie (a litte pot)

Cowboys also commonly used these for cooking  and it was only in the early 20th Century that Le Creuset brought out their version which was colourfully enamelled
.
This was the first major change in French ovens  – because they are enamelled inside and outside, they are easy to scrub (the inside is usually enamelled in a cream colour to make cleaning easier)

Although the Americans used to season their pots before use, the French Enamelled versions needed no such seasoning.

French Ovens are not really suitable for frying or other oil based cooking but should be kept for water based recipes.

Of Course, French ovens are not really suited for oil cooking because long and slow cooking is the rule with these ovens

Although Le Creuset was the originator of enamelled French ovens and have a range of distinctive very bright colors usually in oval or circular designs, they now have several competitors such as Lodge  and several companies from the Far East

The main advantage of Le Creuset over their competitors is that Le Creuset is double fired and so it has two coats of enamel and each French Oven is rigorously inspected for defects

You should always dry these ovens after cleaning and they should be stored with the lid in place after you have put a piece of kitchen roll inside to absorb any damp.

About the Author

If you want to make wonderfully Tasty Casseroles or stews you need a French Oven and here  at FrenchOvens.org you will find the biggest selection at the very best prices.

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