What You Should Know About Dutch Oven Cooking
Dutch oven cooking has been popular for many generations. It is not really clear when Dutch oven cooking actually started but it became quite popular among the English as early as the 1600s. At that time, Dutch oven cooking was considered more advanced compared to the traditional English cast metal cooking vessels that many people in England were using. They turned to the Dutch to provide them with the finest cast metal cooking vessels. Around this time, hundreds of ovens made by the Dutch were shipped to England making Dutch oven cooking a household phenomenon across the country.
Because of the intense popularity of Dutch oven cooking, an Englishman named Abraham Darby decided to visit Holland sometime in 1704 to observe how these amazing cooking vessels were actually made. Mr. Darby stayed in Holland for about four years and learned as much as he can about the Dutch oven.
When he returned in England, Mr. Darby patented a technology for iron casting that is similar to the technology used by the Dutch. Many of his critics accused him of stealing the technology from the Dutch but since nobody can really prove that he did just that, his patent was approved and protected by the English government and he proceeded to set up his own company producing cast iron cooking vessels. The cooking vessels produced by Mr. Darby were later on known as "Dutch oven" and were sold as far as the new American colonies of England.
How Dutch Oven Cooking Evolved in the United States
When the British immigrants came to American colonies, they brought with them their Dutch ovens. Some traveling merchants also peddled this type of oven to many American communities at that time. The Dutch oven cooking tradition which started in England soon became popular in many parts of America.
Over the years, the use of the Dutch oven in the American colonies changed. The first to go were the elaborate designed ovens that were usually associated with the traditional Dutch ovens. The pot became shallower and legs were added to the original design to hold the oven above the coals when cooking. To keep the coal on the lid of the oven and away from the food, a flange was added to the lid of the traditional Dutch oven. Nevertheless, the term Dutch oven cooking survived despite the changes undergone by the oven itself. At present the term Dutch oven cooking is still widely used by people all over the United States.
