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Spreading the Gospel of Dutch Oven Cooking

Until the mid 1980s, folks knew Cee Dub as either Butch Welch or as C. W. Welch, Senior Conservation Officer with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Somewhere along the way, a river running buddy started calling him by his initials, “C.W.” At some point, that was shortened to “Cee Dub,” and the nickname stuck.

The host of a nationally televised cooking show and author of several cookbooks, Cee Dub led two Dutch oven cooking demonstrations at the McCall Family Fly-In last weekend (Aug. 13-15). Given the opportunity, he happily spreads “the gospel of Dutch oven cooking,” and peppers each cooking demonstration with humorous tales of the backcountry. He draws upon his 21 years as a game warden for many of his recipes and cooking techniques.

“A lot of times, we’d go in and out of the backcountry on horses or on airplanes,” he said. “In both modes of transportations, weight and space is critical.”

Pilots and passengers alike were drawn to the demonstration by the appeal of cooking hearty meals in the great outdoors.

“The airplane is just a different way to get to a campsite,” said Lee Crump of Twin Falls. “With any kind of camping, you can take along the cooler and cook outside on a grill, but this gives you an oven. It gives you a different kind of kitchen, another weapon in the cooking artillery.”

Within the course of his one-hour demonstration, Cee Dub prepared a breakfast dish, a “dump cake” (named so for its assembly method) and Laser’s Warden Stew.

“From what I’m seeing, I can pack it on the airplane. And it’s better than the corn chips and box rice we usually take,” said Kirt Barbee from Washington, D.C. Attending the fly-in for the second time, he spent 17 hours flying his Cessna 182 to McCall, making stops along the way at Iowa and Yellowstone.

“It’s something I’ll use – I’m going to Colorado next month and am definitely planning on putting this together.”


Cee Dub’s Tips

  • Because space and weight are an issue with small planes, Cee Dub recommends that pilots choose an aluminum Dutch oven. This lighter option weighs one-third of the cast-iron variety, which usually weighs in at about 21 pounds.
  • A 12-inch oven will suffice for a main dish to serve four to six people, and a 10-inch oven is good for a side dish or dessert for the same size crowd. “Put your (plane’s) tail number on your cook tote.”
  • Among the Dutch oven cooking essentials is a fire pan, which serves as a base for the hot coals. A metal garbage can lid or automotive oil change pan make good substitutions. (No matter what type of fire pan you use, take necessary fire-prevention precautions whenever you’re out in the forest, Cee Dub warned.)
  • When baking with a Dutch oven, it takes differential heat. Put six or seven briquettes below the oven (don’t allow them to touch, because each briquette projects an upward cone of heat, and where any two are touching, you’ll get hot spots), then line top outside edge with briquettes. That will heat up the sidewalls and create even cooking temperature.
  • Remember, Dutch oven cooking is not an exact science and cooking times vary.


Laser’s Warden Stew
“It’ll scare you how good it is!” said Cee Dub about this dish, named after a game warden and pilot he worked with. The stew is great for a quick dinner and is ideal to prepare once you’ve landed or returned to your camp from a day of hiking or hunting, he said.

Ingredients:

  • 1 package elk burger (or hamburger)
  • some red potatoes cut into chunks (“the quicker you want to eat, the smaller you cut them”)
  • some onions, cut them just like the taters
  • some pepper
  • some garlic powder or minced garlic
  • some slices of Swiss cheese
  • some cooking liquid (water will do, one or two beers is even better, and Laser says that dark beer makes it best)

Get a fire and/or coals going as soon as you can. Dump everything but the cheese slices in a 12-inch Dutch oven and cook until the liquid has reduced by 1/2 – 3/4. Take the lid off and place the cheese slices over the top. Let cook for a few minutes, or until you can’t take it any longer, then serve.

Reheat the leftovers while you make coffee in the morning and “viola” you’ve just experienced “Wilderness Fast Food” times two!

For more information about Cee Dub, visit http://www.ceedubsproductions.com/

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