Dutch Oven Workshop Set For Saturday At Washington

Historic Washington State Park will host a Dutch-Oven Workshop Saturday February 19th at 10am.

This two-hour workshop is designed to introduce participants to the world of Dutch Ovens. Participants will explore the versatility biscuits while learning how to use and care for Dutch oven.

There are two styles of Cast iron cookware that are considered Dutch ovens in todays world. The first is a pot with a tight-fitting domed lid and the other pot has a flatter lid with a rim on it. The pot with the flat rimmed lid is often marketed as a camp oven.

The cast iron pot to which we are familiar with evolved in the 1700’s. In 1704, Abraham Darby traveled from England to Holland to inspect a Dutch casting process by which brass vessels where cast in dry sand molds.  Returning to England, Darby experimented with the process and eventually patented a casting process using a better type of molding sand as well as a process of baking the mold to improve casting smoothness.  Darby eventually began casting pots and shipping them to the colonies and the world. Ragsdale suggests the name “Dutch Oven” may have derived from the original Dutch process for casting metal pots.

In the Mid-18th Century, cooks of colonies were using cast-iron vessels from England as well as some cast here in the new America’s. These vessels were generally used on an open flame. An improvement on the open pot was close-fitting lids allowing hot coals to be put on the lid to provide a concentration of heat at the top. Another improvement was the crimped or rimmed lid to retain the coals that were placed on it. Changes were gradual and most resulted from home design.

Reservations are required for the workshop.   For details or reservations phone the park at 983-2684.