Earlier today a CBer sent me a boardmail asking for dutch oven tips. I mentioned you can and probably should google for these things too, but it's also nice to be able to get opinions and responses in somewhat real-time, and from people in similar situations. I wrote something up that ended being pretty lengthy, and after sending it, I thought it might be useful to others. Also, these tips are from my experience and opinions, so it would be useful if others with different experience and opinions would chime in as well. Anyway, here are my tips:

Unless your dutch oven came pre-seasoned (not likely), you will need to season it. You can get all kinds of opinions on this, but my favorite way is to use regular vegetable oil. Wipe on a very thin coat with a paper towel. When I say thin, I mean just barely coat it. If you have oil pooling, that spot won't cure right. And coat every part of the cast iron parts of your dutch oven, top and bottom, handles, inside out, etc. Don't coat the steel hanging wire handle, in case that isn't already obvious.

Crank up your oven to about 400 degrees, and put your dutch oven in there, and let it bake for about 45 minutes. When it's done, just turn off the oven and let the dutch oven cool down in there.

Now this will smoke a lot. I just turn on my fan and deal with it, but another option is to use your outdoor grill instead, if it's big enough.

The first time you season, you may want to repeat this process a couple of times. Then, after every couple of uses, I would repeat it again after I got home from camping. It keeps your dutch oven in good shape, and helps keep it clean and sanitary. Really, you can do this while out camping as part of your cleanup process, but sometimes we get lazy the last day and wait until we get home to finish cleaning.

OK, cleaning--this is important. You don't ever want to use soap in your dutch oven. You also don't want to use any steel wool in there. That will just remove or damage the finish you're working on over time (the "patina" is the name for the finish, as in "the Scouts ruined the patina on my dutch oven, so that's the last time I loan it to them!").

Instead, pour in some hot water and wad up a piece of foil to use as a convenient scrubber. Alternatively, you could use one of those green scrubber pads, but I find foil works just as well, and is usually pretty convenient. Dump out the gunky water, wipe with a paper towel, and repeat if you need to.

When it looks pretty clean, you can lightly oil the inside, and put it over your fire for a bit to re-season/finish cleaning. This actually works really well to get rid of any residual food odors. For example, if you cook enchiladas for dinner, you don't want your cobbler the next day having the faint flavor of enchilada.

A lot of people use foil as a liner to cook, and you can also purchase liners. That can be a good, easy way to go. I personally prefer to cook right against the iron, but I'm a bit of a food snob, so your choice. The liners do make it easier.

Now, some tips about using the charcoal. First, get yourself a charcoal chimney if you don't already have one. It is well worth it. Charcoal starts and gets to cooking point so much faster.

Next, if the coals on the bottom don't have proper ventilation, then won't burn properly. In fact, you can almost put them out with an oven pressing down heavily on them. So, just make sure air can get to the coals. The legs on your oven help with this, but even with the legs, if there is a LOT of ash in the firepit, you can still have the same issue. Just pay attention. You don't need a huge gap, and the coals CAN/should be touching the oven, just don't smother them.

Finally, how many coals you put on top or bottom depends on a lot of things, and you're probably best looking up some methods with google. Often published recipes will even specify that. But, keep in mind a few things that I'll list here.

Heat rises, so the coals on top will not have the same impact as those on the bottom. They still cook really well because they heat up the iron, but this just means more coals are typically needed on the top than the bottom.

If I'm essentially frying meat (i.e. BBQ chicken first part, or chicken and dumplings), I usually only put coals on the bottom at first. Later stages of the recipe, like when I want more of a baking action, I put coals on top as well. For example, to brown the dumplings on top of my chicken and dumplings recipe, you need the coals on top. For doing a cobbler, same thing. You don't want the bottom to burn while the top is still raw, so you have just a few coals on the bottom (depends upon your oven size, but say 7 or so) then about double that on top.

Check the internet guides like I said, then just figure it out with experience. You'll check frequently at first so you don't burn things, but as you gain experience you'll have a better idea.

That should get you started. It sounds like a lot of work, and it can be. But, I think you'll find it's worth the effort. I always say camping is fun when you eat well and sleep well, and this helps make the first part of that a reality.