So I'll be cooking outdoors as much as I can (hopefully 2-3 times week), taking pictures, and in some cases, updating the recipes on this site. I'll make periodic posts to point you to those updated recipes.

Last week, I cooked Dutch Oven Pork Chops. They were awfully good. My family downed them pretty quick!

Then yesterday I did Dutch Oven Cowboy Stew. This is one of my favorites and is super easy to do.

I look forward to documenting, with pictures, more of my cooking this summer. I'm just afraid the summer will be over before we know it!

Let me know what kind of outdoor cooking you are doing this summer in the comments below.


P.S. If you like Dutch Oven Cooking, sign up below to get a free Dutch Oven Recipe Book:

Recent Outdoor Cooking Activities is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

All over the country there are barbecue competitions where the best barbecuers compete. They know the secrets for cooking competition style barbecue. You don't want your ribs to be tough, your chicken to be rubbery, and your brisket to be barely edible. To make the best, it takes years of trial and error to find the right combinations that will make your barbecue stand out.

If you want to know:

• The detailed and exact way to cook championship level ribs, chicken, brisket, and butts
• About different types of smokers and how to use them
• How to choose the right wood for your barbecue
• How to use marinades, brines, injections, and rubs
• How to use finishing sauces and glazes

then checkout Competition BBQ Secrets. It will give you all this and a whole lot more.

Best Barbecue Around is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

1. Pre-measure ingredients and put in zip-lock bags.  For example, if you know you need 2 cups of flour for a recipe, measure those 2 cups into a zip-lock bag at home, label it, and all you have to do at the campsite is dump it in.  This works great for rice, pasta, sugar, flour, instant mashed potatoes, powdered drink mix, and almost any other similar ingredient.
2. Pre-measuring and storing in zip-lock bags also works great for seasonings.  Measure all the seasonings for a particular dish into a zip-lock bag.  You don't have to take all the individual seasoning containers, nor worry about leaving one behind.
3. Put all the zip-lock bags and other ingredients for each meal into a large zip-lock bag (1 or 2 gallon).  This keeps everything for the meal in one place.  Add copies of the recipes, if needed, to the bag and you are ready to go.
4. Pre-mix ingredients and put in zip-lock bags.  Cooking pancakes for breakfast? Mix all the dry ingredients together in a zip-lock bag, label it, then add the liquid ingredients to the bag and mix up when ready to cook.  No dishes to wash.  No cleanup.  Just toss the empty bag in the garbage.
5. Zip-lock bags are perfect for marinating meat before you grill.  You can even freeze the meats with the marinade, which allows you to get them ready far in advance.
6. Use zip-lock bags for leftovers and store in cooler.  One great idea is to make omelets for the last breakfast with all the saved leftovers (depending on what you have).  Just add eggs the zip-lock bags and mix up.
   Precook rice or pasta at home and store in zip-lock bags.  This makes it much easier to cook at the campsite, because all you have to do is heat it up.
7. Precut meat and store in zip-lock bags.  You won't have to worry in camp about the messy cleanup needed if you do it at home.  If you want to really save time, you can even pre-cook the meats and store in zip-lock bags until you need at camp.  Just heat up and you are ready to go.
8. Precut vegetables and store in zip-lock bags.  Cooking while camping can be more time consuming, but this tip will save you time by allowing you to do it ahead of time at home.
9. Store snacks in zip-lock bags.  Trail-mix, snack mix, pretzels, dried fruit, etc., store great in zip-lock bags.  You can even make separate bags for each member of your family or group so there isn't any quibbling over portions

Nine Ways to use Zip-lock Bags to Make Outdoor Cooking Easier is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

• Outdoor Cooking Magic
• Byron's Dutch Oven Recipes
• ScoutaRama.com
• Dutch Oven Cooking from ISU
• Dutch Oven Cooking
• The Complete Book of Dutch Oven Cooking
• The Outdoor Dutch Oven Cookbook

Your own set of recipes is another place to find sources for Dutch oven cooking. Recipes that are your favorites are usually easily adapted to the Dutch oven. You can use your Dutch oven to simmer, stew, boil, bake, steam, fry, roast, etc. See Dutch Oven Cooking Tips for tips that will help you use your recipes in your Dutch oven. Try your own recipes and see how great they taste in a Dutch oven.

If you have a favorite you would like to share, please send it to recipes@outdoorcookingmagic.com. We'll give you credit for the recipes we use, including a link to your website, if you have one. We will also collect recipes into an eBook. We have a goal to collect at least 500 Dutch oven recipes. If you share your recipe with us, we'll send you a copy of the eBook when it is finished.

Dutch Oven Cooking Recipes is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Summer is near and an a fire pit is something that a lot of us can use, an outdoor fire pit can be used on cold nights and make your backyard a little more special for your guests and for yourself as you enjoy your garden and outdoor space with a nice fire pit.

There are a lot of different fire fit options today, you definitely do not need to build your own fire pit, you can find a fire pit in many home shops, and there are even some special designers that work on fire pits.

On top of the different options you have in selecting the fire pit you would want to have in your backyard, you can use a fire pit on your picnics and outings, a fire pit can be moved form place to place and used as a cooking device almost anywhere, the variety of materials of which fire pit are made today allows you to choose from the traditional to the modern, and with this fire pit variety comes many options for the cleaning and accessories you can get for your fire pit.

If you are interested in having a little bit more fun this summer, you may want to consider purchasing a fire pit. An outdoor fire pit is one of the best ways to enjoy a beautiful summer night. From wood fire pit, that you may remember using at you parents or even grandparents house, to the gas fire pit most people use today, it seems that fire pit selection has never been so vast, this is the time to think about integrating a fire pit to your back yard and start enjoying the advantages of this open fire, you are not limited to your back yard, with a fire pit you can travel and take it with you, so that your acquired taste to your fire pit doesn't have to limit you to your own house. But before you get to excited and start lighting stuff on fire, you will want to learn about the details of an outdoor fire pit.

Contrary to popular belief, an outdoor fire pit can be bought from a number of different stores. Many people think that you will have to build your own pit, and this immediately discourages them. Nobody wants to deal with the building and cleaning up of a makeshift outdoor fire pit. But luckily there are many models that you can purchase.

Most fire pits have mesh siding that allows for spectators to see into the pit, and for heat to escape. This is a huge advantage on cold nights where you may need a little bit of extra heat to stay comfortable.

A fire pit makes a great edition to any yard. A fire pit may be all you need in order to significantly improve your yard. Plan a party around your outdoor fire pit this summer, and show everybody how fun one can be. You may be surprised to find out that you will have a very good time, and end up doing it again and again.

You can add a lot to your house by adding a simple Fire Pit, there are so many different Great Fire Pits on the market today, you can easily find your style, visit The Fire Pits Site for more info.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daniel_Roshard
http://EzineArticles.com/?Fire-Pit-Basics&id=192397

Fire Pit Essentials is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

Cavemen weren’t always barbaric in their daily lives, between gathering food and knocking one and other over with big sticks they utilized the outdoor oven known as at barbeque pit. Our cave brothers knew what they were doing when they smoked turkey and chickens over the hot coals of the pit, they were unknowingly crafting a cooking method still utilized today. The barbeque pit is a great way to cook food, gather with friends, and create some spice to that boring yard of yours.

Barbeque pits are traditionally used by restaurants, cooking enthusiasts, and outdoorsmen, but they are becoming more popular in our backyards. The location of the barbeque pit is the first essential ingredient to making this outdoor oven work for you and your family. I wouldn’t recommend putting the barbeque pit in your front yard if you live on a busy street, the next door neighbors might think you’re trying to send smoke signals to the sky for rescue. Then again if you live on a farm, or ranch, a front yard barbeque pit might be just what the doctor ordered. The most logical way to pick a location for the barbeque pit is away from leaves, trees, and anything that can catch on fire. That being said it can also be a trendy looking landmark if you put it in the center of your backyard, as long as the pit won’t cause anything near it to catch fire.

Once you have selected the perfect location for your barbeque pit, it’s time to start digging. Typically you would want to dig about 5 feet into the ground, and create a circle big enough to house whatever size metal grill you will be topping your pit off with. Once the hole is dug you want to line it with wood, or charcoals of your choice. Be sure to choose the correct wood or coals because this is what will generate that smoked flavor. Many wood fanatics go for hickory or oak woods to burn in their pits, while charcoal is usually basic grocery bought coals.

You don’t need a toga and a wooden club to be able to cook on your new barbeque pit. Many get the idea that Neanderthal ovens are meant for Neanderthal foods, this is not the case. Feel free to toss on some vegan burgers, or exotic tilapia fish. Whatever is your delight will be cooked to perfection on your in ground barbeque pit.

The final step is making the pit a family friendly by adding wooden stools in a circular fashion a few feet back from the pit. This will take roasting marshmallows to the next level.

Clark Covington is a professional writer who provides information on gourmet steaks and gourmet seafood for A1 Gourmet.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Clark_Covington
http://EzineArticles.com/?Crafting-the-Perfect-Barbeque-Pit&id=175073

Crafting the Perfect Barbeque Pit is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic

There are many alternatives to creating a fire pit other than buying a firepit model that is ready-made and requires some simple assembly. If you are a do-it-yourselfer looking to design and build your own fire pit you don't need a fancy set of blueprints, just a vision of the type of pit you are looking to create.

What does it take these days to build fire pits for outdoor campfires and barbequing?

The answer is not a lot. In terms of cost, building a wood burning pit can cost next to nothing and require no more than a few hours of physical labor (especially if you have materials such as rock or brick on hand) to see the fireplace complete.

First pick a safe area for your fire pit, away from any structures that can catch fire and definitely out of the way of backyard traffic. Be sure to check with you local fire department for information and codes. You need to know what the rules are before getting started. Getting going will entail quarrying up some fieldstones or brick to line the inside dirt walls of the pit once you've dug the hole. Not to get ahead of ourselves here, but you will need a good old shovel and some back strength to excavate soil. Position your fieldstone or brick around the holes perimeter and extend these materials above ground. The purpose of installing these materials is to keep wind down and the soil away from the fire.

You can also build a stucco pit above ground or think of other creative ways of building your pit; magazines or the internet are a great source for tips and ideas. When considering a design you'll want to keep with the look of your home and other existing structures. If you don't have time to dream up design ideas or if you had something more complex in mind, you can order a set of plans online complete with material list, for only a small fee.

Once you have finished building, be sure to keep safety in mind. An in ground hearth is a permanent outdoor fixture. You may want to keep it covered when not in use; you can find inexpensive scrap metal and have it cut to fit. Another option is to buy a basic fire pit which should include cover, spark screen, log grill and such and then build your stone or brick wall around it (see http://www.outdoor-fireplaces-and-patio-heaters.com/outdoor-fire-pit.htm ). This limits the chances of children or pets accidentally running into an exposed fire pit and getting burned.

If you want to build a gas fire pit, shop for either gas fire logs with or without embers or choose a simple metal fire ring: both ideas will allow you to design the housing for the fireplace and come up with your own plan.

Whatever you decide, either to build your own or buy one manufactured, a fire pit is a beneficial addition to your outdoor space, allowing you to grill outdoors or to stay warm on cool evenings.

Nicole Martins is a contributing writer and researcher to Outdoor Fireplaces and Patio Heaters, an online resource providing you with information and reviews of popular outdoor heaters, fire pits and fireplaces. Read more about: Building Your Own Firepit

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nicole_Martins
http://EzineArticles.com/?What-Does-It-Take-To-Design-And-Build-Your-Own-Fire-Pit?&id=297294

What does it take to design and build your own fire pit? is a post from: Outdoor Cooking Magic