My Girl Scout troop of 4th graders is beginning to camp. As the leader in charge of the camping I had to take 3 classes on camping skills. One of the classes was instruction on outdoor cooking and in that class I was introduced to the concept of a dutch oven. A dutch oven is so named because the Dutch brought them to the New World and traded them with American Indians. These cast iron pots were actually in common use in Europe at the time white people began to colonize North America and were not just the providence of the Dutch. Dutch ovens have three feet on the bottom that raise the bottom of the pot about 1 inch off the ground making a nice space for hot coals underneath
. The lid has a raised flange around the edge to hold coals on the top as well. The walls are thick, and with coals on the top and bottom, the dutch oven will heat evenly and can be used to cook anything you would normally cook in a conventional oven. I was very excited about the concept of being able to cook delicious meals, and not just weaners and beans, while camping with the troop. And it sounded so easy too! This picture, from a boy scout camping trip, shows how simple the concept is.I went right out and bought two 20 lb dutch ovens for our troop to experiment with this new form of cooking. I seasoned one of the dutch ovens with oil and filled it with my favorite baked casserole dish, lasagna. Then came the dilemma. I didn't know where to put the dutch oven during the cooking. My outdoor fireplace had a fireproof surface that was raised off the ground, but it was way out in the hinterlands of my backyard, and too far from the kitchen. My backyard's cement porch was another alternative, and right outside the kitchen, but I would have to put the dutch oven on the ground and then bend over to tend the coals. I compromised on using my redwood picnic table benches, the very same benches that I had sat on as a child while enjoying family barbecues. My parents had given me their redwood picnic table and benches in 1989. I lined up the benches side-by-side under the overhang of the pool house (I didn't want to have to stand in the sun while slaving over the food). All I needed now was a fireproof barrier to put between the dutch ovens and the wood surface of the picnic table benches.
I considered a cookie sheet but didn't want to ruin one by putting coals on it. I remembered that I had heavy duty foil. I ripped off 10 pieces of heavy duty foil and covered the left side of the bench. I put the dutch oven on top of the foil. On the other end of the bench I put a propane stove with a coal starter chimney on one of the burners. I used the propane stove to light and heat the coals. When the coals were hot, I put some coals under the dutch oven and some coals on top.
After about 50 minutes of cooking the lasagna was bubbling and hot and ready to eat. I brought the dutch oven inside the house and removed the coals that were sitting on the foil and put them back in the coal chimney on top of the propane grill. The coals looked spent and they would burn themselves out. I unscrewed the propane tank and set it on the bench. Umm -- the lasagna smelled good and I was eager to try it and revel in my family's compliments.
The lasagna was delicious. Just as I was about to start dinner cleanup, the doorbell rang. It was my friend and co-leader Narma who had come to try the lasagna and hear how the whole process had worked out. I had seen Narma earlier in the day when she had, to my surprise, brought me a fire extinguisher. I had had a good laugh at that. What was she thinking bringing a fire extinguisher?
Narma really liked the lasagna and stayed for 45 minutes or so to chat. After she left I went right outside to clean up while there was still some daylight left. The setting sun was not the only source of light in my backyard! The entire left side of the picnic benches were on fire with flames leaping as high as the overhang of the pool house. Flames were creeping toward the right side of the bench where the propane can was sitting. I ran back inside the house and yelled for my husband, then grabbed a stock pot off the stove, filled it with water and ran back outside. One pot of water was enough to put out the flames, but I continued fetching more water and dousing the until smoke stopped billowing from the benches. The benches were nearly burned through and ruined.
My husband never did hear my calls for help so I had to go get him and show him what I had done. He didn't say much. I think he was mute with astonishment that I had done something so stupid and dangerous. He mumbled and went back in the house and I stood there alone pondering what I had done. The foil wasn't burnt all the way through so the fire must have spontaneously started in the wood when the wood had been heated by the coals to a very high temperature. What had I been thinking when I put burning coals on top of wood? Where had I gotten this misplaced confidence in tin foil as an insulator? What would have happened if I had waited a few more minutes before going outside? Would the fire have reached the propane tank and would it have exploded? Would our house have burned down? Very likely. I didn't like to think about it.
Although this happened months ago, I am still ashamed to think of it. The next time I am feeling smart and superior, I will come back and read this blog entry to bring myself down a notch or two.
Now I have this off my chest and can go back to writing about my husband's foibles.
