Dutch Oven cooking is a fantastic way to make slow cooked meals over a fire and to serve a large group of hungry campers! Think of a dutch oven as the crock pot of the camping life.
In order to judge the temperature of the fire, you can use your hand to feel the heat. Just remove the lid from the dutch oven and place your hand just above or just inside the oven. Count how many seconds you can keep your hand there before it gets too hot. Subtract 50 degrees per second counting down from 550 to determine the temperature inside the dutch oven.
| Seconds | Temperature |
| 1 | 500+ |
| 2 | 500 |
| 3 | 450 |
| 4 | 400 |
| 5 | 350 |
| 6 | 300 |
| 7 | 250 |
| 8 | 200 |
