Dutch Oven Math

Leonard Sanders, a Dutch oven cook who caters throughout California Northern Sacramento Valley, often posts Dutch oven formulas on the International Dutch Oven web forum.

Wagon Cook, as he's know on the Internet, often teaches that most Dutch oven cooking is a matter math. He often cooks by weight, not volume, when cooking in Dutch ovens. That makes sense to me because you purchase many ingredients, like potatoes, meat and beans by weight.

Here's Wagon Cook's latest page in the Dutch oven math textbook:

I use 1/4-pound of potatoes per person -- so for 80 people I would use 20 pounds. I use 1/2 pound of bacon for each 5 pounds of potatoes and one onion for each 5 pounds of potatoes. I make this recipe by potato weight and not by Dutch oven volume -- a #12 Dutch oven will hold about 5 pounds. A 12 Deep will hold about 8 pounds a 14 deep will hold about 10 pounds.

Here's an early 'Round the Chuckbox post on Wagon Cook's bean math.