# (How to) Stove Top Dutch Oven Cooking during fire bans



## Norcalcoastie (Jan 4, 2019)

What’s up Buzzards

We just came back from a very hot San Juan trip, but the flows were good, and we had a blast. I keep seeing posts about folks pondering charcoal during fire bans and I’ll offer this technique up in lieu of that. This is not my original idea, I got it from Will Volpert of Indigo Creek Outfitters. In addition to being a great guide, Will is also a great human being and has a solid company.

Any range top stove should work, so long as it will simmer LOW. You’ll need a solid heat diffuser (Amazon, ~$20), a Dutch Oven, and a Volcano Cook tent (Volcano LID™ – Volcano Grills)

The trick is finding the Volcano Tent. Who knows how long those will be made. After that place the diffuser on the burner, place the Dutch on the diffuser, and then the tent over the whole setup; right on the grill. On low burner settings I seem to generate about 350 degrees or so. It’s a pretty iffy science. We’ve made cinnamon rolls, baby back ribs, and chocolate birthday cake. Simmer low, and experiment for best results. have fun out there and don’t start a wildfire!


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## Whitewater Worthy Equip (Dec 11, 2013)

I cut 4 pieces of 1”X1.5” steel tube 2” long to use as spacers on top of the diffuser plate and they make easier to not burn the bottom.

this is a viable way to work around fire restriction and still impress your friend.


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## okieboater (Oct 19, 2004)

I have the 










* Camp Chef Dutch Oven Dome

and have used it for several years.*
Very good for cooking things like brisket for several hours
Works for other baked goods but takes some experience to get the heat correct for your specific dutch oven set up.


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## Norcalcoastie (Jan 4, 2019)

okieboater said:


> I have the
> 
> 
> 
> ...


nice! Glad there’s another option. I’ll get one of those and have2 DOs baking at the same time


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## Electric-Mayhem (Jan 19, 2004)

Consequently.... I've found out that you can do the cardboard tube style dough products like cinnamon rolls and biscuits straight on a griddle in a pinch. They don't puff up quite as much, but you still get 90% of the experience.

I've wanted to figure out a stove based system for a while where you put a burner above and below but this seems to be a viable solution and the heat tent things would help with a cold windy day even when using charcoal.

I have a feeling that fire bans will be increasingly more common in the future...so solutions like this will be needed for sure.


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## wdeutsch (Apr 27, 2020)

Before discovering dutch oven cooking over charcoal, I used to bake on my propane stove in a pretty similar way to this. No volcano, though. What I used was a few pieces of aluminum flashing material, taped together with aluminum foil tape. I left the vertical edges untaped so the whole thing folded flat and stored in the lid of the stove when I wasn't using it. Worked great and cost next to nothing.


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## sonofdad (Jul 21, 2015)

norcalcoastie, this is awesome! thanks for sharing - i've been pondering some sort of charcoal/dutchy work around for a while. can't wait to give this a shot.


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## Lone Star (May 16, 2021)

Wow! This is sweet. I was just about to open my stupid dumb loud mouth to my employer about how giving up cake night just because of a fire ban was silly. But then I realized it was then going to be on me to make it happen. Have had some success in the past just throwing a lid on a second burner and re-heating it every now and again which is fine on slow casual mornings/nights but maybe not the best idea when trying to move things along for a big group quickly.


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