Joe Sams
My dad got me into Dutch oven cooking. He used to be involved in helping with scouting events, and built an interest that he has passed on to me. At camp, several years back, we started getting into trying different recipes. We failed a lot at first, then slowly figured some things out and built our confidence. It is a great hobby. We started with only a couple of ovens, and have now expanded to over 30! The best times cooking in a Dutch oven are in the woods while camping, but we have expanded into a few other areas as well. Any time we see, or hear about a recipe that sounds good, we want to try it in a Dutch oven! So, we end up cooking a lot in the back yard as well. Most of the time, we cook for our families and friends, but we have also cooked for groups of over 100 people, having up to 26 ovens going at once. Of course we had some help from our wives! We have also cooked in several competitions, including the World Championships in Utah. While competing has been fun, and allowed us to do a little traveling, the best times cooking are when the only pressure comes from waiting while smelling the food cooking in the Dutch oven!
