Cauldrons are highlighted in the “Design Elements, Great Finds” section of the magazine, which is on newsstands nationwide.

The club was purchased a few years ago by Orvis, which has infused new life and resources into the club. Among the most recent upgrades to the facility is a Cowboy Cauldron, which will be featured prominently near the clubhouse to keep its clientele warm and toasty during the colder months of the year.

A short video by CNN about the club can be seen here.

Step One

BUILD A BIG FIRE.

We’ve already been over this talking about ribs. You need a big bunch of coals. Start an hour or two early, and spark it up. Use big wood, and lots of it. You’ve got a CAULDRON, fer chrissakes. Let it shine!

Step Two

Just face it. You are probably going to ruin the first batch. Think of this as nothing but a big pancake, and you know what happens to the first pancake. Don’t fret and stomp. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and you WILL get it right on the third batch. Trust us.

Go buy a cheap box of cornbread mix at the grocery store. In fact, buy three. They are sixty cents each. You should not invest any money or emotion into the first batch. It’s a learning experience, that’s all. If you eat any, that’s a bonus. But again, by batch three, you , my friend, will be reaching into the hellish depths, and pulling miraculous golden pastry from glowing fire. Male or female, it ought to get you laid.

Step Three

Get the following things together: 1- Heavy leather gloves, 2- a shovel, 3- long pliers or a lid-lifter, 4- a whisk broom.

Rub the inside of the Dutch oven with butter to get it good and greasy. This keeps the cornbread from sticking. Now get the Dutch oven warm. Take the lid off the pan and hang the pan from your S-hooks a fair distance from the fire. You are gong to let it hang there for a few minutes until just starts to smoke.

Now take the lid and drop it in the fire. You heard me. Do it. You want that baby to be really, really hot.

WHY, you ask? I’m glad you asked.

Pay attention here. This is the gist of it. Because heat rises.

The difference between a pan and an oven is that in an oven heat comes from everywhere. In a Dutch oven, your heat should come primarily from the lid. This top-down heat source is what allows you to bake. Most of the heat will dissipate upwards, doing you no good, so you need lots of heat.

Step Four

Add one egg, cup of water, or whatever else the directions on the mix box tell you to do….

Step Five

Once the Dutch oven is just smoking, using gloves and/or another tool, take it off the S-hook and set it on the ground. If you try to put it anywhere else, you will wish you hadn’t. Now pour in the cornbread mix. Excellent. That wasn’t too hard.

Step Six

Dip your whisk broom in water. Pull the lid out of the fire and brush off any ashes that are on the bottom side. Place the lid on top of the pan, and hang the pan with the lid on it way up away from the fire. Make sure you have at least a foot between the coals or flame and the bottom of the pan. Heat rises, and it’s going to be rising right onto the bottom of your pan.

Step Seven

Using a shovel, put a bunch of coals on top of the lid. Now look at your watch. Now look at the cornbread mix box. How long does it say to let it bake? We are going to go five minutes less than that.

Step Eight

First scrape, then brush the coals off the lid with a damp whisk broom. You don’t want ashes in your cornbread. Once the lid’s pretty clean, then pull the whole oven off the S-hook. Set in on the ground. Take a peek. Scorched black top? Maybe, but probably not. Gooey raw mix? Maybe, but probably not. You will have hit somewhere between the two. Stick a skewer into the center to see if it is actually done. It may be. If not, hang it back up and toss some coals back on. Wait five minutes and see what you’ve got.

WHY ALL THE UNCERTAINTY, YOU ASK? We’re glad you asked.

Because this is where all the dark magic you are afraid of comes in. That mustachioed knucklehead wasn’t dong anything but warming beans. You are baking! You need to get a feel for both your Dutch oven and your fire. Oak burns hotter than aspen. Were you to too far or too close to the fire? Enough heat on top? Are you working in the middle of summer or in the middle of winter? Getting a feel for these things is all we are doing, and as you can see, it’s just not that hard.

If you are like most people, you will burn the bottom of your cornbread. There are two things you can say about that. One – you are out sixty cents. Two – you probably won’t burn it as badly the second time.

Once you’ve done this twice, be ready for some seriously wonderful food. Let us know when you are ready, and we’ll give you a recipe for seriously great cornbread.

I hear you.

That’s you, isn’t it???

The one saying to himself, “Ooh, I can’t do that! Dutch ovens are big and heavy, and besides that – it’s too scary! Scary!!!”

Bullcrap.

Get over the intimidation. It’s metal, food and heat. Just like every other thing you ever cooked. Remember that big, burly guy in the hat, chaps and droopy moustache who once spooned bad pork & beans onto your plate at the roundup on your vacation out west? Remember that guy? Well fuggeddaboutit. What he had was a big hat and chaps. Back at his apartment that guy couldn’t cook his way out of a cardboard box.

Cooking killer food in a Dutch oven is bonehead easy.

We shouldn’t make it this easy for you, we know. Those cowboy chuckwagon guys need to make a living. But we’re going to do it anyway. If you already own a Cauldron you know you are ready for this. If you DON’T own one, stop right reading now, click over and order yourself a damn Cauldron.

Life is short, and you aren’t getting any younger, pal.

Nothing on earth makes Dutch oven cooking easier than a Cowboy Cauldron.

Why, you ask? We’re glad you asked!

The parabolic shape of a Cauldron radiates heat not only up from the bottom, but reflects it outward from the sides, as well.

A suspended Dutch oven, African pot, or any other enclosed cooking device, receives even, multi-directional heat. Add to that the ease of hanging even huge, heavy pots with any of the Cauldron’s numerous accessories, and you suddenly are in the driver’s seat.

When his buddy, (who takes lessons from the same teacher) came over a burn the other night, he was fantastic!

He kept the little kids completely amused, and the teenagers gave marshmallow-roasting lessons.

By the end of the night, all the kids were singing. “WonderBoy” by (Tenacious D, if you must know). If you‘ve never heard the song, download it today. It’s hilarious.

“Dad, will you make us dinner? The guys want to stay!”

HOW MANY marshmallows can you get in your mouth????!!!

Note: no teen-agers were harmed during the making of this blog post.