Cooking & Temperature Control                          
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Heating a Dutch Oven can be accomplished in a variety of ways.  Here's a few ideas to get you going.  

1) Place on a propane stove for soups, searing, boiling, etc. This method is especially useful when preparing foods that only require bottom heating.

2) Use a bed of hot embers from your campfire.  Shovel some coals onto the top for even heating.  This is a good (but not my preferred) method for baking.

3) Use a quality charcoal.  Charcoal offers the most reliable and controllable heat for cooking over an extended time period.  This is my preferred method when I'm baking for this very reason.  Control the amount of heat by varying the number of coals.  Control distribution of heat by adding or subtracting coals from top or bottom. Each coal adds approximately 10 degrees of heat.

For baking, you'll generally want a 2:1 ratio of coals on top to coals underneath. For example, 20 coals on top and 10 underneath should bring your oven up to a nice stable 300 degrees for baking. 

I use an inexpensive oven thermometer to track my DO's temperature. I'll often keep a small pile of hot coals to the side to add to the oven as needed. I'll use them to keep a hot oven going when baking more than one batch of something. Or, if my oven gets too hot (cooking too fast) I'll take some off and put them aside.

Ambient temperature affects the heating of your oven.  Cooler temps outside will require more heat applied to the oven.  Likewise, in hot weather your oven will heat faster with fewer coals. 

The key - experiment!  Use this info as a guideline, go forth, and COOK!  Have fun with it and try new things!  Don't forget to come back and SHARE YOUR IDEAS with us here at L2C.