In August, we shared one of our absolute favorite recipes — dutch oven roast chicken. The weather was uncharacteristically windy and rainy at the time which motivated us to cook indoors using a Le Creuset® Dutch Oven.

Why I cook outdoors

Please don’t get the wrong impression Cooking outdoors is awesome! We love outdoor cooking because of the ability to make direct connections with nature, the ability to disengage from the daily grind, and the links to our past.

We encountered nature up close while making dutch oven “pizza bombs” on a camping trip with my younger son’s Cub Scout pack. We were cooking underneath a large pavilion at the campsite just like other families had done before us. The animals must have been able to smell our food because raccoons walked right out of the forest as we were preparing our mini-pizza’s. The scouts and I had to chase the raccoons away from the cooking areas so that we could finish!

Another reason why I love outdoor cooking is that it enables me to disengage from the daily grind. When I’m on a camping trip or even if I’m cooking in my back yard, I avoid using any electronics (with one exception). No apps, no computers, no e-mail. Yes, I do use cameras; but, my cameras enable me to share my experiences with you.

Finally, cooking outdoors reminds me of my links with my past. Like the the pioneers before me, I use the “smells” coming from the dutch oven to decide whether or not to open the lid to see if my food is ready. That’s why I’ve titled many of my videos as the “Big Reveal” because there’s always drama associated with opening the lid for the first time to see if the recipe came out as expected.

It also worth noting that cooking outdoors with wood or charcoal reminds me of the Cowboys and the great cattle drives of the American West, of the Native Americans and the many others that cooked and lived outdoors.

Indian Summer

Finally, Fall has begun and the weather has cleared up. It’s now cooler outside, the leaves have changed, and the rain has disappeared. Therefore, we decided to take advantage of the beautiful Indian Summer and move our kitchen back outside and revisit our classic roast chicken recipe.

Dutch Oven Roast Chicken with Lemon, Lime, and Rosemary raises the bar on our “standard” roast chicken recipe. First of all, the chicken has a citrusy flavor because we place chopped lemons inside the chicken and lemon slices underneath the skin. Next, we enhance the flavor with orange juice and lime-flavored carbonated water. Finally, we use fresh herbs (rosemary) to give the chicken a wonderful, floral aroma that complements the citrus. Above all, the recipe shows just how flexible cooking chicken can be.

Dutch Oven Chicken with Lemon, Lime, and Rosemary Ingredients:

1 whole fryer chicken (4 1/2 to 5 lbs.)
1 lemons
1/2 large red onion
1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
3 celery sticks, chopped
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup carbonated water
1/2 stick butter (thinly cut pats)
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper to taste

Prep-time:

30 minutes

Cook Time

2 1/2 to 3 hours

Difficulty level:

Easy

Equipment needed:

12 inch Dutch Oven Deep (8 quart)
meat thermometer
trivet (for inside the dutch oven)

Step by Step Instructions

Remove the giblets, rinse the chicken (inside and out) with water, and pat dry with a paper towel. Set the chicken inside the dutch oven on top of the trivet.

Slice the lemons and remove any seeds. Then, insert the lemon slices between the skin and the breast of the chicken. If you have some lemon left over, chop it up and place it inside the chicken.

Chop up the carrots and celery and place them inside of the chicken — whatever is left over can be placed outside the chicken.

Add the red and yellow pepper and the 1/2 chopped onion to the dutch oven. If you can, try stuffing the chicken with some of your vegetables.

Place pats of butter on the top of the chicken and add three sprigs of rosemary. I like to insert one sprig of rosemary inside the chicken and place the other sprigs outside of the bird.

Salt and pepper the chicken to taste.

Mix 1/2 cup of orange juice with 1/2 a cup of lime carbonated water and pour into the bottom of the dutch oven.

Roast the the chicken in the dutch oven at 325 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 1/2 to 3 hours using a total of 24 charcoals (15 on top and nine on bottom.

When your chicken is ready, check the temperature of your roasted chicken at the thickest part of the chicken (generally the breast) with a meat thermometer. Make sure it’s at least 165° Fahrenheit (74° Celsius)

Please check out our other recipes or check out our other “big reveal” videos. Also, we love your comments, so please let us know how we’re doing!

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