Dutch Oven Pot Roast / Patina Products Fire Pit

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The Patina Products Outdoor Fire pit is perfect for backyard fires, roasting marshmallows, or just cooking a hot dog, but what about Dutch oven cooking? I recently thawed a 4lb roast that was destined for the crock pot, so I thought, why not have some fun, get the Dutch oven out, and cook this roast in a backyard outdoor fire pit.

The first step was to get the charcoal briquettes started. Once the coals were started and on their way to a nice gray color, I started prepping the roast for the Dutch oven. This is a personal preference, but I like to quarter or cube my roast when cooking it in a Dutch oven.

After the roast was cubed, I heated up a cast iron skillet, added a drizzle of olive oil and browned my roast cubes on all sides.

Mississippi Style Dutch Oven Roast:

Once the roast was browned, it was ready for the Dutch oven and the ingredients to cook this roast Mississippi style with a few alterations. After coating the bottom of the Dutch oven with a little olive oil, I place the cubed browned roast in the bottom. I then added one medium size chopped onion, five pepperoncini peppers with a little pepper juice and a splash of water.

The next ingredients I added to the Dutch oven were one packet of Au Jus Gravy and one Ranch Dressing Dip mix.

Cooking Time:

Once placed on the coals, I also added ten coals to the top of the lid. I let the roast cook for approximately three hours, consistently checking the coals and the temperature to ensure I had enough heat, but not too much heat.

Optional Vegetables:

After around a three hour cook time, I added vegetables which include potatoes, carrots and celery to the Dutch oven. This is optional, but I like cooking my vegetables with the pot roast, so they soak up all those awesome flavors during the cooking process. After adding the vegetables, the pot roast slowly cooked for approximately two more hours, until the vegetables were soft and the roast just fell apart.

The Missing Ingredient:

Before I get roasted in the comments, I want to mention that I forgot one ingredient: butter. Butter is used so the roast won’t dry out, but it will also add some extra rich flavor. Even though I missed the butter, I had no issues with the roast drying out, and the flavors of the peppers, Au Ju, and ranch were amazing. I guess I'm going to have to spend another day enjoying the outdoors and cook another roast in the Patina Products Outdoor Fire Pit.