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History of Dutch Oven The Dutch oven, as we know it today, was developed in the early eighteenth century in England and Holland. It is characterized by three legs designed to straddle live coals, a flat-bottomed bowl with flared sides, a rimmed lid to cradle coals on top, and a bail for lifting. This basic design has remained unchanged for centuries, due, no doubt, to the delectable, tender food it produces. There is no need to alter the perfect pot. The name, however, has had many variations. The functional titles "bake oven," "bake kettle," and "camp oven" all describe how or when the pot is used; baking and camping. The origin of the more common term "Dutch oven" is more elusive. Some writers have argued that the name originated with German and /or Dutch peddlers who sold the cast iron pots from their wagons. Others have credited the Pilgrims with introducing both the pot and the name to this country as a tribute to their former hosts in Holland. A more likely scenario attributes the origin of the name to cast iron cookware made in Holland and imported in to England in the early eighteenth century, or to a Dutch casting technique patented in England in 1708. Actually, these cast iron kettles might have been more appropriately titled "American ovens," for it was in the great wilderness of the new nation where the pots found their widest use. Dutch ovens were the companions of explorers Lewis and Clark. Even though the supply list of 1804 did not list dutch ovens, we know through Private Whitehouse ( a member of the Lewis and Clark’s Corps of Discovery) on June 11, 1805, a dutch oven was cached only to be retrieved in one year later on their journey back from the Pacific Ocean. Sources: The Dutch Oven Resource, By Gerry & Chauna Duffin; Camp Chef View more articles