How to Control a Dutch Oven's Temperature with Charcoal Briquettes

The one rule that does most of the work (325°F)

For the everyday baking temperature of about 325°F, use a total number of briquettes equal to twice your oven's diameter in inches, split so it runs top-heavy:

• Briquettes on top = oven diameter + 3
• Briquettes on the bottom = oven diameter − 3 So for a 12-inch oven — the family standard — that's 15 on the lid and 9 underneath, 24 total, and you're at roughly 325°F. The top-heavy split is the whole secret: most of the heat comes from above, so the bottom bakes instead of scorching. That's what turns a pot into an oven.

Dialing the temperature up and down

Each two briquettes (one added top, one added bottom) is about 25°F. Add a pair to go up, pull a pair to come down, keeping that top-heavy spread. For a 12-inch oven:

(For a 10-inch oven, start lower — about 19 total at 325° — and for a 14-inch, higher. The diameter rule scales.)

Where the coals go depends on what you're cooking

The split above is for baking — breads, biscuits, cobblers, cakes — where you want gentle, even heat from above. Change the placement for everything else:

• Roasting a chicken or a roast: even it out, about half the coals on top and half underneath.
• Simmering or stewing chili, beans, soup: most of the heat from below — roughly three-quarters underneath, a few on the lid.
• Frying, boiling, or sautéing: all the coals on the bottom, like a stovetop burner.

Placement and rotation

Arrange the bottom coals in a ring just inside the oven's edge, and the lid coals in a checkerboard across the top — never piled in the center, which creates a scorching hot spot. Then, every 10 to 15 minutes, give the oven a third-turn one direction and the lid a third-turn the other way. That cancels out hot spots from uneven coals or a breeze and is the difference between evenly baked and burnt-on-one-side.

Lighting and timing

Light briquettes in a chimney starter and don't use them until they're fully ashed over and gray — about 15 minutes. A fresh batch holds good cooking heat for roughly 45 to 60 minutes; for anything longer, light a second batch about 30 minutes in so you've got fresh coals ready to swap in without losing temperature.

Cold, wind, and altitude all make coals burn faster and cooler — add two or three extra and set up a windscreen, and don't be surprised if a January bake wants more fuel than a July one.

This is the camp Dutch oven from our camping cookware picks doing what it's built for — get the legs and the flanged lid and this whole method works.