One of the main reasons people shy away from using cast iron is because they are afraid of the cleanup. The easy way around this is to make your own parchment dutch oven liners.
I first saw this method used on EverydayDutchOven.com. “Lid Lifter” uses these liners in almost all of his dutch oven baking. It looked so slick that I had to give it a try. It works great! Here’s how to make your own.
You’ll need a roll of parchment paper. I use an 18 inch wide roll. It seems to work better than the narrow rolls.
Parchment paper is coated with silicone. The nice thing about parchment paper is that it is nonstick, but it is not waxy. The problem with aluminum foil is that it can change the flavor of the food you are cooking. Parchment doesn’t impart any flavor.
Tear off a sheet of parchment paper that is a few inches larger that the diameter of your dutch oven.
Fold it in half again. Your parchment paper should now be a square.
Fold the paper in half diagonally.
Fold the paper in half again, maintaining a pointed end.
Place the pointed end of the paper into the center of your dutch oven. Mark the height you want your liner to go with a finger or pen. This is where we’ll cut off the excess.
Using scissors or a very sharp knife, cut along your mark.
Unfold your liner and place it in your dutch oven. It may be necessary to crease the fold around the edge to allow it to lay flat against the sides.
Now you’re ready to bake and cleanup is simple!
Question: What tricks do you use to make your cast iron cooking easier?