SLOW COOKER DUTCH OVEN 12 hours/Low 3 hours/325° F 10 hours/Low 2 1/2 hours/325° F 8 hours/Low 2 hours/325° F 6 hours/Low 1 1/2 hours/325° F 5 hours/Low 1 hour, 15 min./325° F 4 hours/Low 1 hour/325° F 4 hours/High 2 hours/325° F 3 hours/Low 45 min./325° F 3 hours/High 1 1/2 hours/325° F 2 hours/Low 30 min./325° F 2 hours/High 1 hour/325° F 1 hour/Low 15 min./325° F 1 hour/High 30 min./325° F

Slow cookers are wonderful things. Of course where I grew up, we simply called them “Crock Pots.” But since that’s a trademarked brand name, they are usually referred to as “slow cookers” when speaking of the devices generically. They are great for cooking an entire meal by planning a few hours ahead. Just throw in the ingredients, set the temperature, and let it go. However, as any cast iron aficionado will understand, sometimes you just prefer to break out the black iron.And as any experienced cast iron cook knows, you don’t really need special cookbooks geared to cast iron cookware--although they are certainly nice to have. In reality, most recipes (with a few exceptions) can be cooked in cast iron. This is especially true of slow cooker recipes since a slow cooker is really nothing more than an electric dutch oven if you think about it. However, some conversion of cooking time is required.Last summer, Kathleen Purvis of The Charlotte Observer wrote an article (no direct link remaining to my knowledge) on this exact subject that I saw reprinted in a number of papers around the country. To convert from cooking times from a slow cooker to a dutch oven, she offered this basic principle:A recipe that is cooked on the low setting in your slow cooker will take about a quarter as long in a Dutch oven in a 325-degree oven (if it cooks for 8 hours on low, it will take two to three hours in the Dutch oven). A recipe that is cooked on high setting will take about half as long. But remember, that's only an estimate, so leave yourself a little extra time.Although the math is pretty straightforward, I thought that some of you might appreciate a quick cheat sheet, so I created one based upon Kathleen Purvis’ suggestions: