I have always just set the dutch oven on top of the coals, then maybe put a few coals on the lid if it needs a little more heat. They transfer the heat around really well.

I don't have a place to cook outside here in town, so I just stick the dutch oven in a regular over and it works and tastes just as good. Academy has the dutch ovens without the little legs so they slide in and out of the oven easier.

Anything tastes better in a dutch oven. That's all I use for cooking, with the exception of the grill.