North Texan has it right! Only difference is; once I season the first time with crisco, I don't use crisco again...

After cooking, I half-fill the dutch oven with water and heat, then scrub the pot well with a rag (NEVER USE SOAP IN CAST IRON). Once clean and dry, apply a VERY THIN layer of cooking oil to the inside of pot and you're ready to store.

Here's a great breakfast recipe (or anytime, really) that will feed 8 people out of a 14" dutch oven. It's called "Mountain Man Breakfast." You'll need:

2 lbs. breakfast sausage in a tube
2 lbs. frozen, pre-grated, pre-cooked hash browns (Ore-Ida brand works well)
8 eggs
1 stick butter or margarine
2 cups shredded cheese
*Optional: Onions, peppers, tomatoes, etc.

1) Light approx. 30 charcoal briquettes. Make circle around base of dutch oven with half of them. The other half need to be placed on the dutch oven lid.

2) Brown sausage in dutch oven *with onions/peppers. Should take around 15-20 minutes.

3) Once sausage is browned, add stick of butter and hash browns. *Add tomatoes. Stir with sausage then cover. Should take around another 15-20 minutes.

4) When hash browns are tender -or browned- drizzle raw scrambled eggs on top of hash brown/meat mixture. DO NOT STIR. Sprinkle cheese on top of eggs. Cover and cook for approx. 15-20 more minutes until eggs are done. Yummy!

5) As soon as food is ready, serve up everyone's plates then spoon out the rest onto a spare plate. Immediately half-fill dutch oven with water and place back on heat with charcoal above and below. This will make cleaning a snap. Remember, DON'T USE SOAP!!!