Dutch Oven Cranberry Sauce

I love cranberry sauce, but there is something wrong on so many levels about the ringed jelly cylinder that slides out of the can with a big "SLURP!" This cranberry compote is great with turkey of course, but also with pork and other fowl year round. This is my take on the traditional cranberry sauce.


You will need:

24 oz Fresh Cranberries
1 cup sugar
2 oranges

Kitchen tools:
Wooden spoon
Strainer
Serving bowl with lid
1 cup measuring cup
Orange juicer
Potato masher

Dutch Oven Tools:
12" Dutch oven
Cooking platform- this can be a piece of foil or an expensive cook platform
Charcoal, Lighter fluid, matches
Lid lifter
Charcoal chimney
Heat resistant gloves
Long handled tongs
Trivet/Lid stand

Fill the chimney with charcoal and light it with the lighter fluid and matches. You know when the coals are ready when they start to turn white and little flames poke in between them.

Put the cranberries in a strainer and rinse them thoroughly. Remove any bad ones.

Dump the cranberries into a greased dutch oven.

Take one orange and zest the entire peel into the Dutch oven. Cut both oranges in half and squeeze as much juice into the pot as possible. If you have a orange juicer, use it. I didn't have one, so I had to squeeze them hard.

Add 1 cup sugar and stir well. You should have around a quarter inch of liquid on the bottom. It will get more liquid as it cooks.

Put about 15-20 coals in the bottom. Today was very cold, so I used about 20. If it is warmer out, use less. Put the Dutch oven in the coals and cover with the lid. Add about 20-25 coals on the top. I added close to 25.

Check the sauce often looking for signs of reduction. Stir often. When reducing, the berries will start to crack open and get soft. It shouldn't take much more than 20 minutes to reduce. Stir often, so it doesn't burn!

Mash the cranberries with a potato masher. Leave some chunks, we don't want a jelly like the slurp cans. Remove from the heat.

Scoop it out into a bowl. Cover and chill in the refrigerator, or just put it in some snow. It will chill fast that way.

Enjoy with great family & friends, and good food. Great for any time of year, not just the holidays! This not only goes great with turkey, chicken, goose, duck, game hens, and pork!