Do not plop your brand new Dutch Oven in the fire and load it up with food. New cast iron must be seasoned before using. If it’s not seasoned, the food will stick and also taste funny (new cast iron is coated with a wax like substance for protection).
First, wash the factory coating from the Dutch Oven. Use water and rub lightly. Cast iron is not meant to be soaped up and scrubbed with a scratcher pad. It is also not an item that you plop in the dishwasher. Don't even be tempted.
Once the new Dutch Oven is dry, rub the entire surface with Crisco (or other solid fat). You may see directions advocating the use of vegetable oil. Don’t even consider using vegetable oil. It drips and leaves the Dutch Oven looking like home walls painted and with drips not smoothed out. The oil never really sinks in. It's both drippy and sticky. Your Dutch Oven will feel and look like a mess and won’t work very well over the fire.
I ended up reseasoning the Scout Dutch Ovens, because someone had vegetable coated them. That, I suppose, is true love and part of being a mom.
Put the Dutch Oven in the home oven. You can either prop the lid on top of the Dutch Oven with room for the air to circulate or put the lid on the lower rack and the oven on the higher rack.
Spread a piece of tin foil in the bottom of your oven especially if you’ve never seasoned cast iron before. Most new cast iron owners put too much fat on the items and then have drips which smoke and smell during the seasoning process. The oven is really messy at the end if the fat drips down. Even Easy Off oven spray has a hard time getting that off the bottom of an oven.
Turn the oven to about 250 degrees F and let the cast iron bake slowly for 2 or 3 hours. Temperatures and times can vary quite a bit. The key is to season slowly and over an extended period of time.
Once your Dutch Oven is seasoned, you’re ready to start cooking over the campfire. Try something rather greasy (fried fish or chicken) to start with which will help build more coating. If you mess up the seasoning, just reseason. Most Dutch Ovens are seasoned several times during the few couple of years. It takes time to really break in a Dutch Oven. They get better and better with use. After a while, they are practically self cleaning.