The slang term “Dutch oven” usually refers to a prank where someone farts under the bedsheets and then traps another person’s head under the covers so they have to smell it.

What is “Dutch oven” slang?

In modern slang, a Dutch oven is:

  • Farting in bed under the blanket.
  • Pulling the covers over someone else’s head.
  • Trapping the bad smell in that enclosed space as a joke or prank.

Some people also use it more loosely for any situation where a bad smell is trapped in a small space (like someone farting in an elevator and getting off, leaving others stuck inside).

Where did the slang come from?

Originally, a Dutch oven is a heavy cooking pot with a tight lid, used for slow cooking and baking.

Because that pot traps heat and steam under a lid, people started using the same image for trapping a fart under blankets—with the blanket acting like the lid.

Written references to the slang sense (farting under the covers, sometimes explicitly in bed) appear at least by the 1990s in dictionaries and books, and some pop‑culture sources suggest it was in humorous use by the 1970s.

How people talk about it online

On forums, meme pages, and casual blogs, “Dutch oven” usually shows up in:

  • Relationship or roommate stories (“My partner hit me with a Dutch oven”).
  • Light, juvenile humor threads about gross pranks.
  • Slang explainers and short videos that break down the term as a “blanket + fart prank.”

You’ll also see it in jokey chat examples like someone “barely surviving” a Dutch oven from a partner or roommate.

Is it always okay to use?

Not really. Even though it’s framed as a joke, it can easily cross lines:

  • Many people find it gross, disrespectful, or humiliating.
  • Some sources point out it can feel degrading if someone doesn’t consent or finds it upsetting.
  • It’s generally best kept to informal, close contexts with people who already share that kind of humor.

A simple rule of thumb: if you’re not sure the other person will find fart jokes funny, it’s safer not to use the term or the prank.

Quick recap (TL;DR)

  • “Dutch oven” slang = farting under the covers and trapping someone with the smell as a prank.
  • Inspired by the real cooking pot that traps heat and steam under a lid.
  • Used mainly in goofy, juvenile humor and online stories, but can be offensive or gross to many people, so context and consent matter.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.