Although not a DO, I have a slow cooker that came with a trivet, which allows me to put baking pans inside without the bottom touching directly on the hot coil. Little cheesecakes work very well in that situation. I've never seen a trivet in a dutch oven.

I use a DO a lot and yes I use a trivet while baking bread. I don't place the bread directly on the trivet, I use a small round cookie sheet or bread pan inside the DO. I have used trivets for things such as roasts or whole chickens. While a trivet is not a 'necessity' that I would worry about. I typically do not use mine very often.

Again, with my slow cooker and the heat centered at the bottom, I have also used rolled aluminum foil in the bottom of the pot as a heat diffuser. Can this be used on the Dutch Oven as well.  See, that's why we need a D.O. cooking class!

I'm just learning DO cooking too.  At the risk of sounding like a dumb ole country boy, I assume that the trivets are ceramic or metal.  I think all of our trivets are made of wood.  I smell hickory smoked biscuits.  😀

I'm looking forward to hearing about it Melinda.  I also normally charge a consultant fee for testing D.O. recipes, but I would be willing to waive that fee to help further your D.O. cooking prowess.  :chef:  :rofl:

I use a cake pan inside my DO for baked stuff. It sits above the bottom to avoid burning.