Dutch Oven Advice Please

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LOL ... we've had several discussions about Griswold CI over the years ... and like I said, my Aunt has some that was Grandma's ... she just happens to have the same pot so I called her up last night and had her double check the dimensions and markings for me. Don't let him fool ya' - Goodweed is just playing dumb like a fox - I've learned a lot about Griswold from him ... and he has some.

LOL ... Goodweed - it's not always what you know - it's knowing where and how to find the answer. I've got a library card, and I know how to Google. :rolleyes:
 
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Hello David Cotrell,
If you are thinking Le Creuset but hate to spend the money, check your local Target store. They carry an enameled smaller 5 Qt round pot made by Chefmate that costs $40.
IKEA also has an oval 5.5 Qts (I think) made in France for about $50.
According to Cook Illustrated, Target's product matches Le Creuset performance on their testing, I own the IKEA one and is great
 
I would always suggest going with the more expensive enameled dutch oven becasue you can cook acidic foods, like tomato sauce in it.

You really shouldn't cook acidic foods in uncoated cast iron.
 
wysiwyg and jennyema, thanks for the tips - l'll use them in a longer range plan to buy the enameled version of a cast iron Dutch Oven. The nearest Target store to me is about a 80 mile round trip :( so that will be a special future trip - it does seem that their plain cast iron and enameled versions are well recommended at decent prices. Thanks.
 
David, you might want to search this forum for other discussions on Dutch Ovens, there were few of them.
As far as recommendations you had few good ones here. I still would like to add my 2 cents. Nothing beats a good seasoned cast iron Dutch oven, like the one my mom has, it is my grand mothers and is probably 50-60 years old. But what do you do when you can’t lift one anymore, like my self. I had a work injury a while ago and can’t really lift anything heavy anymore, it hurts so much that even small 3 quart Dutch oven (that is also my grandma’s) is too heavy for me to lift. Well, one learns to adopt. The pot I’m using is an “aluminum Dutch oven” and I’m using this term just because that is what the place that sells them call it. It is not a good idea to use it for anything acidic, but other than that I can assure you it works wonders. Oh, yeah, last but not least, the price is right. Here is the site, you decide what to do. Aluminum Dutch Ovens or a great alternative to cast iron dutch ovens
 
CharlieD - thanks for the tips! Oh me am I sorry about your back - I hope it's something that can mend - take care of it! I'm coming across more and more people with bad backs from one thing or another so please do take care.
 
Thank you, David, actually it is my arms, forarms that is, some times it hurts so much, I can't even lift a pencil.
 
I would always suggest going with the more expensive enameled dutch oven becasue you can cook acidic foods, like tomato sauce in it.

You really shouldn't cook acidic foods in uncoated cast iron.
Interesting that you say that, may I ask why? My mother cooked sloppy joes in her cast iron all my life. When she got hers, there was no such thing as enamel coating.
 
Interesting that you say that, may I ask why? My mother cooked sloppy joes in her cast iron all my life. When she got hers, there was no such thing as enamel coating.


Because acidic ingredients react with the iron. While not harmful, it can add a weird taste to your food and give it an "off" color.
 
Ah, okay. I guess 50 years of seasoning has fixed that little problem with her pans.

Very true. A well seasoned cast iron piece has no problems with cooking acidic foods. Just don’t store the food in the CI! I cook tomato based dishes all the time in my CI, and for the really well seasoned pieces, I rarely do anything but wipe it clean and store. For my newer DO, I like to wipe it with some oil after cooking acidic foods.

The only time I’ve heard of anyone having a problem is with a new CI piece that wasn’t seasoned right, and even regular food can taste off in that case.
 
Advice From Keltin

Quote:
I was right down the hall talkihg with Roxy about her Pizza Casserole. Keltin gave me some good first hand advice so I just copied it and brought it here to add to the Dutch Oven discussion. :ermm: Thanks Keltin!:)

Originally Posted by David Cottrell Re Pizza Casserole - had to copy it off - Roxy you better slow down girl, I can't keep up with your good ideas - looks like I will have to make a Roxy notebook cookbook. Question, to go along with all the good advice I'm getting on Dutch Ovens - with the tomato sauce type ingredients in this, can I do it in my proposed to-buy plain cast iron Dutch Oven? Or will I need one of the enameled jobs?

You can use the cast iron DO as long as you have seasoned it. Once you’ve cooked this, I’d suggest lightly seasoning the DO again by heating it in the oven and just wipe some oil on the inside and let it cool. With new cast iron, I typically heat it and apply oil after every use for the first month or so, after that, I just add a little oil every now and then depending on what I’ve cooked.

I’ve got a fairly new DO, and the thirds or fourth thing I cooked was Chili (lots of tomatoes!) and I had no problems at all, and it tasted great!

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We can often do more for other men by trying to correct our own faults than by trying to correct theirs. -- Francois Fenelon
 
Heres what I've read about purchasing a Dutch Oven: First, how many people are you cooking for?

Cast Iron or aluminium- I prefer cast iron because it cooks evenly, holds heat well and I dont have to worry about burning things.

Look over the oven, make sure the lid sits on top without any wobbling, check for openings that could mean the oven or lid is warped.

Check that the walls and bottom are the same thickness, this makes for even cooking.

Inspect the whole thing for defects inside & out.

If considering a camp oven, pick it up to see how the bail moves, putting it on the floor & lifting it like its coming out of the fire is a good test.:chef::pig::chicken:
 

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