Need a new Dutch Oven

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

erehweslefox

Sous Chef
Joined
May 20, 2016
Messages
578
Location
Hatfield, PA
So I've done mainly backpacking, or parks with no open fire available for the past two years, unfortunately. As such I just realized that my dutch oven probably got left in Tulsa in the last move (loaned it out to someone, as is my wont). Anyone know of a good sale, inexpensive dutch oven, or have one you want to unload? Going on a big car camping trip, Chincoteague Island, end of the month.

Anyway, I thought I'd post here, before I started to look on Craig's List. You got one, and I'll give you a fair price, and pick it up or pay for shipping (depending on where you are).

TBS
 
Lodge is fine, but best to get it ceramic-coated, so you can also make slow and/or acidic dishes.

The very cheap Chinese clones of Le Creuset (available at Target and suchlike) work very well. They are less durable and less pretty than Le Creuset, but perhaps those are also good reasons to use them for camping.
 
Never heard of using enameled CI on/over a campfire. plus I would never buy any CI of any kind made in China. Remember "Chinese Junk" doesn't just refer to a boat anymore.;)
 
Never heard of using enameled CI on/over a campfire. plus I would never buy any CI of any kind made in China. Remember "Chinese Junk" doesn't just refer to a boat anymore.;)

My 6 quart enameled dutch oven is made in China, and it's been going strong for 10 years with regular use. Since it cost about 1/5 what a similar Le Creuset would be, if I had to buy 2 more over the next 20 years (and I see no reason why that should be), I'd still be ahead of the game. My 9 quart oval one was marketed under Mario Batali's signature, and it cost more than 3 times what the smaller one did, but it doesn't say where it's from. Both have done everything I've asked of them, and done it well.

To the OP: Lodge makes some very good non-enameled ones that are preseasoned. My stovetop grill/griddle is a Lodge and I love it.
 
My 6 quart enameled dutch oven is made in China, and it's been going strong for 10 years with regular use. Since it cost about 1/5 what a similar Le Creuset would be, if I had to buy 2 more over the next 20 years (and I see no reason why that should be), I'd still be ahead of the game. My 9 quart oval one was marketed under Mario Batali's signature, and it cost more than 3 times what the smaller one did, but it doesn't say where it's from. Both have done everything I've asked of them, and done it well.

To the OP: Lodge makes some very good non-enameled ones that are preseasoned. My stovetop grill/griddle is a Lodge and I love it.

Glad you're happy with the Chinese products, but I'll stay away.;)
 
My 6 quart enameled dutch oven is made in China, and it's been going strong for 10 years with regular use. Since it cost about 1/5 what a similar Le Creuset would be, if I had to buy 2 more over the next 20 years (and I see no reason why that should be), I'd still be ahead of the game. .

That is obviously a very good answer :) I do have one genuine Le Creuset. It cost me $400 on sale, with no buyer's regret. It's almost unknown in America, and called a Doufeu. Here it is on Amazon, but they have limited availability.

One of its tricks is that it is so well-machined that steam escape is zero. If you've ever made one of those recipes that call for sealing the pot with flour paste, the Doufeu takes complete care of that mess. Its other trick is in its name, which my limited French translates to "douse-fire." Which is exactly what it does: there's a deep indentation in the lid to hold ice, so that the steam immediately liquefies and drips back down onto the food. (Being a complete cooking fool, I've taken to filling the lid with water and freezing all of it.)

That allows the cookbook it comes with to contain seemingly-impossible recipes. One for Poulet aux Olives calls for 2 tbs white wine and the juice of one lemon, NO OTHER FLUID. I had to grit my teeth the first time I tried it, because of course you cannot open it, but the result was eye-opening.

I've translated its lack of need for fluid into my Asian recipes, to great effect.
 
So I've done mainly backpacking, or parks with no open fire available for the past two years, unfortunately. As such I just realized that my dutch oven probably got left in Tulsa in the last move (loaned it out to someone, as is my wont). Anyone know of a good sale, inexpensive dutch oven, or have one you want to unload? Going on a big car camping trip, Chincoteague Island, end of the month.

Anyway, I thought I'd post here, before I started to look on Craig's List. You got one, and I'll give you a fair price, and pick it up or pay for shipping (depending on where you are).

TBS

Hi erehweslefox, sounds like your best bet is to start checking Craig's List. ;)
I've never heard of the Chincoteague Islands, so had to look it up. Looks like a beautiful area! Have a great time - hope to see pics when you return. :)
 
Last edited:
I've never heard of the Chincoteague Islands, so had to look it up. Looks like a beautiful area! Have a great time - hope to see pics when you return. :)

(Going way off-topic, so please don't respond, but...) The Chincoteague Islands are a magical place, the native horses amazing, but pick your time to go, because they're usually buried in tourists.
 
but pick your time to go, because they're usually buried in tourists.

We're going to be right in the middle of tourist tourist, as we are going down for the Pony Swim, but I do have a tent campsite reserved well away from the madding crowd, and we are gonna park the car, have bikes, kayaks, and hiking boots to get around.

I want a Lodge, given the other costs I don't want to lay out $80, which is reasonable for new, so I'm hoping to find a new one that isn't that beat up. Cast iron is pretty indestructible, so as long as it isn't cracked, I can re season it easy peasy.

I have an enameled home dutch oven, but I'm not sure how well it would fare in the fire. I like to fill 'em and bury 'em. Sometimes when I'm precocious for cakes, I'll fill a biscuit tin full of hot coals coals and throw it in with the dough, makes a nice pound cake.

Looking for a beat up rusted old cast iron dutchie, can wire brush the heck out of it, got a friend that will let me use a kiln, oil it up bake it, and repeat until it is back in good shape.

Now I know it will never be a crouset, but perfect for camp.

TBS
 
Glad you're happy with the Chinese products, but I'll stay away.;)

I am with you Craig. My first feeling is "Buy America." After that it is the quality of the product I would question. I don't trust any item made in China. :angel:
 
I have an enameled home dutch oven, but I'm not sure how well it would fare in the fire. I like to fill 'em and bury 'em.

No worries there: any decent enamelled cast iron like the Lodge will take that kind of use, maybe with some discoloured spots, but I look upon those as well-fought campaign badges. Do you do the mess with flour-paste to seal it?
 
I am with you Craig. My first feeling is "Buy America." After that it is the quality of the product I would question. I don't trust any item made in China. :angel:

Unless it is made in France like Le Creuset.:rolleyes:
 
No worries there: any decent enamelled cast iron like the Lodge will take that kind of use, maybe with some discoloured spots, but I look upon those as well-fought campaign badges. Do you do the mess with flour-paste to seal it?
Lodge recommends not doing this. On Lodge's use and care page for enameled cast iron cookware they state "Do not use in microwave ovens, on outdoor grills or over campfires".

https://www.lodgemfg.com/use-and-care/Enameled-Cast-Iron-Use-and-Care.asp

Do you have any actual experience using enameled cast iron over a campfire?
 
Lodge recommends not doing this. On Lodge's use and care page for enameled cast iron cookware they state "Do not use in microwave ovens, on outdoor grills or over campfires".

https://www.lodgemfg.com/use-and-care/Enameled-Cast-Iron-Use-and-Care.asp

Do you have any actual experience using enameled cast iron over a campfire?

Thanks for the link, but their campfire warning confuses me. Didn't Lodge get its start over campfires? I can't imagine why they would consider that harsh useage. But I thought we were talking about burying the pot in embers and covering it like a clambake for an all-day slow-cook. That is harsh treatment, but I believe it was invented by American pioneers headed west, using Lodge cookware. The one time I tried it (on a magical schooner trip around the Maine islands), it worked really well.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom