Bean208
Cook
I have a birthday coming up and on my wish list is a dutch oven. Any recommendations on what kind to get??
Are you looking for a DO for the kitchen or the campfire?
For the kitchen, I recommend a enameled cast iron DO. LeCrueset is a top quality brand. Consider a round or oval one of around 7 quart size.
Thanks for the suggestions!!! Yes, I am looking for one to use in the kitchen....maybe when the kids are older we'll look for a camping one. I have been to the Le Creuset web site to check them out and there a lot of different sizes. Do you know what would be a standard size? I will do most of my cooking for our family of four but occasionally need to use it for larger family gatherings.
Bean208,
Check Macy's for LeCreuset products, they are on sale now. Today, I bought a 7.25 Qtr. Dutch Oven (round) for $140.99 from $234.99 original price. There is an additional discount if you use a Macy's card or if you open a new account.
For the oven. Get a Magnalite dutch oven. Hands down one of the finest pots I own. If you have never cooked in/on magnalite you are missing out.
It's a lot lighter than some others but the material it is made from spreads the heat evenly. My mother made over 10,000 cream pies for the restaurant we owned. Every one was made from scratch and the cream filling cooked in a magnalite roaster on the stove top. She could trust it to not have hot spots which would scorch the milk.
I still have that roaster and it is as good as new.
http://www.worldkitchen.com/Magnalite/web/
black chef,
Are the magnalite pans anodized or they are just plain Aluminum?
I was curious and check their website, there is no indication about the type of finish.
Are the cooking surfaces of your parents Magnalite pans pitted at all?
Another thing I found puzzling, (I am an engineer and work with Al parts) they advertise the cookware as "hand-pour cast aluminum". In order to have accurate, very consistent parts, the prefered manufacturing process is machine injection, not hand-pouring Al. Machine injection is faster, helping achieve even wall thickness and packs the material much better in the molds/dies.