Lodge Seasoned Cast Iron Dutch Oven Review – Should Your Kitchen Have one

A cast iron dutch oven is a great tool for cooking all kinds of flavorful dishes. Cast iron is often depicted as being tedious to work with, time-consuming to maintain, and overall just generally harder to cook with when compared to other cookware material. As long as basic kitchen practices are followed cast iron performs similar if not better than other cooking material. In this Lodge seasoned cast iron dutch oven review we are going to be looking at the 5 quart 10.25 inch version.

Using a cast iron dutch oven is easy and not that messy. Having my eyes lay bare witness at not once or twice but four times of a before and after being used to saute and bake a nice tasty creamy roasted tomato soup. I know supposedly it is taboo to cook acidic food in cast iron since it can erode away the season but it persevered.

Using a cast iron oven comes with benefits but at the cost of some amenities. I am going to review what makes a cast iron dutch oven a must have for any kitchen when four core subjects are considered. Using a cast iron dutch oven for your purposes. Keeping up with maintenance is easy going with consistency though at the cost of some time. Is the seasoning worth all the work? Reviewing all three subjects make for a great decision making process should your kitchen have one?

Getting the Right Size

Before purchasing a cast iron dutch oven the right size for job is a subject to consider. In order to do so ask yourself the following questions

• How many people do you plan to cook for
• Do you have the storage space
• How often do you plan cooking with it

By asking myself the first question I realized a Lodge 5 Quart 10.25 Inch Cast Iron Dutch would be perfect. The quality of Lodge products are high and the size can for serve 2-7 people. Knowing the size range helped with measurements using a tape measure as it turned out I did have the storage space. I know this because I am placing it on top an Extreme Matters heavy-duty pan organizer. How often I plan cooking with it helped to assure my decision. I did not want to waste space on something I rarely use. Mine is used at least once a week.

Using a Cast Iron Dutch Oven

Decide what you are going to be using a your cast iron dutch oven. Since the season retains the flavor of anything you cook I would not recommend using one to cook dinner and dessert foods.

Cooking with a cast iron oven is wonderful as it opens up more versatility as a tool. Cast iron retains heat much longer than steel, or any non-stick material. Being able to trap flavors in the season it gets better the more you use it. Cast iron is seasoned with cooking oil or vegetable shortening of your choosing meaning you can stick it in the oven. No need to worry about it melting or releasing toxic fumes. Just remember the weight can be deal breaker.

Contrary to the popular belief that everything you cook sticks to cast iron surfaces it does not. It is irrefutable so long as you practice kitchen basics for three starter basics are

1. Preheating your cast iron cookware to the temperature setting you plan to cook makes all the difference
2. Placing the right amount of cooking oil plays a big part if the seasoning is brand new apply a generous cooking oil
3. Establishing the seasoning by using it frequently is as essential as the other two

Keeping up With Maintenance

The time it takes to keep up with maintenance is the only trade off when working with a cast iron dutch oven. If you want to know how to clean cast iron cookware check here.

Caring for a cast iron dutch oven is not difficult with a diligent cleaning cycle. Clean after eating not a day or 8 hours afterwards. Using proper equipment is crucial for clean up. It is a process indeed but this is a tool after all cable of lasting generations.

Is the Seasoning Worth all the Work

This Lodge product comes seasoned with vegetable oil meaning it comes ready to use. Wanting to put it to the test and see for myself is the seasoning worth all the work? It was used to make a roasted tomato soup multiple times until the seasoning wore out.

I could go on and on about how to work with the seasoning but in short it is all about keeping an eye on your seasoning. As you use your cast iron the seasoning will fade and show gray bare or brown rusted parts of the cast iron. It is up to you to decide if you want how you want to season here is an example when I would season. This picture shows the lodge 5 quart seasoned cast iron dutch oven being able to handle acidic food. We sauteed and oven roasted tomatoes and some other ingredients. Then blended them with a hand blender. It was a quick and easy clean up after we finished eating. This was done for five times sporadically over the course of four weeks.

I performed this without seasoning the dutch oven just to test the durability. Normally one would want to establish the seasoning before doing an acidic meal like this. The picture on the right shows the end result. The seasoning withstood the acidity from tomatoes, red onions, and garlic very well.

Should Your Kitchen Have One

With all that information you should be well on your well to deciding for yourself should your kitchen have one. I said yes for a number of reasons.

The options of sauteing, searing, frying, baking and even stir frying were very appeasing to me. In essence, it can go on many cooking surfaces even ovens all but microwaves which is good nothing truly tasty comes from a microwave. Aside from that the heat retention is a wonder for controlling the temperature and keeping any dish warm while serving. Not to mention it lasts generations say good-bye to buying more pots and pans once the sketchy non-stick paint wears down or is damaged.

Keep in mind these benefits come with sacrifice. That being additional bulk since cast iron is heavier than other cooking material. Also, the time and measures it takes to maintain your cast iron. Though for me the amount of time and money it cost to keep buying those other flimsy pans was passable to say the least while this was certainly a worthwhile investment for the kitchen.

With that being said if you have any relevant questions or would just like to leave a relevant comment feel free! If you found this review helpful leave a comment on how or why it helped. Do not forget to bookmark and share. Have a wonderful day and thank you for your important time. Happy cooking!