****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Heavy, solid, and handles anything from boiling water to making bread (which I did in my fireplace and got right on the first try.) If you have a fireplace or large wood stove, this is essential gear for when the power goes out and you want to cook a warm meal, be it bread, stew or a casserole. Dry it out afterwards, wipe it with oil occasionally and your grandkids will still be using it years from now.The lid, flipped upside down and set over a low fire or coals, doubles as a frying pan. Eggs with your roast ham dinner.Wish I'd gotten one years ago.We have been searching for this size Dutch Oven for over a year, even went to the Lodge factory in Tn and because of Covid the 8” was out of production. Now it’s back and we will be retiring our 12” for this one. Not that the 12” is gone, it has moved to large gathering. Lodge cast iron cookware lasts a lifetime and is so easy to care fore, easily cleans and so fun to cook in. I highly recommend getting one, you will love it!It was actually a gift for my son. He loves it and uses it all the time. Uses it on an open fire outside and on the stove top. Cooks evenly every time.Heavy duty cast iron. Just what I was looking for, for camping. Not too much weight, but the perfect size for 2 - 3 people. Preparing stews. Cooking slabs of meat or eggs over a campfire. Love it.So I was expecting to have these show up a few days from now and low and behold they arrived early. Took them out of the box and checked them out. Packaged really well. One oven had a couple of small brown stains on it. Since this is not my first Dutch oven from lodge I know this does occur during their pre season process. I seasoned them again right away. These are going to get some use over the next decade or so. These will certainly outlast me. I love my lodge cast iron products!This is a really quality product, I more or less wanted to share some images that might help others when picking out the size of oven they need. I put my large pasta pot (probably 6qt) next to it for some size perspective. I chose the 8qt, 12'', deep oven after a bit of research on what would be best for me. I'm planning on trying to make some roasts/stews in it on an annual camping trip I take and couldn't decide between the 10'' deep 5qt, 12'' shallow 6qt or the 12'' deep 8qt. I ended up going with the bigger one because packing size wasn't a concern and I'd rather have more room than not enough.After I received it, I'm glad I went with the larger unit because its' about the same size as my enameled Dutch oven I use inside for roasts/braising but standing on feet. So I should be able to stuff a 3-4lb roast inside, with potatoes and carrots, and have plenty of room for it all without stuffing it to the lid.The overall quality seems really great. Nice seasoned coating on most of the unit, I did notice that some of the seasoning chipped off the edge of the lid -- but that's no big deal. For a cast iron is pretty thick and seemingly well built. Has a really sturdy handle with no flex (which is important for removing from the fire).Love itAlready used this pot a few times since receiving it. All i can say is wow!! To people who say material stuck to their pan etc. all i can say is they must not of followed the simple instructions of how to look after them. I have tried sautéing potatoes, frying eggs, baked with it and nothing stuck to it, i was amazing. A simple scrub with a brush afterwards cleans it in water, dry it well and then re-oil it. Also seems to be getting even better after every use. Top marks. Food also tastes fantastic when cooked in these aswell.Superb quality camp oven for cooking for a two or three people outdoors. I have to reccomend spening more money in Lodge, because teh quality is really not the same. The lid closes perfectly even when hot. Do not buy a cheap Chinese imitaion. This is made in the USA and it shows.Usual lodge quality , excellent ! Worth the higher cost ,will last a couple of generations at least !! I own a few Dutch ovens and when you compare the lodge to the cheap offerings there is no comparison . only petromax come close at a lower cost IMHO.What can I say about my dutch oven I no I love it really well made goes with me every time i go camping have got two now only one lodge the other one is smaller but not aswel made as the lodge oneIt's quality for sure...but when you see how much they are in th US....you'll feel more than a little cheated.
