W. Hilditch
Active member
Jared’s great post on the Top 4 Users thread got me wondering about Dutch Ovens. I have three. A SS tri-clad 4 qt that was billed as cast iron. That was a lie. It’s steel in the middle unless they were casting 1 mm thick pots in the ’70’s. A 5 qt Lodge and an 8 qt ceramic coated/enameled no name that is heavy enough to be cast iron.
In dealing with cooking dishes a couple of hours or more, I am under the impression my 4 qt and 8 quart cook mostly from the bottom. They seem to be best for thin recipes like chicken and dumplings or thin soup. My thick 5 qt Lodge is my go to for thicker recipes like chili and stew. It seams to cook not only from the bottom but also from the sides as they get almost as hot as the bottom over time and do radiate a lot of heat into what I’m cooking.
I think the Lodge cooks more evenly, a little faster, requires less attention to stirring/bottom burning and tastes better too. This may very well be all in my imagination.
What have you found?
Hilditch
In dealing with cooking dishes a couple of hours or more, I am under the impression my 4 qt and 8 quart cook mostly from the bottom. They seem to be best for thin recipes like chicken and dumplings or thin soup. My thick 5 qt Lodge is my go to for thicker recipes like chili and stew. It seams to cook not only from the bottom but also from the sides as they get almost as hot as the bottom over time and do radiate a lot of heat into what I’m cooking.
I think the Lodge cooks more evenly, a little faster, requires less attention to stirring/bottom burning and tastes better too. This may very well be all in my imagination.
What have you found?
Hilditch