Cast Iron question

[Finster]

Why are these nubs on the lid of my CI Dutch oven?
Besides the obvious making care and maintenance a bit more difficult of course...

[Panhead John]

Why does cast iron Dutch oven lid have spikes?
The lids of some enameled cast-iron Dutch ovens have bumps, or spikes, that return moisture to all areas of whatever you're cooking, effectively continually basting them. Ovens without spikes – or the raised rings some older Dutch-oven lids have – can only send condensing moisture down the sides of the pan.​


I was curious too, googled it.

[Grillin Dad]

I'm not sure the name for it, but the idea is that the nubs allow the pot to be self-basting. What happens is that when you're roasting/braising something (think of a pot roast) and steam rises to the lid, the steam will condense on the lid and eventually drip down from the nubs. is supposed to help your meat from drying out. I've never used it, but my mom has a pot with the same feature. She likes it.

[Finster]

I love mine.
great for pot roasts, and batches of chili, and stews, and... you get the idea.

[RonB]

I always thought they were there to help the steam that condensed on the top drip back into the pan, but I really dunno.

[jfmorris]

That is what they are there for.

[Attjack]

☝️ Yup

[Washblue]

Self basting…

steam condenses and drips over ingredients instead of going to the perimeter of the lid and not basting efficiently…

[CHNeal]

My understanding is it allows the condensed moisture to drip across the whole interior instead of just running to and down the sides….but that could just be what my pop told me to keep me from thinking he didnt know everything!


EDIT: oops beat by a bunch of folks…

[Oak Smoke]

All the above are right. They are supposed to help evenly distribute the condensed steam over your food. The lid you have is a Lodge. If they make it harder to clean than you like then get a Birmingham Stove and Range it will have small shallow holes. They are much easier to clean.

[texastweeter]

BSR is my workhorse for black iron cooking.

[Finster]

Thanks everyone.
it makes perfect sense.
Panhead John
If you had procrastinated for another minute or so, you could have saved yourself a google search 😂

[Panhead John]

No biggie Finster, I don’t really have much of a life anyway……🥸

[FireMan]

Yup, we have a whole lotta steaming goin on & it fits to the right place.

[Panhead John]

Wow, the things you learn here in The Pit! I just checked my lid and mine has the small shallow holes Oak Smoke refers to. I never gave this any thought until now.

[Panhead John]

While we’re at it, does anyone know what all those numbers on my lid mean? Obviously I know what the 10 1/4 IN means, but what about the rest?

[Oak Smoke]

Panhead John I can be of a little help. The NO 8-B is the size pot or skillet it will fit, the others are I believe mold and shift numbers. Your is a BSR Century series made from the 1960’s until they closed. The dots being in straight lines radiating from the center show that. The older Red Mountain series had random dots. This is probably more than you want to know, but collecting CI is something I really enjoy.

[mnavarre]

The NO 8 means it fits on the number 8 sized ring on your wood burning stove. Pretty useless for a lid, really, since a 10 1/4 lid will fit a NO 7 skillet just fine.

[HawkerXP]

When cooking on the lid those little spikes keep your food from sliding off. (just made this up)

[Dick Anderson]

It seems like when i use the oven, I get no condensation Stovetop yes, but in the oven,the lid stays dry

[texastweeter]

They are called tacti-cool strike lids. In the event of a home invasion you can grab the lid to uses as a shield. The spikes are so it can be used as a offensive weapon too if things devolve into close quarters hand to hand combat. It is only available it the tacti-cool black color.

[Spinaker]

Yep, self basting. Which is why my huge 12 QT dutch is known as the "Iron Maiden" cause that is what it looks like......the inside of an Iron Maiden.