Looking for a new 8 qt Dutch Oven

[jfmorris]

Yeah - I'm gonna 2nd myself and Panhead John here. I *HAVE* used the porcelain DO on the grill once, and I've used some of the stainless sauce pans from the house on the grill. With a charcoal fire, they get sooted up, and require a LOT of scrubbing to get the outside looking nice again. With a black cast iron dutch oven, where the outside as well as inside is seasoned, I hit it with the brush I use on all my cast iron, and the dutch oven is clean quick with a brush and scrub under running hot water in the sink. Go for the plain, not enameled, for a DO you want to use inside and out.

Also... porcelein DO's can get chipped. And most manufacturers actually recommend NOT using it once the inside is chipped, due to the fact that little bits of glass (the porcelain glass) could be coming off in your food.

The big question comes, do you want one of the camp fire style DO with legs, like this one, which is made to sit IN a fire, and to allow you to pile coals or briquettes on top of the lid as well, for true camp-fire baking, and which can also hang over the fire using the bail:

https://www.lodgecastiron.com/produc...en?sku=L12DCO3


Or one along these lines, which can also be used inside much easier than the one with legs:

https://www.lodgecastiron.com/produc...en?sku=L10DOL3



Or the same style, but with a handle/bail. This is what I prefer:

https://www.lodgecastiron.com/produc...ail?sku=L12DO3



Personally, that last style is what I have. I have the 5qt, but it comes in 7qt and 9qt. I have a 7qt enameled dutch oven, but use the 5qt much more often - its a better size for baking bread, and for soups and stews or pot roast, birria, etc, especially when cooking for just a few folks. Consider that most crock pots are 5-6 quarts, and you get the capacity.

[Panhead John]

Along these lines, I’d think getting one with a bail would be better for removing it from over hot coals.

[jfmorris]

Panhead John - yes. I very much like the bail. On the stove top and on an open grill like my flat top the bail tends to stay cool enough to grab without using a mitt.

I asked my wife for the 7 quart, but she got me the 5 quart for my birthday one year, and I've been happy with the size, especially as I got into baking.

[HawkerXP]

Notice the top one pictured here. A lot of DO cooking / baking requires heat on top of the lid as well as below. Be sure to get one with the lid that has this rim AND feet to hold the charcoal.

[Washblue]

Get a combo with trivet… they’re on sale…

[jfmorris]

I have the trivet as well, and its nice to put the hot DO down on, and doubles as a roasting rack inside the DO, to keep your chicken/roast/etc off the very bottom during a cook.

Another accessory to consider is the deep frying basket - Lodge sells one for each size DO.

[CandySueQ]

Lodge has some really good stuff on sale! The camp Dutch ovens with legs (and the regular CI Dutch ovens) are at a great price.

[radiodome21]

I just ordered the Misen DO last week and it is being delivered today. My SIL recommended the lodge but I wanted the larger size and I like the misen stuff I already have.

Not that I was planning on using it on my SNS kettle but good to know that I’ll have a mess on my hands should I do that, which it’s looking like I never will. Would the same hold true for a pellet smoker?

[jfmorris]

Yes, any smoke seems to soot up the outside of the dutch oven. That would be true on a pellet cooker as well as charcoal. And that smoke/soot is kinda baked onto the pretty porcelain finish. I've got the Misen DO in red, and won't use it outside again. Heck - the bottom of the DO has gotten discolored some from use on the stove, and has a few black marks that won't come off. It took a lot of elbow grease to get the outside clean again after using it once on the kamado during a smoke.

[jfmorris]

I got the Misen on the kickstarter for it a couple of years ago, and the 7 quart size is nice, but if I had to do it again, I think I would have just gotten a 2nd Lodge non-porcelain one in the 7 or 9 quart size.

The biggest thing that I wasted money with Misen was the grill pan lid. I pretty much only use it with the traditional style lid, and the grill pan lid I think I used as a skillet/grill on the stove top exactly once. And having both lids, you gotta find somewhere for the extra lid...

[Mosca]

I don’t use cast iron over my charcoal. I have done it, but I don’t see a benefit. Stovetop, or oven.

One thing I do, though, is sometimes I’ll brown meat by grilling it. I’ll form grind meat into patties, and just make cubed beef big enough to not fall through the grates. But that’s an incremental improvement, and I don’t do it very often any more.

[jfmorris]

I like using my Lodge DO on the kettle over charcoal for.... wait for it... deep frying on the grill! Keeps the grease spatters off the stove. You can use it over the SNS or Vortex, and just move it off and on the heat as needed to control oil temperature.

You have the indirect area of the Weber cooking grate to place the stuff you are pulling out of the fryer as well, and it stays warm as you fry in batches.

I also use it to simmer stuff in on the corner of my flat top.

[Washblue]

It’s fun… so, after the cookout circuit closes for the year, you don’t have to wait for perfect weather… if the fireplace is hot, build a stew!

if it’s raining, but there’s no fire, bring in the charcoal and fix dinner for visitors!

[jfmorris]

Yeah, I actually cooked some in our 50+ year old masonry fireplace before the wife insisted I switch it from burning wood to a set of gas logs. I miss the wood, but she was very sensitive to the smoke, saying it gave her a migraine, and I was always having to rush to get the ashes out the next morning in a galvanized steel bucket before she complained about the smell. I got tired of the fight...

[Donw]

If you decide to use an enamel coated dutch oven in a kettle or other smoker take a dry bar of soap and coat the outsides. The smoke sticks to the soap and makes cleanup much easier.

[Spinaker]

IMHO, nothing beats the Lodge Camp Oven for cooking over live fire. These cradle coals, allow for air flow under the dutch and have a really handy handle. I use mine weekly to cook live fire meals. I have almost the whole camping set. They stack so you can cook many meals at the same time. I own a literal boat load of cast iron and these camping dutch ovens are the best for live fire cooking.

Lodge makes a great 8 Quart Dutch Oven. And they are made in America.


Enamel coated dutch ovens are great, I own many. Bu they are not intended for open fire cooking. The enamel can chip on cast iron or steel grates. Not to mention rocks, if you are out camping. Enamel really is not intended to be used for temps over 500 F.

[jfmorris]

I just KNEW those looked like Boston butts, but couldn't think why they would be in a pot, haha. I've never done full on carnitas, just simulated it with left over pulled pork.

[Spinaker]

Oh yeah, you gotta try this. I always winged it in the past, but this year I am gonna write down what I throw in there. Lots of fat, then chicken stock, a ton of onions, cumin, garlic cloves, and a few other things I am forgetting. But I will send it over to you when I write it down. jfmorris

[jfmorris]

Spinaker sounds great! I can't wait to try it.

[HawkerXP]

Here is a handy resource for cooking / baking with your DO.

​

[Bkhuna]

I would go with a non-enameled cast iron for live fire cooking. I just would hate to see a pretty enameled pot all marred. Cast iron is easier to clean.

[CHNeal]

I want to thank everyone for the input! Some great advice. So I’ve decided to go with lodge and based on a few great tips I’ll go with two to start. 1 camp DO with legs for the open fire pit and one flat bottom for the grill and oven.
I’ve chosen the 5 qt with bail for the flat bottom but stuck between 6 and 8 qt for the open fire camp oven. Is there such a thing as too big? If I get the 6 I can cut down my chili recipes to fit but will I miss the extra space? Or is this the beginning of an entirely new hobby that will see several in different sizes?

[Washblue]

I only use one size chuck wagon DO’s… but have a variety of other sized Griswold DO’s without bales or coal lids…

Griswold goes by numbers and not inches or quarts…

In order for me to join in better, I’ve got to measure my volumes in water…. Then I can join in better conversation…

I’m glad you’re jumping in…. Baking is fun… from artisan breads, biscuits, desserts, pizza…

Keep us posted…

[SheilaAnn]

Go with the 8 qt. Can’t wait to see your cooks and good luck in the cook-off. Not that you’ll need it!

[Dan Deter]

I have the Lodge 8qt (12") camp DO and wouldn't trade it, but may need to get a smaller one since its mostly just me and SWMBO now. I don't need that much left overs when camping...

[CHNeal]

Washblue Thank you for all the advice. I’ll admit to being pretty excited about this. It’s something I’ve been interested in for a long time, just never really knew anyone that was knowledgeable enough to talk about it with. The Pit changed all that!!!

[CHNeal]

Ok so I pulled the trigger on the lodge 8 qt camp Dutch oven. I had a couple others in my cart and my Mrs reminded me that it was not polite to buy one’s self gifts just weeks before one’s birthday when one is already hard to buy for….

[SheilaAnn]

Quite!

[Donw]

My wife’s pet peeve. "What do you want for your (insert occasion here)?" And then since she got me thinking about I just go ahead and buy it. Why wait?

[bmillin]

I'll chime in here. For what it is worth, the difference between the 6 & 8 quart camp ovens is height. The 8 quart is also known as a 12" deep model. Surface area is the same, the 6 is 1" shorter and 2 lbs lighter according to the website.

Most of the cooking I do in these has more to do with surface area than depth. Cobblers, casseroles, cornbread, etc.. The deep oven takes a little more heat as the lid is higher above the food.

If I did the math right the surface area of the 12" 6 or 8 quart is roughly equivelant to a 9x13 pan. Good to know

Get a good lid lifter that grips the handle like this one, makes shaking off the ash much easier.Lodge Lid Lifter, 16", Black + Free Shipping (amazon.com)​

Also you will want a trivet to keep the lid out of the dirt.Amazon.com: Lodge - A5-11 Lodge 4-in-1 Camp Dutch Oven Tool, 10.82, Black: Home & Kitchen

The accessory I am appreciating more and more - a dutch oven table. Not endorsing this one but it gives you the idea, we made one out of old duck blind lids. You will learn to appreciate not leaning over so much. Waist height works great.​ Amazon.com: Stanbroil 30 Inch Camp Cooking Table with Three-sided Windscreen and Legs, Perfect for Food Preparation and Dutch Oven Cooking with Charcoal Briquettes : Patio, Lawn & Garden​

You think MCS only applies to smokers and griddles? Buahahaaaha welcome to the CI side

[CHNeal]

So my new 12 inch deep DO arrived yesterday. This thing is HUGE!. It also arrived looking like UPS tossed it from a moving truck so a reseasoning is in order so bacon and eggs Saturday morning so I have some fat to season this thing with.
I will definitely be needing a couple smaller DO for reduced portions / guests and for baking which I am so excited to learn and do with my wife and daughter!
Now the delima…what do I cook for my first cook this weekend? Suggestions?

[jfmorris]

I bet if you contact Lodge, they will replace it with a new one.

I would reseason following the Lodge instructions, using a high smoke point oil. I use avocado oil myself for all my flat top and cast iron cooking. While you can get there with bacon grease and just cooking in it, that won't fix outside seasoning damage as quick as just wiping LIGHTLY with oil and baking at 450F for an hour, then repeating. I've also seasoned on my kettle, to keep the smoke of the oil burning out of the house.

[Washblue]

Does it still ring?
If it took a rough ride, make sure there’s no cracks…
They’re tough, but they will crack and the crack be difficult to find…

[bmillin]

Seriously…consider doing some Jiffy cornbread for a first cook. Helps you learn how to manage the temps and it is cheap if you fail.