(no subject)

[ksmith]

Does anyone have any experience with Lodge cookware? The enameled Dutch Oven has received an excellent review from America's Test Kitchens and 5-star reviews on Amazon. From what I've seen, they're considered a lower budget version of Le Creuset.

I am planning to replace the current cookware with something. Probably a Lodge Dutch oven, and a few other pieces as well. The current collection is scattershot--a complete set of Revere ware and a couple of Calphalon non-stick frypans. The Revere ware saucepans are OK, but the frypan is no longer level. The larger stockpot is ok.

So, I could settle for a Dutch oven, and maybe a cast iron frypan or two.

In gardening news, I moved some of the seedlings to 3-inch peat pots. Tomatoes, squash/zucchini, and kohlrabi were all thinned. On the herb front, the parsley and sage is sprouting well, but there's only one lone basil sprout after two plantings, and the chive and cilantro pots are bare. For those, I may need to resort to plants.

Happy Easter to all who celebrate. Pork tenderloin is in the crock pot, along with the old reliables--browned onion/garlic, carrots, celery, fennel, thyme, rosemary. Cooked down some cabernet with tomato paste, and added that. Will serve it with mashed red skin potatoes and a veg to be named later. We'll see how it goes.

Comments

[touchstone.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that either our large cast iron skillet or the cast-iron wok are Lodge. (Oh, my wife says 'Both'). They've been great. She rarely cooks with anything else if one of those two is capable of doing what she needs :) Now, mind you, her fondness for cast-iron cookware does approach fetish levels....

Our food-snob friend also owns a few and approves. Haven't tried the Dutch oven, though.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info.

[torrilin.livejournal.com]

My frying pan is a Lodge. No enamel. The griddle is branded by someone else, but the iron had very similar casting to the fry pan... The griddle may or may not be a must-have. Ours gets used for crepes, quesadillas, burgers, steaks, pancakes... anything where a sear in a shallow pan will do the job.

We don't have a dutch oven, and don't *really* have a lot of call for one. In practice, dutch ovens serve the same basic job as crock pots and stockpots. We've got a stockpot and a crockpot. If you don't have a stockpot, it's definitely a good idea tho.

I would kind of like a cast iron, enameled saucepan in my favorite size. A regular saucepan doesn't have enough thermal mass to be really comfortable for making sauces for me. I grew up doing them in a cast iron frying pan.

One thing to watch for if you do go for a dutch oven... the ones with metal knobs on the lid hold up better to use in the oven. Some of the plastic knobs melt at over 400F.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

America's Test Kitchen mentioned the knob issue since the Lodge DO they rec'd had the hardened plastic melty knob. They recommend switching the knob out for a metal one.

One reason I would like a Dutch oven is so that I could brown and cook in the same pot. One less pan to wash.

I have an All Clad griddle, but it's non-stick. It does a nice job, but I think I'll be staying away from nonstick in the future.

[torrilin.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I can see that. Most of my browning happens in the frying pan, which just isn't a big deal to clean. The first two years with it were pretty unpleasant, but now that it's got decent seasoning built up life is good. Occasionally, I use the griddle if it's just a little bit of something. It did season a lot faster, but one of the reasons I got it was bacon. It's done a *lot* of pounds of bacon despite being less than a year old.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Lodge sells pre-seasoned cast iron, which might be worth looking into.

[torrilin.livejournal.com]

Well, that's the thing about cast iron. Preseasoned isn't *seasoned*, it just takes about half as long to get it to seasoned. So instead of 3-5 years, my new stuff took 1-2. Enamel is nice because it saves you all that time.

Once it's set tho, it's great. Damn near impossible to make stuff stick. And enamel lined stuff will never be nonstick in the same way.

[e-moon60.livejournal.com]

You know...I can't believe anyone in the pot business was stupid enough to put a plastic knob on a cast-iron pot...and yet it happened, you say. (In my day, the Ancient One says, the only lidded cast iron ware had the kind of lids you could put a pothook through, or a sort of solid flange big enough to grab with a hand protected by potholders.)

[difrancis.livejournal.com]

Just FYI, if you can ever get into a Les Creuset outlet, they usually have a scratch and dent table or a discontinued table and the prices are usually at least 50% off if not more. And the scratches and dents are almost invisible. I have two pots gained that way and I love them.

[arcaedia.livejournal.com]

My Lodge cast-iron grill pan is possibly the most well-loved one in my kitchen.

I do have a large Le Creuset oval dutch oven - bought it at the outlet store. It's heavy so I don't use it often but it's great for things where you brown and then roast or braise.

[phantomminuet.livejournal.com]

Lodge is a good quality product, and it has the added advantage of being an American-made product, if that's something that appeals to you.

OTOH, I do love my Le Creuset.

[(Anonymous)]

There's a time and place for cast-iron-surfaced pans. And it's not anything involving tomatoes, nuoc mam or other fish sauces, saffron, or high-vinegar sauces and marinades, all of which will react in various unpleasant ways with cast iron surfaces. I can see keeping a well-seasoned (or pre-seasoned, such as Lodge Classic) exposed-iron-surface frying pan around, but wouldn't even dream of it for a Dutch oven — that shrieks for anodized aluminum or porcelain, or maybe even nonstick. (And you'll shriek for something other than an exposed-iron cooking surface when it's time to clean the darned thing, especially if you can't get to it within half an hour of pulling it off the stove.)

And whatever you do, pay attention to not just the knob on the lid, but the handles on the pan/pot itself. If they're melty plastic, just replacing the knob on the lid will not help all that much... And, unfortunately, that includes some of the soft silicone-rubbery grip thingies on a lot of otherwise decent pans.

—Jaws

[e-moon60.livejournal.com]

Back when my grandfather had hardware stores, Lodge and Wagner were the brands of cast-iron cookware he carried. I have one Lodge and one Wagner frying pan that have been in the family and used on a regular basis for over fifty years. These have no enamel--they're your basic plain cast iron, seasoned by years of service. I used to have a Dutch oven, but it disappeared at some point in the distant past. I used it primarily when car camping and when we weren't camping that often, it went into hiding.

If you have a chance to see Lodge and Wagner side by side, the raw iron, you can smell it to see if it's good iron.

[e-moon60.livejournal.com]

The only problem with putting tomatoes in a cast iron pot is that you'll have to re-season it. In a good-quality cast-iron pot that's not difficult, though it does take doing it. I've been using cast-iron cookware for over fifty years, and finding cleaning up simple enough. I've used a cast-iron Dutch oven while camping--again, well-seasoned, it's no problem for cleanup. I'm not sure that modern cast iron cookware is finished to the same standard as the stuff made that far back...the old frying pans I have were smooth to the touch on the inside when purchased. The Dutch oven, bought 20 years later or so, wasn't as smooth. The finish of the cooking surface (plus the quality of iron) determines how easy the pot or pan is to season.

[nlbarber]

I have this one: https://secure.lodgemfg.com/storefront/product1_new.asp?menu=color&idProduct=4047
and have been very pleased with it. No plastic handle, cooks evenly, cleans up pretty easily. I've used it mainly on the stove, but it's done some oven dishes as well.

I've also got a couple of pieces of their pre-seasoned cast iron line, which I've found pretty well, um, pre-seasoned. I've had no real sticking problems with them, and I did not go through the usual seasoning ritual for cast iron.

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

That's the oven I was considering getting.

And according to the website, the stuff isn't made in the US, but in China. Kind of a surprise.

[galeni.livejournal.com]

I have a Wagner Chicken Fryer pan in cast iron which I've had for 30 years and use a lot for anything with crumbled ground meat in it. But I've had my Cruset pans for longer than that and swear by them. I can only make good sauces in Cruset with the porcelein lining and heavy cast iron, because otherwise I always burn them. (I have an electric stove, which makes cast iron more important to have.) I use my Cruset dutch oven regularly in the oven to make spaghetti sauces, stew, soups, etc. I don't have to worry about the high iron content (my roommate has highish blood pressure and avoids excess iron) and I can use tomatoes and wine.

The Cruset pots are heavier than Cuisinarts, and thus cost more, but if you're using it in the oven the Cuisinart is just about as good. On the stove it might make a bit more difference, but I'm not sure. I have two Cruset dutch ovens and two sauce pans (purchased back in the 70s when the US$ was high and the franc was very low) and a couple of fry pans. I have another that's Cuisinart in yet another size.

I also found that my All Clad stainless frying pan is fabulous for searing, and I like it better for deglazing than the cast iron pan. (I tend to deglaze with wine.) I have a Cuisinox Elite saucepan that's similar to the AllClad in that it has the layering for heat all the way up the sides (which does make a difference in heat time and maintenance of temperature while cooking), but doesn't have as finely polished a surface: in a saucepan that doesn't matter as it does for a frying pan.

Now I just have to learn to cook better with my tools. The last batch of meals I made turned out to have three main ingredients, two overcooked and one undercooked. My niece found it inedible. So I have to pay more attention now when I cook.

But I did get myself good tools to start with. You can also find them on Craigslist and ebay as well as the discount shops. My largest (6 pt) Cruset is a second because the handles didn't get porcelain covered completely. (Awww!)

Best of luck!

[kristine-smith.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I have been checking out the online outlets, but I didn't consider eBay and I have never checked out Craigslist.

[coalboy.livejournal.com]

I have at the cottage my grandmother's (or possibly one more generation up's) cast iron frying pans, no manufacturer's mark that I've noticed. Love them with the gas stove there. Major muscle workout while cooking, cousin doesn't like because of weight. Also have Le Creuset dutch oven there, love it too, but worry about chipping. My only problem with the frying pans is overcleaning and resultant removal of the seasoning.