Our grand daughter is looking for an inexpensive (around $100 Canadian) 5 - 6 Qt Dutch Oven for baking bread. (Triggered by her 3rd year science class). She has been recommended Amazon Basics. Im wondering if anyone has any experience with these? Ive also noticed Lodge has one for a few dollars more.
I assume thermal capacity is important, so no light weight ovens.
Not sure if she will venture out to braising etc down the road. (Emile Henri - for quite a few more $ has dimples in the lid to help condense the steam and drip it back over the food - supposedly - Im not sure anyone has actually seen that in action ! I have one for braising and stews and love it).
I use a Lodge cast iron combo cooker. If you flip it upside down and use the lid as the bottom it addresses many of the issues with using a deep Dutch over for bread.
Interesting. I’m not a baker so I’m not familiar with the issues you allude to.
Also, for this use case is there any difference bewtween regular cast iron and enamelled cast iron? Thinking of both the baking and cleaning proofing etc.
I have one of these which I’ve enjoyed using over the last dozen years or so: 5.5 quart Cuisinart
I’ve also seen decent dutch ovens at Home Goods (I once found a nice 3.75 quart Staub for $89), so I often recommend that people poke around there if they’re looking for a deal and aren’t in a hurry.
+1 for the Lodge option. The Lodge dutch oven is a great and affordable option that we used for many years. It’s fantastic. We eventually ruined it cooking something cheesey at too high heat. We replaced it with a Staub which I do like better but there’s no way to justify the cost multiple.
I have the Amazon basics dutch oven (7 or 7.5 qt) and don’t recommend. The enamel coating has started to come off in a few areas and we neither treat it harshly nor use it all that often. Le Creuset is better, but also much more expensive.
I use both plain cast iron and enameled cast iron. The enameled version is probably better for a beginner, as there is no seasoning necessary. But enamel can get scratched and/or stained; it also can chip, but generally that takes some effort to accomplish. Either type can crack if dropped.
Much of my cast iron is American-made antique (>100 years old) with surfaces like black glass. I also have a set of Le Creuset enameled cast iron that was my first big splurge in graduate school, and is still in regular use–no cracks or chips yet! You can occasionally find nice vintage/antique cast iron (plain or enameled) on eBay, if that is of interest. Le Creuset or Cousances are reliably good quality; there is also Danish-made (usually enameled) cast iron that’s a little lighter gauge. I think modern cast iron is not infrequently coarsely grained and therefore never gets quite the non-stick character of good vintage cast iron. So if buying new, do take a close look at the grain.
Found some great deals on different pans at Home Goods, a lot of All Clad. You have to look deep under some of the racks because people hide the good stuff!
We’ve had a set of two Tramontina Dutch Ovens for 13-14 years and they’ve been great. Also have a Lodge cast iron that rarely gets use. Only recommendation I have is to swap out the handle if you plan on using at higher temps in the oven. It’s a $10ish upgrade that will give you peace of mind the handle won’t fail on you.
I came here to make this same suggestion. Mine was $25(US), enameled, 8.5 qt capacity, and I use it for everything: bread, soup, braising, deep frying, browning, you name it. I couldn’t find it when I went to get one as a gift for my pops, so I got the Lodge enameled dutch oven and he loves his and uses it for everything. I would recommend either
