Lodge Logic L8DOL3 Pre-Seasoned 5-Quart Dutch Oven with Loop Handles
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Kitchen and Housewares Reviews of Lodge Logic L8DOL3 Pre-Seasoned 5-Quart Dutch Oven with Loop Handles
Customer Review: Fourteen pounds of grief
Summary: 5 Stars
Why five stars if the title says "fourteen pounds of grief"? Read on.
I got this probably six months ago, and had a moment of laziness. Normally, I'd go ahead and add several more layers of seasoning, even on the pre-seasoned iron. But I didn't this time. Which was ok. The Lodge pre-season isn't perfect, and they don't claim it is. It's just a good head start.
Shortly after I got this, my wife and I left my step-daughter house-sitting for the weekend. When we got back, I found my new dutch oven ruined. Apparently, my step-daughter had burned something in it, helpfully grabbed a stainless steel scrubby and some Comet cleaner and tried to scrub out the crunchies. She only succeeded in scrubbing off the seasoning, but not the burned-on stuff. So she threw it in the sink to soak.
Yep, pretty much a complete list of things you should not do to cast iron.
The bottom four inches of the dutch oven were solid orange rust. My wife took one look at the expression on my face and started hustling her daughter out the front door. I wasn't going to kill her. Honest. Especially when I realized that the five-quart pot was way too big to serve as an urn for her ashes.
Instead, I grabbed some sandpaper, took the rust down to bare metal, coated the pan with lard and threw it in the oven. Rinse, lather repeat.
And that's the beauty of cast iron. You can't mess it up, and if you do mess it up, you can fix it. My dutch oven is better now than when it was new, and it will only continue to improve.
It's forever-ware. Lodge makes a great product, right here in America, and you can't buy better cast iron. I love mine for stews, and for the occasional batch of no-knead bread. Oven, cooktop or charcoal grill, this dutch oven turns out delicious food.
Customer Review: Cast Iron and SuperSaver Shipping = Woo Hoo!
Summary: 5 Stars
I have had a couple of cast iron skillets prior to purchasing this Dutch Oven from Amazon. This Oven is great. I use it for stews and beans and sourdough bread and all sorts of things.
Because I will use this in the oven rather than over a campfire, the handles on the side of the Dutch Oven work much better that the wire bail handle. The picture may have the wire hadle. This isn't that pot.
I use this as my crockpot replacement. Don't need one with this around. That's just my $.02, others will say that both are so cheap that you could get a crockpot too, and it would still be much cheaper than Le Crueset.
It's cast iron. You know how good that is. The only thing I don't make in it are tomato sauces and other things that would not be so great with a reactive vessel. In several years, when the seasoning is rock hard, even that might not be a problem.
Amazon has a great price and super saver shipping on cast iron. Read that again. Free shipping on cast iron. When I got the packing list, the shipping alone would have been about $13.00, ground.
Many comments here about the seasoning - both good and bad. Having had cast iron before, I washed it and reseasoned it by oiling it and baking it upside down for an hour or so at 350 degrees (F) before using it the first time. I also stuck my other cast iron pieces in there at the same time. Why not? Worked great. No sticking at all.
I reseason my stuff 1 - 2 times a year, at least. It's just part of maintaning the stuff. I will probably do the new dutch oven more often than that for the first several years to get it to the same point where the other pans are a bit faster.
Customer Review: Great pot but there are other choices
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a great pot as are all Lodge cast iron cookware. My only complaint is when it arrived, the spray on seasoning was very messy around the handles leading me to first think that the pot was defective.
I also have the Faberware 5-Quart dutch oven and like it slightly better, especially since it was less expensive when it was on sale. The Faberware has a metal knob lid handle which is very easy to grasp, while the Lodge has a welded loop handle. Since the lid gets very hot, the knob is much easier to grab securely. You sure don't want to drop the lid on your tile floor or expensive stove. While the welded loop is very durable, the Faberware knob looks sturdy also. The cast iron on both are equally rough and surprisingly, the seasoning on both are about equally effective. Since I usually do a lot of fry/grilling in my pot, I have effectively reinforced the seasoning and can't tell any difference. The thickness of the iron on both pots is also equal. The Lodge lid has dimples to more evenly disperse moisture caught on the lid but is harder to clean. Lodge is made in America while Faberware is made in China.
I also have an 8-Qt camping dutch oven from Bayou Classic (made in China). This unseasoned pot has a lot of minor defects in the metal but cooks just fine after 2 rounds of seasoning. It arrived with a thick coating of wax that was extremely difficult to get off. Due to this alone, I would recommend getting only preseasoned pots from Lodge or Faberware even if you don't think their seasoning is up to your standards.
Customer Review: Outstanding product!
Summary: 5 Stars
There have been so many reviews on this product that this one will make little difference. However, once again, what we have here is another top quality Lodge product.
I've read all the negative comments regarding the seasoning issues or turning food odd colors but my experience was nothing but high rated. The item came from Amazon in two days when even choosing Super-saver shipping; kudos to Amazon on that one. Upon opening the box and inspecting the oven I found no rust and nothing but what you would expect; a rugged, 5-quart hefty chunk of iron, in the shape of a Dutch oven with lid.
After inspection found no immediate flaws, I cleaned it in my normal manner of all my cast iron skillets. My particular method is to give a hot tap water rinse, throw some sea salt in it, then scrub around the sea salt using a paper towel. Once scrubbed and rinsed, I then heated it up and rubbed in some Crisco shortening. The end result was a perfect non-stick finish. To prove it I threw it on the stove top, fired up the gas, and cooked an egg. I gave it the sunny-side up treatment and once done, it slid right out without having to use a spatula.
My first meal of roasted chicken and pasta came out perfect and was pleased with my decision on purchasing the 5-quart version. I look forward to many years of fun and good food with this one.
My recommendation, buy it, you'll not be sorry!
Customer Review: Incredible except for ... the pre-seasoning...
Summary: 5 Stars
Short and to the point:
I agree with everyone who has complained about the poor pre-seasoning of this awesome iron dutch oven. Mine came with a spot of rust, and within the first cooking the pre-seasoning was coming off and all over the food, giving chicken a most unpleasant grey coloring. A simple cleaning (by the book) wiped off more of the pre-seasoning! Re-seasoning over their shoddy job doesn't work either, so you're left with scrubbing all of the pre-seasoning off first and then reseasoning it correctly. It is a big pain that shouldn't have been required. However it only needs to be done once.
Now that being said, this still receives 5 stars. I started using iron cookware a couple of years ago as Teflon when heated emits particles that can cause breathing problems. My German friend calls it the Teflon-flu, and I've unfortunately experienced its negative effects. Using iron cookware is much healthier for you also as it naturally adds some iron into your food without distorting the taste and avoids the Teflon-flu.
Specifically, my experiences with this dutch oven have been wonderful (aside from the pre-seasoning fiasco). I have never tasted juicier chicken or beef before in my life - even when using other slow-cookers. It heats evenly over a stove-top and its heavy lid locks in the flavor. This is my third Iron Lodge item and I'm very happy with all of them.