Camp Chef Square Dutch Oven - 13" Cast Iron Dutch Oven with Lid - Lid Doubles as Grill - True Seasoned Finish - For Indoor & Outdoor Cooking

Heavy, at 21 lbs with the lid, but a solid multifunctional and versatile implement of gastronomical delight.Grill pan, casserole, roaster, baker, skillet, stew pot, soup pot, fryer, dutch oven. Quality cast iron. The thermometer port on the side is a well thought out feature, The lid fits tight with the holes on opposite sides, with the thermometer holes lined up its the perfect size for a thermocouple lead or probe. It also makes for a nice vent. If one can deal with the weight, it's a good thing to have around. It's obvious that a lot of thought and effort went into making this cooker.If you're off grid, or have sporadic power, this is a great cooker to keep handy for open hearth, fire pit, grill, or wood stove/oven. Nice thing to have at a cabin, escapist retreat, ski lodge, beach house, home, wherever.With 8qt capacity, it makes for nice hearty stews, or a fairly large capacity shallow or deep fryer, or a nice baker to finish your favorite Tex-Mex tortilla rollups with a final bake. Wonderful for breads, rolls, biscuits and doughy stuff. Most excellent for one pot meals, for certain.Only drawback, it's very heavy empty, and much heavier with a roast or casserole. However, its iron, and good quality cast iron at that, and will last several generations if well cared for, maintained and seasoned.

I LOVE this Dutch Oven!! I was looking at stainless steel baking pans, but, I got this instead. I'm glad I did. Since it's cast iron, with proper care, it will last for several lifetimes! I've baked several things in it including chicken, steak, homemade brownies, etc... I am VERY pleased with it's stellar performance. After several uses, it still looks "Brand New." I use a pair of Ove Gloves or welder's gloves to lift the lid with NO problems. It's also VERY easy to clean. I heat up some hot water on the stove. Once the water is near boiling, I pour it in the pan and scrub it in the kitchen sink with a plastic pot scrubber (No Soap Required). For stuck on things, I use the lodge pot scraper to get it off Lodge SCRAPERPK Durable Polycarbonate Pan Scrapers, Red and Black, 2-Pack. I use paper towels to dry it off, and place it in the oven at 200 degrees fahrenheit for 15 minutes to make sure it's COMPLETELY dry. I then take it out of the oven and wipe it down with a microfiber towel and the Camp Chef Cast Iron Conditioner Camp Chef CSC-8 6-Ounce Bottle of Cast-Iron Conditioner (You could also use lard or vegetable oil), and let it sit in the oven for another 15 minutes before I turn the oven off. For the ridged lid, I use a silicone pasty brush to spread the Lodge Conditioner inside the ridges and wipe it down as much as possible with the microfiber towel before I place it in the oven. I would recommend this to anybody who is standing on the fence with this purchase. I don't do many product reviews, but, I hope this will be helpful to anyone who needs it.

Very large high quality.

The quality of the casting is excellent, unlike some imported cast iron I've purchased over the years. (I adore cast iron cookware and own a lot of it!) The surface is a little pebbly, of course, and is not completely smooth like vintage cast iron or enameled Le Creuset, but it's possibly SMOOTHER (!) than Lodge, which was a happy surprise. The walls are not overly thick, either; they are nice and thin. I made fabulous ribs in this as my first dish. I cut the ribs into 2-rib and 3-rib sections, baked them in my regular oven in the cast iron tray (with the lid on) with some BBQ sauce for about 3 to 4 hours at 325---and then we threw the ribs on the hot BBQ outside for a few minutes to crispy 'em up and brown them quickly (with more brushed on sauce). The surface area of the pan is wonderful, nice and large! As you can tell from the pictures, this pan and lid are RECTANGULAR, not square. (As a teacher, I couldn't help thinking snarky thoughts about whoever named this thing a "Square Dutch Oven" thinking it was a good idea.) I didn't bother stripping or re-seasoning this when it arrived. I just used it right away as the seasoning it came with seemed perfectly serviceable. I just added a little extra oil to the bottom of the pan before I put the ribs in the pan (just for good luck). It was a nice sticky mess on the bottom of the pan after baking for so many hours, but I soaked it for a couple of hours and it scrubbed right up. (is a myth that you can't wash cast iron! In the olden days, soap was made with lye, If you know how to take care of cast iron, I am pretty sure you will be delighted with this. People who are not used to cooking with cast iron should do their research on the web to understand how to take care of it. The lid can be used as a grill pan, so that's a nice bonus. (I never grill inside since we have an outdoor gas BBQ, but I do like using cast iron grills like this for grilling veggies on the BBQ; doing that allows you to grill oiled-up eggies on the BBQ without needing to worry about the veggies slipping through the grates). I was very happy when this went on sale, as I'd had my eye on this for awhile. I paid $50.88 and got free shipping. It seemed like a super deal to me!