Lodge BOLD Exclusive 7 Quart Premium Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Dutch Oven with Lid - Dual Handles - Use in the Oven, on the Stove, on the Grill or over the Campfire - Black

This is a large cast iron pot that is wonderful for cooking anything that benefits from simmering. The pot holds heat, heats evenly and is great for stews, pasta sauce and soups. Also, you can use tomato products in this pot. Just empty after cooking and wash that day. Don't store tomato products overnight, but don't hesitate to use them in cooking up a killer pasta sauce.

I loved this thing! I've wanted a dutch oven for a long time and finally found one I could afford! The size is perfect for larger cuts of meat and all the trimmings. The lid has a nice dome shape and the handles are roomy enough to be safe with heavy oven mitts. The weight is greater than I'd like, but you can't have indestructible AND light weight! This will be around long after I'm gone!The lid is a nice fit, too , so it seals well. I love that it came pre-seasoned and it seems nicely done. I knew I wanted cast iron without enamel coating so I don't have to worry about it crazing and chipping no matter what I do to it.I cannot handle the weight of this dutch oven - neither can my oven shelf! I put a baking sheet under it to disperse the weight but it stills makes the oven shelves sag - it's just too heavy. I don't cook outdoors, bought it for inside oven use, and it's just more than I can handle. I am average height, good health, but this thing with a ham in it was too much for me. Had to have hubby lift it in and out of oven. For safety sake I will be handing this off to someone else.

I bought two of these for bread baking, one of which was well made and works great for its intended use, and the second I sent back as defective because it had casting defects (ridges of metal on the critical bottom of the pan) that made it unacceptable. The second one was roughly cast in other areas like the handles, so I gleaned that quality control at Lodge must be variable. However, I based my rating on the good one because Amazon accepted the return of the second without question, so I'll try my luck with another one. The shipping weight of the oven is 13 pounds, but the nicely rounded handles and balance of the pan make it seem lighter than that. The bottom of my good one is cast rougher than I'd like, but it doesn't stick and cleans easily, so the lack of a very smooth bottom has not caused any problem for me. Many YouTube videos seem fixated on making the pan bottom extremely smooth by removing the factory pre-seasoning and re-grinding the pan bottom. My experience with the factory non-stick pre-seasoning is that it works well-enough right out of the box, so any radical reworking of the inside pan bottom is unnecessary unless you're a purist. The lid flips over for storage of the pan, lowering its profile in a cabinet, and making it easy to stack other things on top of it.

This is the best Lodge dutch oven i have ever seen. The handles are perfect, even that little bow handle on the lid. The bottom has a raised ring that helps you properly center it on the burner on the stove top and the lid closes into the pot so that it is down into the pot somewhat, and it makes a much better seal than any cast iron pot i have ever used before. I purchased this pot to replace a Le Creuset that is just under four quarts, because over the years the Le Creuset pots suffer degradation of the inside finish. Scorch something in one of them a bit and spend who knows how long cleaning it up to a point where you feel good about it again and if you scorch it a few times over the years that off white finish looks anything but good. This new Lodge Pro Logic has a black finish that looks as though it is painted on after very careful sanding and finishing repeatedly; but it is apparently just a regular cast iron that has been specially heat treated. Not sure how they do it but they have a winner in this design.Great handles, extremely nice finish and a lid that fits better than any other makes this a great pot. I use this size pot to cook chuck roast sized for the two of us and nothing does it any better. For my money, it feels great to get something this nice at this price point. What is there not to like about this pot?