Enamel Coated Cast Iron Dutch Oven

[JamesB]

Good Evening All:

I tried the burgundy braised lamb shank’s recipe available in the Rec-Tec recipes last summer. It turned out excellent, but I didn’t have a cast iron Dutch oven, so I used a disposable aluminum pan covered with foil instead. I prefer to use long term cooking tools as a general rule, so I put the Dutch oven on my Chrismas wish list and voile’, one turned up under the tree. (Side note: My wife is the coolest woman on the planet).

Here’s my question. My Dutch oven is enamel coated, and I’m wondering if that can create any cooking issues using it in my Bull?
I assume that the exterior appearance may suffer a bit, but I’m focused on food quality.

Any thoughts?

 

[mikeporter616]

I've got enamel coated cast iron brazier and works just fine in my 590.

 

[Gonefishin]

The only things I see are not to go over 500, and no open fires.

 

[Buttah Butts]

I use my le crueset Dutch oven in my 700. No issues

 

[IPlayWithMeat]

Yep, no issues here, unless someone exceeds the manufacturer’s temperature limits. The smoke residue cleans off really easily, too.

 

[Jim6820]

What they all said! The Le Creuset and similar enameled cast iron cooking vessels are very durable and work quite well In a smoker. The smoke will discolor the exterior, but some BarKeepers Friend soft cleanser will clean them up nicely.

That’s a very nice Christmas gift.

 

[SmokeZilla]

My experience is that you will be fine. Especially with the quality unit you were gifted (she‘s a “keeper” by the way). I stopped using them outdoors (Bull, Gasser, et. al.) for 2 reasons. The first is whenever I would chip their pristine porcelain surface, it was like scratching the screen on your phone. It still works perfectly but my eyes automatically migrate to my mistake. The second reason was cleaning. The interior was easy but the exterior started to tint and change colors. To counter this, I use 7 and 5qt Lodge Dutch Ovens (or others in my arsenal) that are pretty much bullet proof, maintenance free and retain heat very well. The cool thing about the Lodge is that it is “self basting”. They have nipples in the cover that allow the captured moisture to wick and drop back down on the meat. I don’t know if that makes a real difference but it does exist and when doing delicate elevated foods like halibut, the reintroduction of moisture without manual basting is a nice feature. The other thing I like about the Lodge is that I can invert the lid put the protein on top of it and do any manual searing and set sauces at higher temperatures without a lot of fuss. When the lodge gets too grungy on the outside, I use low pressure on my pressure washer and it cleans up good as new. (Note: Only for the exterior as you don’t want to wreck your seasoning, which is not an issue with the interior of the porcelain coated ovens.) The biggest win is that no matter how many times I drop, scratch, mishandle it, no damage is done except for whatever I dropped it onto which is a different topic altogether. Put that D-Oven to use. It will give you many years of successful cooks.
Happy New Year and Happy grilling.

 

[Gonefishin]

The cool thing about the Lodge is that it is “self basting”. They have nipples in the cover that allow the captured moisture to wick and drop back down on the meat.

So that’s their purpose, learned something on the forum tonight.

 

[SmokeZilla]

So that’s their purpose, learned something on the forum tonight.

Just goes to show you that this site contains some of the most trivial information you could ever find. If you are really feeling froggy, the lid can also be used to pulverize post trimmed dry rubbed Tri-tip (or other larger boneless proteins) because it will ”drive” the seasonings into the meat and won’t make the same mess as a meat tenderizing hammer. Once done, place in the fridge for 24-48 hours and the seasonings actually seem to penetrate a little better IMHO.