Cuisinart 5.5 Qt. Cast Iron Casserole

What’s he difference between a Dutch oven and a casserole?

Porcelain enamel is extremely hard. The flip side of that is that it is brittle. This is pretty much two facets of the same property so you cannot have one without the other. If you want something that will not chip, stick with (non-porcelain coated) cast iron Dutch ovens, er, casseroles. Those will be more durable but require some effort to maintain the seasoning. They can also leach into the food which is a good thing in terms of diet but not good for light colored foods. Think sickly gray gravy rather than a light tan color.

I’ve had a cuisinart dutch oven for 7 years. Not a single chip in it and I’ve moved twice since then.

The interior of my pot is stained brown from the hundreds of times that it’s been used. I cleaned it with a green 3M pad and it lost it’s lusterious shine. The stain is still there but the pot continues to work wonderfully.

I just bought the Lodge 6 Qt. on Amazon for the same price two days ago. Anyone know if this is significantly better? I was planning on swapping out the handle on the Lodge so it could withstand the higher temps, but is there anything else that would convince me to return the Lodge to Amazon and buy this instead?

Great review! I can’t wait to get mine to start cooking in it.

So can I make tomato based soups and sauces in this? Never used enameled cast iron before. Thanks!

Do these pots have dimpled lids? I saw some that do on QVC the other day, but I don’t think that price was as good as this one.

Oh, and I gotta nitpick here: “its ancestral home”…come on, guys!

This is one of those “didn’t realize how much I needed it until I got one” items.

I now have a couple - and expect they will be re-selling at garage sales long after I depart this earth…

Cuisinart is probably a better brand. If it is not enameled, definitely return and get this.

Dutch ovens traditionally have a lid, whereas casseroles typically are open. Not always, but that seems to be the distinction in cook wear terms.

I have both enameled (Cuisinart 5 & 7 qt) and a well used & loved black cast iron Dutch ovens. I use the black cast iron for gumbos & dark stews, and the enameled Dutch ovens for chowders, soups, coq au vin, and anything that is on the acidic side of the world (tomato bisque, taco soup, etc). The 5 qt size is my “go to” pot, but I pull out that 7 qt several times a year for pot lucks, etc.

I have had an issue with the enamel popping on the inside of my 5 qt., but Cuisinart replaced it both times with no questions asked. Great service. As was mentioned in a previous post, the cast iron and the enamel coating have different expansion rates, so if you have a very hot burner, the cast iron can expand faster than the enamel & thus bubble and create pockets that will peel loose. So, don’t just crank up the heat all at once with an empty pan. Heat it slowly or make sure you have enough food in the pot to help disburse the heat. Once the pot is fully warmed, there’s no issue with high heat.

This is a great Dutch oven. Well worth the price.

I’m sorry yours has had issues, but as I posted earlier, I’ve had mine for 3 yrs., use it extensively, don’t baby it and have banged both lid and body against my sink, oven door, my heavy tri-ply cookware and, knock on wood, have yet to have a chip or flaw anywhere on it.

No, this pot does not have the dimpled (so called self-basting) lid. When I researched mine years ago the self-basting lids were relatively new and didn’t really work as well as advertised. Some even felt certain dimple designs held onto the moisture causing their meats to be drier, the opposite result for which they were intended. Of course the idea was condensation would form on the inner lid and the dimples would accumulate this moisture, causing it to drip onto the food and, in essence, self-baste.

Lodge switched to metal handles at least a year ago. If yours has the black plastic handle it is old stock. if it has the new silver handle you do not need to replace it.

I agree about this being great for singles! Good for soups or stews and, as Smith noted, have them ready in the fridge/freezer ready to go. (Also, even filling a pot like this up, I never had a problem with “slopping”. YMMV)
Through my …hmm…“lean years”… if I hadn’t done things like this my food bill would’ve been astronomical.
NB The China-made pans - they almost all are now - are more prone to chipping, so be warned.

Even for a single, it’s worth having a pot this size, and the enameled cast iron is a dream to work with. You don’t have to fill it full to use it. Even if you do fill it, plenty of leftovers can be frozen (and give you great choices for lunches for later).

One caveat, though, on use. As with any pan, don’t put a steaming hot pan into water, or run cold water in it. The abrupt change in temperature could crack the enamel coating.

Right on werled!

I have never been able to justify getting a cast iron dutch oven when I already have a steel skillet and electric slow cooker already.

Yes, it’s enameled. I have a lot of Cuisinart in my kitchen, so if I hadn’t already ordered the Lodge, I would have definitely gone in for 1.

Thanks, it’s arriving today so I haven’t seen it yet but I’m happy I won’t have to alter it.

I have owned a Creuset casserole for many, many years, and it will still be here when only cockroaches roam the earth.
Quality among cast iron utensils depends upon the metallurgy and the casting, and the practical difference between good and great cast iron is the ratio of strength to thickness. All cast iron is heavy and brittle but for a given size, Creuset is less brittle, has a smoother finish under the enamel, and weighs less; Lodge is the opposite. For more detailed information have a look at the collector sites for Griswold. I have not seen any information today about the casting and metallurgy of Cuisinart, but I am certain that, like Lodge, Cuisinart subcontracts its manufacturing to factories in China, as opposed to Creuset which are made in Northern France, in the same foundry, I believe, since the 1920’s. Chinese factories can be excellent – or not. Bottom line is, go down to Williams

  • Sonoma or Crate and Barrel, look at and lift two equivalent sized casseroles before you decide to hit the button. These are lifetime purchases not to be made on an impulse; the price difference averaged over 50 years is not a big deal.

Does anyone know how many enamel coats this has? I’ve read that the Lodge has 2, but they offer a more expensive model with 4, which is how many the Le Creuset has.

ETA: From what I can find on my phone, seems most companies are doing two coats of enamel, so maybe the difference, as indicated by another poster, is in the enamel itself.