Kitchen Favorites: Lodge Dutch Oven
My Lodge Dutch oven is the one thing I would grab on my way out the door if I could only take one. Nobody pays me to say that — Lodge has never contacted me, this is not sponsored, and I bought both of mine with my own money like anybody else. Mine has seen better days, too. It has browned up on the bottom from baking sourdough in it week after week, and I would not trade it for anything in this kitchen.
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Watch the full video above — or keep reading below.
Featured Tools & Ingredients
- Moisture-Locking Lid: The Lodge Essential Enamel Cast Iron Dutch Oven features a moisture-locking...
- Heat-Retaining, Even Performance: This heavy-duty, heat-retaining cookware delivers even heat...
• This is the one in the video — my everyday pot, and the one that has gone brown on the bottom from sourdough. Jason put a tape measure on it for me: ten inches across. It is the one I reach for without thinking about it.
- Moisture-Locking Lid: The Lodge Essential Enamel Cast Iron Dutch Oven features a moisture-locking...
- Heat-Retaining, Even Performance: This heavy-duty, heat-retaining cookware delivers even heat...
• This is my big one, and it comes out when I am feeding a crowd instead of feeding my crowd. Twelve inches across. Both of these live on the shelf above my oven, which is why you have seen a red pot over my shoulder in about half the videos I have ever made.
Here is what it actually does for me, and I am not dressing this up for the internet. It is my partner in the best soups I make, the best jambalaya, the best pot roast, and the best sourdough. If I want something to turn out good, this is what I reach for. It is my workhorse. That is the whole review, honestly — everything below is just me explaining why.
The clearest example I can give you is my broccoli cheddar soup — thirty minutes start to finish, every bit of it in the 4.5 quart you see in the video. A milk-and-flour soup will scorch on the bottom of a thin pot, and this one gives it a fighting chance.
It is an investment, and I want to be straight with you about that part. It is certainly not the most expensive Dutch oven out there — there are French ones that cost three and four times what this does — but it is not the cheapest thing you will ever put in your cart either. What I can tell you is that mine has earned it over years and not over weeks. Heavy cast iron under a layer of enamel holds heat and gives it back slow and even, which is exactly what a pot roast and a loaf of bread both want, and it is the reason one pot can do a Tuesday soup and a Saturday bake without blinking.
I have two of them, and I use both. The one in the video is the everyday size — one chicken, a pot of soup for the seven of us, a loaf of whole wheat sourdough. The bigger one comes out for a double batch of chili, for jambalaya when people are coming, for the weeks when I am cooking for more than my own table. If you have ever noticed two red pots sitting up above my oven in a video, now you know what they are.
Here is something I did not know until we went looking: the bottom of a Lodge Dutch oven does not tell you what size it is. Both of mine carry the exact same stamp and there is no number anywhere on either one. So if you are trying to work out what you have already got sitting in your cabinet, a tape measure across the top is the only thing that settles it — ten inches is the 4.5 quart, and twelve inches is the 7.5.
Mine are enameled, which is the version I would point a beginner toward. There is no seasoning to keep up and no rust to worry about, you can cook tomatoes and wine and lemon in it without hurting a thing, and it goes from the stove to the oven to the table looking like something you meant to put down in front of people. The trade is that enamel can chip if you bang it or shock it cold, and you want to skip the metal utensils. Lodge has a straightforward cleaning and care guide for enameled cast iron that is worth the two minutes before you use yours the first time.
Which Lodge Dutch Oven Size Should You Buy?
This is the question I get, so let me answer it the way I would answer it standing in my kitchen. The 4.5 quart is the everyday pot and the one in the video — it is plenty for a family dinner, a pot of soup, and a single loaf of bread. The 6 quart is the one I would tell most people to buy, and here is why: it is only a few dollars more than the 4.5 for a good bit more room, which surprised me when I went and looked. If you are deciding between those two and you feed more than four people, the 6 is the easy call.
The 3 quart is small — it is a side dish pot, or a good fit if you are cooking for one or two, and it is the gentlest way to find out whether you are going to love cooking this way. The 7.5 quart is my big one. It is a genuine crowd pot and it is heavy when it is full, which is worth knowing before you order it. Prices move around on all four, so I am not going to quote you a number that is wrong by next month — the boxes below pull whatever Amazon is charging today.
🍲 Every Size, Smallest to Biggest
Same pot, four sizes. The 4.5 quart and the 7.5 quart are the two I own. Click any one to see what it costs today on Amazon.
Lodge Dutch Oven FAQ
Is Stephanie paid for recommending this Lodge Dutch oven?
No. Nobody has paid me a dime, Lodge has never contacted me, and neither of my pots was a gift or a sample. I bought both of them myself. If that ever changes on any product I show you, I will say so right here in this spot, first thing.
Which size is the one in the video?
The 4.5 quart. I was pretty sure that was it and we went and measured to be certain — ten inches across the top, which is the 4.5. The bigger one that lives up on the shelf with it is the 7.5 quart, and that one measures twelve.
Can you bake sourdough in an enameled Dutch oven?
You can, and I do it nearly every week. The heavy lid traps the steam coming off the dough, and that steam is what gives you the crust — it is the closest thing a home oven gets to a real bread oven. If you are just getting started, my sourdough for beginners guide walks through the whole thing from the starter forward.
Why has yours gone brown on the bottom?
Bread. The enamel on the inside of these is a light sand color, and baking loaf after loaf at high heat stains it. It is not damage and it does not affect a thing about how it cooks — it is just a pot that has been used. Mine looks like it has been through something because it has, and I decided a while back that I would rather have that than a pretty pot in a cabinet.
Do you really need two Dutch ovens?
No, and I would not tell anybody to start with two. Buy one, use it for a year, and you will know on your own whether you want a second. I ended up with two because I cook for seven people and then sometimes for a lot more than seven, and a pot that is too full does not simmer right. Start with one and let your own kitchen tell you.
More Kitchen Favorites You’ll Love
- Kitchen Favorites: Crock-Pot 7-Quart Slow Cooker — the other big pot in this house, for the days I am not standing at the stove.
- Kitchen Favorites: Bambusi Bamboo Cutting Boards — what everything gets chopped on before it goes in.
- Kitchen Favorites: Topfeel Knives — the knives that do the chopping.
- Kitchen Favorites: Marble Rolling Pin — the one my mama handed me over thirty years ago.
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Lodge Dutch Oven — About Stephanie Longstreth
Stephanie Longstreth is the home cook, mom, and storyteller behind StephanieCooksForACrowd.com. She cooks for a family of seven in Florida — five kids, two cats, and one husband who appreciates a good meal. Four of her children came home through adoption, and family stories are woven into everything she makes and shares. Find her crowd-friendly recipes, weekly meal plans, and real family life on TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest @stephaniecooksforacrowd.