What kind to buy

[Camille Eonich]

Ok, I searched and I can't find it but I seem to remember a thread on the different makers of cast iron and who had the best.  Can anybody find it for me or should we just add on to this one.


Who should I buy cast iron from?

[Delmonico]

I have a mixture, one American Camper, several Lodge and Texsport and one unknown.  The Texsport are made in China and are a bit rougher looking but work fine.  I sell Lodge in the store, they have a greater variety of sizes.  My biggest complaint about the Texsports is their lids don't fit the Lodge and vice versa, since I have eight 12 inch ovens it can be extra work to keep track of which lid goes on which when using multiple ovens.

The Lodge now come pre-seasoned, the Texsports have a wax on them that is hard to remove, a self-cleaning oven works best for this. 

[Ozark Tracker]

we bought a lodge skillet 10" a few years back, use it in the house, it's worked good ever since we got it, we've got 4 others we use in the house, they were hand me downs from my mom,  some her and my dad had bought in the 40's, one was a hand me down from my dad's folks to them when they got married.
 
we use them quite a bit and would hate to be without them.  I always keep an eye out in the swap meets for any good looking old cast iron.  we like the old stuff a little better than the new.

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[Wishbone]

10 of my ovens are Lodge. 2-16s -1-12"reg 3-12" Deep an 10" reg & an 8" reg camp ovens.   I have 2 Century ovens, a 10" & 14" Deep. (Looking for a 12").  Century ovens were the First to make Deep Ovens. They went out of bussiness around 1978.  Century ovens are easy to Spot compared to Lodge or Other Ovens. On the lid they have a Tounge or Lip with a Hole Drilled in it for lifting the lid off.  I use my Lodges all the time. It seems all the New Lodge & other ovens are coming from the Factory Pre-Seasoned. Camp Chef is making some new ovens that look like the Lodge Style. I've heard people say they like thier Texports Ovens but they looked & checked out several ovens before buying any. Check for even Wall Thickness & Lid Wobble or Worp.  I'm looking at Buying 2-20 qt  Sandsport DO's at Sportsmans Warehouse that just opened in Wichita,Ks. They're china imports but for $39.95 the price is right. These will be good for Group cooking of Stew,Chile & Brisket. Wishbone-Ks

[Camille Eonich]

Has anybody seen the MACA Dutch ovens?  http://www.chuckwagonsupply.com/catpage6.html#maca

[Delmonico]

I've never looked at them for real, they make odd instead of even sizes.  Other than that I don't know much about them.  Texsport also makes the 22 inchers, I'm going to try to get a couple this summer.

[Marshal harpoluke]

 

Have a Griswald, Green, Loge, & Wagnor cast-iron ware mostly griddles, fry pans , but also 3 Dutch Ovens.

Most are old origanals.

[Wishbone]

Camille I have cooked in  several differnt MACA ovens.  http:www.maca.com You can buy direct from them. Freight is high with the weight of Oven.   I borrowed my friend Scott McKays 15" & 17" ones. Made about 10 gallons of Chili between the 2.  A 15" holds 18qts & weighs 48lbs empty & the 17" holds 29qts & weighs 71lbs empty. I have another friend who has a MACA 22" 45qts & weighs 158lbs empty. He has cooked a 23 lb Turkey for us a couple of times. It takes about 3 hours to cook & the Meat falls off the bones. My friend Scott uses a MACA 13" Oven for his Sourdough bread.  MACA Ovens are now making them big ovens in Alum. About half the weight. Those ovens work great for large groups where you have little space to cook in. When I cooked Chili in them, I had 2 steel tables I cooked on & served right out of the Pots to the Folks eating. I used Charcoal to heat them pots up. It was at a Church in Town. No Open Fires. Weights the big factor. They are cast in India to MACA specs. I'm looking at a couple of smaller ovens like the Texsport or Sandsport 22" ovens. Rich & Scott have a Tri-Pod with a Block & Tackle to lift those MACA 22 Ovens off the ground to change coals underneath . They take a Lot More coals than a reg dutch ovens do. Hope this Helps. Wishbone-Ks

[Wishbone]

Camille or anyone who wants to look. I have some pictures posted in Yahoo Photos.   You can see them at
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/dutchovencook99/my_photos 
If you look in the Folder "Chili Feed '03 the last 5 pictures show cooking Chili in those Big MACA ovens.  Folder "June DOG shows Richard cooking a 23 lb Turkey in one of the Big Ovens. Wishbone-Ks