Here I am putting on my kitchen detective forensic hat :-) What determines water evaporation rate for a cookware? Assuming identical food is being cooked, and there is a cover: 1. The BTU output of the stove fire. 2. The thermal conductivity of the bottom of the cookware. 3. The thermal conductivity of the side wall of the cookware. 4. The thermal conductivity of the cover. 5. The size of the cookware. 6. The temperature of the room when the food is being cooked. 7. The leakage of the cover. ---------------------------------------------------------- 1. There is no way to make sure that you are getting the same BTUs with gas or electric stoves. The controls for both are highly inaccurate. The only way to compare is to use an induction cook top. You can get the same BTUs from the induction cook top using the dial or push button control. For low temperature cooking, a small amount of BTU difference renders the cookware comparison meaningless. 2 & 3. How thick, what kind of cast iron and enamel, and the shape will make a big difference on how many BTUs the cookware can capture from the stove heat. 4. Likewise, the cover determines the rate of BTUs escaping and ability to condense water vapor back to water into food again and again. 5. The larger the size, the more BTU escaping by conduction and radiation to outside. 6. Of course, the room temperature should be the same for the comparison. 7. The leakage - I believe the leakage of the cover has very little effect, almost zero, to the evaporation rate of the food being cooked. If the total BTUs supplied by the stove are less than the BTUs lost by the cookware, the food will be simmering without ever reaching 212 F boiling. There will be no steam pressure building up. In this case, any small leak by the cover will have no effect because there is no pressure to push water vapor out. If not, the BTU build up will cause the food to boil, and steam will cause the pressure to build up inside the vessel. How will a little leak affect the rate of evaporation? A10 inch cast iron cover is about 78 sq. in. and weighs about 3 to 4 lbs. Atmospheric pressure is at 14 lbs/ sq. in. Over a 10 inch cover that comes to 1099 lbs. A pressure cooker to effectively change the boiling point works at 15 lbs / sq. in. and that comes to 1177 lbs. So how much pressures/temperature change can happen by a cover weighing only 3 to 4 lb against 1099 lbs? I say not much at all. It is interesting for some recipes the time and food wasted in forming dough around a cover to prevent steam from escaping. I believe a well designed cookware cover should allow a small amount of steam to escape. A perfectly fitting cover will cause the cover to rhythmically open and close, making non-stop banging noise during the whole cooking time. dcarch

I've made the following recipe for Chicken and Dumplings a couple dozen times in my Le Creuset dutch oven and it turns out fabulous. Don't skip the sherry! Your family will adore you! Be careful of the salt if you don't use low sodium. I use Swanson's low sodium. Also, I never have to add the extra two teaspoons of oil in step one for the second batch of thighs because there is enough fat in the pan. Here is the video if you'd like to watch,...it's from Cook's Illustrated America's test kitchen: http://www.americastestkitchentv.com/cookstv/preview/default.asp?req=1&station=mainChannel&video=s6/chickenanddumplings Don't use low-fat or fat-free milk in this recipe. Start the dumpling dough only when you're ready to top the stew with the dumplings. INGREDIENTS Stew 5 pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs 4 teaspoons vegetable oil 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (1/2 stick) 4 carrots , peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick 2 ribs celery , sliced 1/4 inch thick 1 large onion , minced 6 tablespoon unbleached all-purpose flour 1/4 cup dry sherry 4 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth 1/4 cup whole milk 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves 2 bay leaves 1 cup frozen green peas 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves Dumplings 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon table salt 1 cup whole milk 3 tablespoons reserved chicken fat (or unsalted butter) INSTRUCTIONS 1. For the Stew: Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, then season with salt and pepper. Heat 2 teaspoons of the oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add half of the chicken and cook until golden on both sides, about 10 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate and remove the browned skin. Pour off the chicken fat and reserve. Return the pot to medium-high heat and repeat with the remaining 2 teaspoons oil and the remaining chicken. Pour off and reserve any chicken fat. 2. Add the butter to the Dutch oven and melt over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, and 1/4 teaspoon salt and cook until softened, about 7 minutes. Stir in the flour. Whisk in the sherry, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the broth, milk, thyme, and bay leaves. Nestle the chicken, with any accumulated juices, into the pot. Cover and simmer until the chicken is fully cooked and tender, about 1 hour. 3. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board. Discard the bay leaves. Allow the sauce to settle for a few minutes, then skim the fat from the surface using a wide spoon. Shred the chicken, discarding the bones, then return it to the stew. 4. For the Dumplings: Stir the flour, baking powder, and salt together. Microwave the milk and fat in a microwave-safe bowl on high until just warm (do not over-heat), about 1 minute. Stir the warmed milk mixture into the flour mixture with a wooden spoon until incorporated and smooth. 5. Return the stew to a simmer, stir in the peas and parsley, and season with salt and pepper. Following the photos below, drop golf-ball-sized dumplings over the top of the stew, about 1/4 inch apart (you should have about 18 dumplings). Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until the dumplings have doubled in size, 15 to 18 minutes. Serve. TECHNIQUE Getting it Right: Adding the Dumplings 1. Gather a golf-ball-sized portion of the dumpling batter onto a soup spoon, then push the dumpling onto the stew using a second spoon. 2. Cover the stew with the dumplings, leaving about 1/4 inch between each. 3. When fully cooked, the dumplings will have doubled in size.

We just bought the 5 shelf iron display. The shelves are not wide enough for the large 9 1/2 qt oval dutch oven. The 5 1/2 qt and 3 1/2 qt round ones look great on it. I am a little disappointed the large oval doesn't fit. I tried putting it on top, but, since it's the largest pot in the mix, it looked strange. Also, we have the 3 1/2 qt braiser, it fits, but, you have to turn it so the handles don't hit the bars on the side. So for now, the stand and the other pans in the mix sit in my bay window. It's the only place I could see all of them and not keep them in a cabinet. For me, they are heavy, it's easier to lift them from about half counter height. And it makes for a nice window display. We paid alot for them, it would be awful just to hide them away.

My new obsession for mine is stovetop lasagne. Maybe someday I will get to doing bread in it. Meanwhile, here's a link to a Web site I am working my way through. If I could afford the book I would get it. One Pot Meals from Martha Stewart Skillet Lasagne Before starting the meat you can make a mirpoix of oil, onions, carrots and celery if you want, or some green pepper and mushrooms, whatever you would like in your pasta sauce, but if you use a jarred or canned sauce you don't have to do this, particularly if your sauce already contains onions, etc. So however much you want to flavor it up or not depends on your taste and time. Add garlic towards the end of this step if you want some. 1-2 tsp. is probably enough. I use the lower end of the garlic spectrum. Brown a pound of some type of protein. Most recipes call for ground beef but I used ground turkey and next time I make it I may use a mix of meat and beans, or perhaps some veggie crumbles, and I'll bet you could use part italian sausage for flavor it you're a big meat eater. Salt the meat to your taste as it is browning. If the meat is fatty, drain before proceeding with the dish. Add 1 large jar canned spaghetti sauce or Italian flavored tomato sauce. You need 26-28 fl. ounces of the sauce, so use whatever you have on hand that will equal that amount. I used a 24 oz. jar of Ragu spaghetti sauce and 2 oz. of my own home canned tomato basil sauce. You could also use canned tomatoes and canned tomato sauce, tomato paste, etc. to get the desired amount. Season to your taste with italian seasoning if you like. I tend to do this because I find store bought sauce bland, and if I am making the sauce from just plain tomato sauce, then I want a lot of seasoning. Add 1 1/2 cups water. When mixture is boiling lightly, add 3 cups pasta (you don't want a hard boil because too much of the water might evaporate if you do that, and then the pasta will stick--ask me how I know!). The pasta I used was broken up lasagne noodles and then some campanelii to supplement to 3 cups. You could also use mafalda ribbons. Cook the pasta for about 15 min. Test for pasta being done. Your water should be absorbed and the sauce thickened. Watch out, since this dish actually might get too thick if you're not careful. You can always add more water to it if it starts to get too thick. While the pasta is cooking, make the ricotta topping. The recipe says to use 16 oz. of ricotta, which is a typical container (although mine was 15). For my taste, this is too much, but your mileage may vary. Mix this with about an equal amount of chopped frozen spinach. I had a 16 oz. bag, which I used about half. If I had a 10 oz. package I would use it all. Mix the ricotta and spinach with 1/3 cup grated parmesean, a healthy pinch of basil or oregano or italian seasoning, and 1 TBSLP dried parsley if you have it. If you hate spinach you don't have to add it, just plain ricotta is fine, and if you have some other type of vegetable you would like ti mix in, like kale or shredded zuchinni or something else, by all means do it. When the pasta is done, mix up the casserole to make sure the meat, sauce and pasta are evenly distributed. Spoon the ricotta mixture on top of the casserole and cook 5-7 min. more until the topping is heated through. Then, top the dish with 1 cup of shredded mozzarella or italian style shredded cheese and broil for about 3-4 min. until cheese melts.