Desertdance - what brand enamel pot do you have? There are people who have 25-year-old Le Creuset enameled cast iron pots that still look clean. Although I have heard that the less expensive enameled cast iron like Tramontina show stains more. And what is "the real deal" you mention? I don't agree that all enameled cast iron gets stained or is difficult to keep clean. And if the "real deal" you are referring to is plain cast iron, well, they are a bit of a pain to keep clean and rust-free. You need to season un-enameled cast iron, and not let any water sit on it. Acidic foods like tomato sauces pick up the iron taste from the uncoated cast iron too. And, do you really run your oven's self-clean function every time you want to clean a your pot? My oven's self-clean takes 3-4 hours and heats up the whole house and uses a lot of energy. An enameled cast iron pot is much easier to clean and maintain than uncoated cast iron.

Well, taking a second look, even though there was mucho rust after using the self-clean oven approach, I saw a lot of gray underneath - a good sign. So, after watching a few You-tubes on the subject - I rinsed out the pot with hot water - thoroughly dried with cloth and over gas burner, put on American Idol, and tackled it with absorbent cloths, oil, shortening and salt. I just kept cleaning and cleaning - never got it quite all off, but finally applied the recommended grapeseed oil and let it preheat in a 400 degree oven. Got engrossed in Idol - so it probably stayed in the oven for an hour. Happily, the grapeseed oil sealed it up quite solidly - and the cloth wiped over it comes out perfectly clean! The pan bottom almost matches the lid again (which had not been affected). I will do another couple of cycles of oiling and preheating. (Will post my phone photos if and when I can find the proper cable to upload.) Thanks to each of you for the input.

Now that Ive got some time to type them up, Ktee, here are a few more. Each of these should adapt well to your new LC Dutch oven; they've all worked well in my old one: POT AU FEU 3 lb lean brisket 1 piece salt pork 1 onion stuck with 2 cloves 9 carrots, peeled 1 turnip, peeled 4-5 leeks, washed water 1 tsp dried thyme 1 tbls salt 1 stewing hen 6 potatoes 1 head cabbage, quartered 1 lb pearl onions 3 tbls butter Sprig parsleyÂ1 tsp sugar Put the brisket, salt pork, onion, leeks, celery, 3 carrots, turnip, parsley and thyme in a large kettle. Cover with water and bring to boil. Add 1 tbls salt, lower the heat, and simmer 1 ½ hours. Then add the chicken. Continue cooking until meat and fowl are tender, about an hour. Half hour before serving add potatoes with their skins left on, the cabbage, and remaining carrots. Continue cooking until vegetables are soft. Meanwhile, brown pearl onions in butter and cook until soft. Add a little sugar to give them a nice brown glaze. Serves in large soup bowls with some of the onions. LAMB & CABBAGE CASSEROLE Trim 3 pounds boned lamb shoulder and cut it into 1 ½ inch cubes. Trim, quarter, and remove the core from a 2 ½ pound head of white cabbage. Blanch the cabbage in boiling water for 2 minutes, drain it, and cut it into ½-inch thick slices. In a large kettle with tight-fitting lid arrange the lamb and cabbage in layers, seasoning each layer with salt, using 1 tbls in all, and pepper to taste. Add 3 cups boiling water and simmer the mixture, covered, for 2 hours. Slice a 1-ound head of curly cabbage (Savoy), well trimmed, into ½ inch slices and arrange them on top of the lamb and cabbage. Simmer the mixture, covered, for 40 minutes more. Let the mixture cool to room temperature. Reheat the mixture and simmer it for 10 minutes more. Let the mixture cool again, and reheat it in a moderate oven (350F) for 25 minutes. Sprinkle with 2 tbls chopped parsley. Serves 6-8. From: Gourmet Magazine CRANBERRY POT ROAST 2-3 pound venison roast (or substitute beef) 1 small onion, chopped 1 stalk celery, chopped 1 ½ cups cranberries 1 tbls mixed sweet herbs 1 tsp nutmeg 1 tbls maple sugar 2 cloves 1-1 ½ cups cider or apple juice Salt & Pepper to taste Flour Oil Sprinkle meat with slat & pepper. Dust with flour. Sear in a little hot oil on all sides. Set aside. Sauté onions & celery until tender. Add balance of ingredients. Return meat to pot. Simmer until meat is soft, about 2 hours. TRANSYLVANIAN CHICKEN STEW Cut two 3-pound chickens into serving pieces and pat them dry with paper towels. In a saucepan sauté 6 slices bacon, cut into 1-inch pieces, until they are lightly browned, add 1 large onion, sliced, and cook the mixture over moderately high heat until the onion is softened. Stir in 1 tbls sweet Hungarian paprika, add the chicken, and spoon the bacon mixture over it. Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and cook the mixture, covered, stirring occasionally and adding ½ cup water or stock, a little at a time, to keep the chicken moist, for 45 minutes. Add ½ pound smoked sausage or kielbasa, thinly sliced, and cook the mixture for 15 minutes. Add 3 large green peppers, thinly sliced, 1 pound green beans, broken into 1-inch pieces, and ½ cup each of tomato sauce with basil and chicken stock, and cook the mixture, covered, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add salt & pepper to taste. Serves 6-8. From Gourmet Magazine. SHRIMP & SAUSAGE 1 ½ lb peeled shrimp 2 links smoked hot sausage 1 tsp sweet basil 1 tbls paprika Salt 1 clove garlic, crushed 1 cup beer ½ cup onion, sliced Pinch cayenne Oil Slice sausage. Fry in oil with the garlic and remove from pan. Sauté shrimp in same pan until pink. Return sausage to the pan, with the onion, slat, basil, and beer. Simmer 5 minutes. Serve hot over rice.

Acidic foods such as tomatoes can leach iron into the food. It can affect the taste and can increase the iron level in your blood. I know this because when I was young and poor and had only three cast iron skillets to do all my cooking, I had my iron tested during a check up. The doctor shook his head, tested again. Asked about my diet and then asked if I cooked with cast iron. Apparently my iron level was not high enough to be dangerous but high enough to double check. He said I'd never be anemic as long as I used those pans to make chili, LOL. I don't cook with wine, can't stand the stuff and won't eat anything made with it, so I can't tell you what that does but I'm assuming it works the same way. After cooking something acidic I do make sure I clean and reseason the pan, because it can compromise the seasoning, but bread won't make a difference. I use the All Clad stockpot to make things like chili. Feathers, I don't worry about other uses for the cast iron. If it's very grubby or rusty, I'll scrub it or have my son in law sand blast it for me, then re-season several times. Others use oven cleaner, but I don't like to use caustic chemicals if I can do it another way. By the time I scrub, grease it up, leave it in the oven, repeat, it's been heated and cleaned enough that any pathogens are destroyed. And, as plllog mentioned, today's cast iron isn't made in the same manner the old stuff is, it's thicker, heavier, rougher, and in my opinion, harder to get well seasoned, the surface just isn't as "slick". The LeCreuset are pretty and they work fine, but like my copper pans, are not used daily. Like plllog's pan, the Griswold is my workhorse. The small Wagner is used for eggs, but little else, it's too small to be one of my main cooking utensils. I don't cook everything in cast iron, but I do cook a lot of things in it, I just like it. I like the way it cooks and the way it cleans up. I do sometimes use the enameled pot to make something that cooks a long time, like a pot roast, but I always wish I had used the Lodge instead. Annie