Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I purchased this 5.5-quart Dutch Oven in Majolica Red because someone mentioned in a comment that it matched Straub's Grenadine color. Sure enough, it does seem to; it's quite beautiful. But I want to share what happened when I first used it, and how I solved a problem I was having with cleaning the enamel. The instructions say to wash and dry both the lid and the pot before using; because the lip of the pot and the cover are bare cast iron, they should be coated with oil and put in an oven to 'season' both pieces. I used generic vegetable oil but knew as soon as I removed the pot and lid from the oven I had made a mistake. I must have used too much oil, and some of it had melted down the inside of the pot. I couldn't easily scrub it off. I decided to bake a loaf of no-knead artisan bread in it and hoped doing so would help me scrub the pot. Alas, things just got worse: while the bread baked in a layer of parchment paper, the vegetable oil burned and ran from the top edge down to the bottom of the pot, leaving dark, scorched 'tears'. After the lid and pot cooled, I washed them with a plastic cast iron scraper. The burned oil didn't budge. It's now been several days, and while reading recipes for Dutch ovens I came across a "tip" in one of the recipes: use Bar Keepers Friend to remove stubborn stains. So I did, and it worked (although I had to apply quite a bit of elbow grease!). Here's what I learned: use a high-heat oil, such as grape-seed, and use only a small amount. If you don't have one, purchase a bottle of Bar Keepers Friend (in stock at WalMart) for help removing stubborn stains in the enamel of your cast iron Dutch oven. I was so happy I wanted to share my experience.