Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

There are so few "cons" to this pot, it's hard to write a review that doesn't sound sappy. I have a full set of Ultrex, a snappy modern line sold by a company that makes pans for many big names found in department stores. 55 year warranty, they work fine... But they're non-stick and I've started to worry about that. Not long ago, a study came out that suggested eating foods cooked in Teflon pans left molecules of something or other floating around in the person's blood for FOUR YEARS. I thought twice about this and decided it was time to look into other pans. It might turn out to be benign - but what if it isn't? I was addicted to good browning, was used to it from Cuisinart pans and Ultrex. I tried Calphalon hard-anodized aluminum. One burning incident and that pan was RUINED, totally ruined, nothing would clean it. I've cooked in this Lodge Logic pre-seasoned for a dozen meals now, meat and fish, vegetables too. I've used all types of fats - olive oil, butter, corn oil. Tonight it made a gravy to die for - using heavy cream and mushrooms. You do have to get used to its different heating cycle. It heats up slower than some other materials. It cools off slower too. But it is fuel efficient and you can do a lot of cooking on Low. My #1 demand was that it brown meat well. It does that SPLENDIDLY. Really beautiful. Heat the pan for 5 minutes on near High. Throw in two tablespoons of olive oil, throw in stew meat and it will brown in four minutes, magazine picture perfect. Stir with a wooden spoon. Throw in vegetables once the meat's browned. A few cups of water, put the lid on, turn it down to Medium for 15 minutes, Low for another 15 minutes -- it will look like a magazine cover stew. Browning a roast is even easier -- and you can put it into the oven after browning. If I had to complain of anything, it would be that cast iron is heavy. I'm not sure how much of a problem this will be. This is still a small enough pot to handle for most people. You can roast a whole chicken in it so if that's the quantity you cook, buy this right NOW, you can't go wrong.