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Cast iron dutch oven question

Dnl
Dnl Posts: 12
in EggHead Forum
I bought a cast iron dutch oven with high hopes of making some killer baked beans on the egg and then about a month ago I read a comment on here about how anything tomato based done in cast iron will turn out with a strong metallic taste. Is this true?
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Comments

  • FanOfFanboys
    FanOfFanboys Posts: 2,620
    It's noticeable to most, yes.
    Boom
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  • GrannyX4
    GrannyX4 Posts: 1,491
    No, I always cook chili in the cast iron. Baked beans would be no different. ;;)
    Every day is a bonus day and every meal is a banquet in Winter Springs, Fl !
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  • Duganboy
    Duganboy Posts: 1,118
    GrannyX4 said:
    No, I always cook chili in the cast iron. Baked beans would be no different. ;;)
    I'm with Granny.  I make baked beans and chili frequently in the Lodge CI Dutch Oven.
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  • SMITTYtheSMOKER
    SMITTYtheSMOKER Posts: 2,668
    edited February 2013
    I love to do both Chili and BBQ Beans in the dutch ovens....go for it.

     

    -SMITTY     

    from SANTA CLARA, CA

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  • jfm0830
    jfm0830 Posts: 987
    edited February 2013
    I've made both chili and baked beans on my BGE DO and haven't noticed it. Several of the recipes are from the BGE Cookbook and they call for the use of the BGE DO which is cast iron. Not saying you need to use the BGE one, but they call for it, knowing it is CI.

    Jim
    Website: www.grillinsmokin.net
    3 LBGE & More Eggcessories than I care to think about.
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  • SmokinDAWG82
    SmokinDAWG82 Posts: 1,705
    I have a Lodge CI DO and I just made CowLick Chilli and we didn't notice a taste.
    I feel comfortable using it for anything!
    LBGE
    Go Dawgs! - Marietta, GA
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  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,768
    For the most part (the way I understand it) is not to let it sit for long periods after cooking with tomato product in it. The cooking part is not really a problem.
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Just given a Mini to add to the herd. 

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  • JRWhitee
    JRWhitee Posts: 5,678
    I have made beef chili, chicken chili and baked beans and never noticed a metallic taste. I also remove the food from the dutch oven after the cook. I could see if the cook was left in the DO for a while or refrigerated in the DO that could happen.
                                                                
    _________________________________________________
    Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story!
    Large BGE 2006, Mini Max 2014, 36" Blackstone, Anova Sous Vide
    Green Man Group 
    Johns Creek, Georgia
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,597
    theres not enough tomatoes in beans to make a difference, go cook the beans. i wouldnt simmer tomatoe sauce all day in it though
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    As long as the CI is well seasoned(pre-seasoned ones are sufficiently seasoned), acid-containing foods are fine to cook in it over relatively short periods of time(A few hours). If you cook in CI all the time, you are less likely to notice it anyway. Storing is a different issue. Letting something like chili sit overnight in CI(lets say you want to allow the chili flavors to concentrate for dinner tomorrow so you just leave it in the pan to reheat the next day) and allow the acid in the chili(tomatoes, vinegar) to start leaching iron from the pan giving it a tinny taste. More often than not, this won't be an issue.

    I can smell when this happens from a mile away, thanks to all the GI bleeds/trauma I've dealt with over the years in ICU nursing. Anyone who deals with blood in large quantities knows what I'm talking about. I can also pick it up in baby formula. Ugh.
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,597
    Eggcelsior said:
    As long as the CI is well seasoned(pre-seasoned ones are sufficiently seasoned), acid-containing foods are fine to cook in it over relatively short periods of time(A few hours). If you cook in CI all the time, you are less likely to notice it anyway. Storing is a different issue. Letting something like chili sit overnight in CI(lets say you want to allow the chili flavors to concentrate for dinner tomorrow so you just leave it in the pan to reheat the next day) and allow the acid in the chili(tomatoes, vinegar) to start leaching iron from the pan giving it a tinny taste. More often than not, this won't be an issue.

    I can smell when this happens from a mile away, thanks to all the GI bleeds/trauma I've dealt with over the years in ICU nursing. Anyone who deals with blood in large quantities knows what I'm talking about. I can also pick it up in baby formula. Ugh.
    just dont simmer fresh tomatoes into sauce, i ruined a brand new preseasoned lodge skillet that way, the preseasoning flaked off for fifty or so cooks before i took i grinder to it to fix it right.
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    That's what my enameled CI is for.
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,597
    Eggcelsior said:
    That's what my enameled CI is for.
    mine too, i knew better, but somewhere in the preseasoned lodge literature it said it was ok
    :))they lied and know i really know. its my best skillet now, i polished it smooth
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    Nice. I am amazed at how rough their finish is compared to my Wagner or Griswold. If I ever have to re-season, I will polish it down too.
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  • SWVABeanCounter
    SWVABeanCounter Posts: 859
    As others have mentioned, as long as it's seasoned, its fine.  Just make sure you clean it according to instructions and apply a light coat of cooking oil when done.

    Damascus, VA.  Friendliest town on the Appalachian Trail.

    LBGE Aug 2012, SBGE Feb 2014

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  • CeramicChef
    CeramicChef Posts: 182
    Acidic foods such as tomato based products will indeed strip the seasoning from cast iron. Now you may have sufficient seasoning in your DO that bare metal isn't hit, but I never risk it with my cast iron. I have a dedicated porcelain coated DO I use for tomato based cooks. Whether you use porcelain or not is up to the individual, but as for me ...
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  • AleBrewer
    AleBrewer Posts: 555
    I bought a large Lodge DO to use in the Egg. It was pre-seasoned, and my first cook in it was a big pot of chili on the Egg. While I couldn't really detect any metallic taste to the chili, I could see a difference in the DO.

    I'm now looking to buy a large (7qt) Le Creuset enameled DO.
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  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    Look for a used one on ebay or craigslist. New is $325 retail. If you are okay with a "second", the LC outlet has them for around $250
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  • AleBrewer
    AleBrewer Posts: 555
    Yeah...we have an outlet nearby in Maine. Only trouble is paying sales tax up there!

    We got a 15qt Le Creuset "goose pot" a few years back as a gift....that thing is Gigantic! and heavy too.....but it's a bit much for my normal batch of chili.
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  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    I want that pot so bad. You can almost bathe in it!
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  • Dnl
    Dnl Posts: 12
    Thanks for all the comments and hints. I think I will try a pot of baked beans on a weekend that I'm alone so if they do have any kind of a metallic taste it's only me that has to eat it. :-&
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  • fishlessman
    fishlessman Posts: 34,597
    Dnl said:
    Thanks for all the comments and hints. I think I will try a pot of baked beans on a weekend that I'm alone so if they do have any kind of a metallic taste it's only me that has to eat it. :-&
    its a newengland tradition to cook beans in castiron buried in the ground on a bed of hot rocks and coals, i dont think you will have a problem with a bean cook
    fukahwee maine

    you can lead a fish to water but you can not make him drink it
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  • dlk7
    dlk7 Posts: 1,053

    I made smoked chili in my lodge DO last night with no problems.  As others have said, don't leave it in the DO very long after the cook.

    Two XL BGEs - So Happy!!!!

    Waunakee, WI

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  • Mickey
    Mickey Posts: 19,768
    Eggcelsior said:
    I want that pot so bad. You can almost bathe in it!
    NO PICTURES PLEASE L-)
    Salado TX & 30A  FL: Egg Family: 3 Large and a very well used Mini, added a Mini Max when they came out (I'm good for now). Just given a Mini to add to the herd. 

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  • AleBrewer
    AleBrewer Posts: 555
    Why not? We had to endure the pork chop tittie picture!!!
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  • CeramicChef
    CeramicChef Posts: 182
    Eggcelsior said:
    I want that pot so bad. You can almost bathe in it!

    It's gonna take the jaws of life to pry that mental image outta my mind's eye! God help me, I'm scarred for life! And I thought this was family friendly!
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  • SamFerrise
    SamFerrise Posts: 556
    Unless you like the metallic iron taste use a glazed dutch oven and you will be cool.

    Simple ingredients, amazing results!
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  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    edited February 2013

    Don't know the age of this cast iron pot, but i'm thinking they never heard of "glaze" back then.  Just did an all day chili cook and we don't taste any metallic taste!!!??

     

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  • Eggcelsior
    Eggcelsior Posts: 14,414
    Charlie tuna said:

    Don't know the age of this cast iron pot, but i'm thinking they never heard of "glaze" back then.  Just did an all day chili cook and we don't taste any metallic taste!!!??

    [IMG]http://i367.photobucket.com/albums/oo112/2728charlietuna/CastIronPot003.jpg[/IMG]

    No photo is loading, but I bet you have a good seasoning on the pot.
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  • Charlie tuna
    Charlie tuna Posts: 2,191
    The pot !
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