Will making Coq au Vin in my bare cast iron dutch oven disintegrate its seasoning?

Question

I can't afford those expensive Le Creuset ones so I bought a super cheap Lodge dutch oven. Since Coq au vin has wine, which is an acid, will cooking Coq au vin in seasoned cast iron for the prolonged period of time disintegrate my hard earned seasoning? Is it really worth an extra 170 bucks for a pot?

Answer 1

Properly seasoned cast iron should hold up for a cooking session. I have cooked up food with some of the hottest peppers, tomatoes, etc and not had trouble during cooking. If you store highly acidic foods you will give the acid time to break down the seasoning. But if that should happen the dutch oven can be reseasoned. I wash and rinse my pots in hot water. Dry them and then put a coat of shortening on them. The shortening will melt and flow into the pores of the metal. Wipe out any excess shortening and heat to 450-500 degrees. This is best done outside in a bbq grill as the grease will smoke quite a bit as it burns. Allow it to sit in the heat for a few minuteas. Check to make sure there is no pooled grease (if so wipe it away as excess grease will prevent your pot from seasoning evenly). Then allow the pot to "cook" until it stops smoking. You are actually carbonizing the shortening and leaving a carbon "nonstick" coating.

Answer 2

Well, those on the frontier cooked lots of chili (tomatoes = acid) and also other "wet" things all the time and of course they had only the non-ceramic-covered cast iron Dutch ovens.
I think it's more a matter of how much acid you use, and how seasoned the pot is already, etc.

Here's something I found from one Dutch oven site:

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. . . It is recommended that you cook foods with high fat and grease content the FIRST FEW TIMES to EXPEDITE seasoning. This would include cooking bacon, sausage, hamburger, or deep frying potatoes, chicken, etc.

Soups, stews, and beans (foods with high moisture and acid content) have a tendency to remove seasoning from a cast iron utensil and you'll want to avoid cooking those AT FIRST, or at least be aware that your utensil MAY have to BE RE-SEASONED.
After regular use, clean and oil lightly while warm, then wipe dry with a paper towel or soft cloth before storing. Your ironware will darken with use and improve with age.

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Having a ceramic coated cast iron pot is a great thing though, and you can buy Dutch ovens cheaper than from Le Crueset (they call theirs just "Ovens" or "French Ovens")... e.g., I bought one from Lodge recently.
Also Le Crueset has sales during certain times of the year, and sometimes you can also get LeCrueset items cheaper from big sellers on e-Bay.
Not all of the cheaper brands of ceramic-covered cast iron pots are as good as those two brands though.

You might want to save up for a LeCrueset or for a ceramic-covered Lodge, or ask for one for a b'day, etc.
They are definitey worth having (!), but having a bare well-seasoned one should be fine till you do that.


HTH,

Diane B.

Answer 3

It might ruin the seasoning, I'm not 100% sure. But to fix it just set your oven to like 200 and throw in some shortening or lard and let it do it's thing. I don't think it will completely ruin the seasoning though.

Answer 4

You should be fine, just don't bring it to a boil. Even if you have a stainless pan, it will work also. Actually any pan, except aluminum can be used. I also like to use white wine instead of the classic red wine because if you are serving to quest(s), the color can be discouraging. White wine will give you the same ending results

Answer 5

It probably won't hurt the pot if it is well seasoned, but since iron is a reacitve metal (as is aluminum) you'd be better off using stainless steel, enamel, or glass.