I love cast iron cookware. So most of my guide for cookware will be about cast iron. There are several good benefits to cast iron, one, if seasoned right it is as good or better than Teflon. Better yet, you clean it with hot water - no soaps needed nor wanted.

We actually fell in love with cast iron, my wife and I, and use it in the home kitchen. The reason for this is that like a dutch oven or for use in camping cast iron heats more evenly and retains the heat. This allows you to cook some hard to cook items (such as tortillas on an electric stove) with relative ease. The only draw back is if you have easy to damage kitchen surfaces, the cast iron may nick or scratch it. Also, cast iron does weigh a good bit more than stainless, copper or aluminum.

Brand is very important. Many brands of cast iron are made from poorer iron/iron alloys, they are not very universal in thickness, and for dutch ovens, often the lids do not seal correctly. The $10 special is likely to cost you some frustration and good taste in the future. I personally recommend Lodge brand cast iron. I bought one dutch oven and it does not work well, my folks have a Lodge dutch oven and let me use it frequently, it works much better. Some will say you shouldn't buy the Logic line (pre-seasoned/cured) but I am not sure there is a reason for this. They do a curing process similar to what is recommended. It isn't some Teflon.

Knowing how to care for your dutch oven or cast iron cookware is very important. Please, learn well. However, it is very easy to learn and do and in no time you will be cooking very tasty items.

Some so-called dutch ovens are made of aluminum. I recommend you steer clear of these. They do not heat as evenly nor retain heat as well as cast iron. They are lighter.

It is my belief that anything that can be done in a pot or in an oven can be done, with minor variations in some cases, in a dutch oven. Anything that can be done with stainless, aluminum or copper can be done with cast iron. I highly recommend both the cast iron and a good dutch oven.