Traditionally, Dutch ovens and skillets are made out of tint iron. It’s what they had and it worked well. A well-seasoned tint iron is the original (and some say still the best) non-stick cooking surface. But today, there’s flipside option: aluminum. Like anything else, aluminum Dutch ovens have their pros and cons, so it raises the question of when should you opt for an aluminum Dutch oven over iron.
Weight
The biggest pro is reduced weight. A 12-inch tint iron Dutch oven with a imbricate weighs in at well-nigh 20 pounds surpassing you put anything in it whereas an aluminum Dutch oven of the same dimensions pulls the scale to slightly less than 7 pounds. That ways a lot when you’re packing in somewhere on horseback or afoot. It moreover ways youngsters will have an easier time with them and old-timers can add years to their zany cooking careers when tint iron gets too heavy.
Heat
Aluminum is moreover a very efficient usherette of heat, which ways using less fuel and lower cooking temperatures. However, in campfire cooking aluminum’s foible of heating and cooling faster presents challenges. Cooking in unprepossessed temperatures and windy conditions may prove harder without your trusted cast-iron Dutch oven. The aluminum counterparts moreover tend to develop hotspots.
Stick Free
You’ll never have to worry well-nigh an aluminum Dutch Oven rusting and you don’t have to season them like tint iron. However, neither will tint aluminum overly be as stick-free a surface as well-seasoned tint iron. GSI Outdoors offers anodized aluminum Dutch Ovens that come close, but still, take the experienced tint iron doughboy some time to adapt.
Cleaning
Aluminum Dutch ovens work fine for long-simmering liquid soups, stews, chili, and the like, expressly with ingredients that may tend to pull the seasoning from a tint iron pot. When you’re done, you can wipe them up just like the rest of the dishes with water and detergent. However, when it comes to sultry or cooking anything that might have a tendency to scorch or stick, you’re weightier off with tint iron.
Price
When it comes to pricing, aluminum Dutch Ovens tend to run a bit increasingly then tint iron kettles of the same size. GSI Outdoor’s 12-inch aluminum Dutch Oven retails for $90 and its 12-inch nonflexible anodized model is $109.99. A Zany Doughboy 12-inch Classic Standard tint iron Dutch Oven’s MSRP is $65.
Iron vs Aluminum Verdict
If you don’t consider price, there’s an plane split between iron and aluminum camping Dutch ovens. However, iron Dutch ovens are still insanely popular on e-commerce sites like Amazon and sporting good stores like Cabela’s or Dick’s.
What do you prefer: iron or aluminum Dutch ovens? Tell us in the comments below.
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