Spent $60 on a cast iron Dutch oven and it burned my soup

I saw all these people online raving about cast iron Dutch ovens, so I grabbed one on sale for $60. First time using it, I made a lentil soup and left it on medium heat for too long. The bottom of the soup turned black and tasted like burnt metal, total waste of ingredients. I had to scrub for 20 minutes to get it clean and it still smells weird. Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but I'm thinking of just sticking with my old stainless steel pot. Has anyone else had trouble with cast iron for soups?

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2 Comments

aaron7083mo ago

You probably had the heat too high, medium on cast iron is hotter than you think.

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seanjohnson3mo ago

Yeah @aaron708 hit it on the head - medium on cast iron is way hotter than you'd think coming from other pots. I used to swear by my stainless steel and thought cast iron was overhyped garbage, but then my buddy broke out his grandpa's old one and made the best chili I've ever had. That burnt lentil soup smell is rough though, it'll stick around for a few more cooks until the seasoning rebuilds. For soups you really gotta keep it on low or medium-low and let the pot warm up slow, like 10 minutes before anything goes in. It changed my mind once I figured out the heat dial isn't the same game anymore.

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