To me I just don't get spending the premium for enameled iron. A well seasoned black iron piece of cookware will do everything these pots will do and to me at least they are simpler no worrying about enamel fractures and chipping and they are easy to re-season if they need to be. I personally use all cast iron and stainless in my kitchen.

There are reasons for enameled cast iron. It's not advisable to cook acidic ingredients, such as tomatoes, in raw cast iron, for example.

But if you're not doing a tomato sauce or tomatoey braise, then I can understand shooting for a less expensive but otherwise just-as-useful plain cast iron.

Well seasoned cast iron will hold up to tomato based recipes. I cook them quite a bit with no issue. I think the issue is with everything else that one needs to learn if they are just starting to cook, seasoning iron can seem like another complicated step but it's pretty easy, just oil them and thrown them in the oven, on the highest heat, until they oil is a dry veneer. Repeat about 5 times and then you only need to season your iron about every 6 months.

> Repeat about 5 times and then you only need to season your iron about every 6 months.

And therein is the problem with seasoned iron, that regime of care. Some folks can be bothered doing this, others just want to cook.

Point taken, I don't find it to be that much trouble, but I have had my iron for years and received it from my grandmother most of which has been in use since at least the 1950's so it's about at seasoned as it can get. I just personally don't find the maintenance onerous.

It's not just the seasoning but the food itself. Depending on what you're cooking and for how long bare cast iron can definitely impart a bit of a flavor. Probably the biggest thing for me is that an enameled dutch oven is smooth on the bottom where my bare one is not. On a ceramic topped smooth electric range this matters since you don't really want to scratch the ceramic.

The other thing, especially with Le Creuset, is that you're paying for appearance. Sure, all of the enameled stuff is pretty, but Le Creuset has a ton of different colors (including some limited edition ones) designed to appeal to that group.

I split the difference and went with one of Staub's house brand ones. It's more expensive than a bare cast iron one, but at $150 for a 7 quart dutch oven was significantly cheaper than any first run Le Creuset or Staub branded dutch ovens.

Back in late 2013 I picked up my Berndes 2 quart (4L) enamelled dutch oven for around GBP35 from Tesco. Tesco (UK) at the time had a whole range of their stuff for sale, and if you collected six tokens (you got a token for spending 50 quid on shopping) they knocked 50% off the retail price (GBP75). Regardless, I ended up with mine, discounted after the tokens, and it's been one of the best items of cookware I've ever purchased, I use it all the time. In fact having looked at their prices now I kinda feel a got a proper bargain. Sure it's not huge, but it's big enough to cook around 6-7 meals worth of stuff I can freeze. I'm not actually sure I'd know what to do with a 7 quart oven, and the weight and size of that thing must be quite something!

But anyway, another thing I came here to say was that one of the things I like about my enamelled pot is that I can easily see when a "fond" starts to build up, and then when I throw in some stock or wine, the fond releasing.

All in all they're fantastic general purpose cooking pots for less skilled cooks like myself. Finally, I worked as a pot washer at Gleneagles Hotel back in the 80's when I was a student, and saw some horrific and almost wilful destruction of expensive copper pots and pans by maniacal and psychopathic chefs, if only they were enamelled, my job might have been easier :).

> personally don't find the maintenance onerous.

I don't deny that, and I dream one day of having a well stocked larder and fridge, better skills, and the better ability to look after and cook with and look after seasoned iron. For now my cheapo 4L enamelled dutch oven works for me.

I dunno if you follow "Glen and Friends" on YouTube, but he's done the odd video on getting started with and looking after seasoned iron, the process of which I know you're well aware of, but I'll leave it here for other readers, but would be interested in what your take is?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFXTecR4-Hg

The thing with enamelled iron cookware is that you can just cook with them without worrying you're going to ruin the seasoning. Also you don't need to worry about seasoning them when new, or mucking up the first time seasoning process.

Don't get me wrong, I think there are some things a lump of well seasoned iron do really well. But my cheapo 60 quid enamelled iron pot is my daily driver for soups, stews, curries, bolognese etc, and is immensely easier to look after than a lump of seasoned black iron. Also in the seven years I've owned it, it's never chipped or scratched. Sure there's a wee bit of discolouration in the enamel, but given the abuse[0] it's had it's a real no-brainer tool.

[0]: https://imgur.com/a/fzDtpnC

I really thought it was a goner that time ^^^ :)

As others have mentioned, simmering acidic dishes in a cast iron or carbon steel pan will eat away the seasoning, leaving them very much non-nonstick.

I use enameled cast iron, carbon steel and stainless steel, each have their place. I've found a good carbon steel pan to be superior to cast iron for just about everything I cook.

You can't make a slow cooked tomato based sauce on unenameled cast. The acid in the sauce will eat away the seasoning.

You can, I do it all the time:

https://www.thekitchn.com/5-myths-of-cast-iron-cookware-2068...

One time, using a fairly new pre-seasoned pan that I’d then further seasoned a couple times following all those directions you see online, to make a marinara-based dish was enough to turn my wife off cast iron forever. Tasted like blood, couldn’t taste a thing but that, it was so strong. She hates it now and won’t use it for anything.

I don't know if one unsourced article claiming it's a myth is enough to demonstrate that it is the case. It's true that briefly cooking tomatoes or tomato-based sauces is fine. Slow cooking them for three or four hours is a different question.

I know it anecdotal, but I have a dutch oven that I have had for years it is seasoned black iron. I cook spaghetti and chili from scratch in it quite a bit, most of the time leaving it to simmer overnight, it has never left an iron taste in the sauce. It is well seasoned and if I pour out the sauce it runs out as if the metal is oiled with no residue from the sauce. I provided the article to highlight that it is possible, people do it and it has no ill effect on the taste of the produced food. The trick is to make sure your cookware is completely seasoned before you start using it for acidic based stews and sauces. The seasoning will last, and you will only have to re-season about every 6 months if that. If you braise a lot of fatty meat in it, you really never have to re-season.