BristolUK

I can see the difference for a normal casserole but for this it likely gets cancelled out by the 6+ hour slow cooking process doesn't it.
Which is perfectly okay.

It might, but it's the wrong shape.

That said, isn't that one cast-iron casserole used for frying and then the rest of the cooking part a lot harder to clean than a briefly used pan and a nice glazed slow-cooker pot?

This reminds me of one of Stuart McLean's stories where he talks about one of those flame orange cooking pots from France...a Dutch oven.

I've done the whole thing in one a couple of times - browning in flour and all the rest and then the cooking - for beef in beer/guinness. Came out brilliantly both times but for one of them it was a real bugger to clean.

Oakvillian

Nothing that an overnight soak won't deal with. I can't refer to them as Dutch ovens - that's an American term and my enamelled-cast-iron casseroles are French

They're both Le Creuset things, one bigger than the other, that were bought as factory seconds from the UK distributor's warehouse in Andover about 30 years ago; even as seconds my then-girlfriend thought they were a hideous extravagance, but they've outlasted her by more than a quarter century! They are that classic flame orange colour on the outside, and cream-coloured enamel on the inside. The larger one comes camping with us and is frequently used for cooking on a campfire - but still cleaning is easy enough even with all the soot on the outside and burnt-on food on the inside, as the enamel is smooth and shiny and whichever offspring is tasked with cleaning it can use steel scourers if necessary.

Pulaski

Mrs P browns or sautées everything that goes into the slowcooker or stew pot, with the exception of potatoes.

caretaker

If you brown the pieces first it won't look like you scared it to death.

Diner: "Waiter, can you please tell me how you prepare your chicken?"
Waiter: "Oh nothing special, we just tell them they're going to die."

BristolUK

That's it The one I used is my mother in laws. She had it in 1968 apparently.

bats

I like cooking things slowly in the Le Creuset, in the oven, or on the BBQ, but can't abide food cooked in an electric slow cooker. The texture is weird. The sauce may taste good but the meat gas had all the flavour ripped out and veggies taste canned

dave_j

Hmmm... This seems a bit like witchcraft to me. Apparently electric slow cooker heat is a different type of heat to electric oven heat or gas bbq heat, especially when the food is separated from the heat source by a cast iron enclosure.

When I went to school all different types of heat were transferred by radiation, convection and conduction and the contents of the pots don't recognise the source, perhaps rubbing two sticks together heat would produce even better cooking, it would certainly be less convenient.

The only difference that I can see, is that the lid is not heated with the slow cooker, and may not be heated on the bbq, but this might not be an issue where a casserole is concerned.

bats

I know, I know. But I can taste a difference. There's a difference in food that comes out of cans though so maybe a slow cooker is really a can.

BristolUK

After my old 'reliables' stopped being reliable, I went through a phase wondering if I'd ever like wine again as I kept trying different ones and never finishing a bottle.

But at least that meant there was always plenty for cooking.

Ever since I discovered my new best friend Kim Crawford (lovely Pinot Noir, if a tad expensive at $25 a bottle, a decent Chardonnay for $20) and found out how nicely almost any Rosé went with a Thai Red Curry, there's never a drop left so there's not been any to cook with or even to splash into a gravy.

So I took a ten minute walk to the local NB liquor store today to get something cheap. A Canadian wine - Naked Grape Cab/Sauv.
$10.29 so I won't feel like I'm wasting anything good now.

Stinkypup

My pans

And a kettle that I had sat on my Aga - yeah yeah, Hunter Wellies, Waitrose, etc
I'm so pretentious

dave_j

I'd like to join the club but orange doesn't go with mega vindy, gut wrenching, hospital stay inducing, bowel dissolving, basin cracking, lager defeating curries.

Stinkypup

Oh dear lawd Dave, you masochist! You will need a cast iron constitution as well as cast iron cookware

This might be a more suitable colour

dave_j

Might do the job, but is it ingested intravenously, or is it taken by suppository?

Stinkypup

Thankfully I will never know- I like most foods but not curries

scrubbedexpat091

I take it you did not buy those in Canada?

I've never seen pans like that before.