Frugal Friday: Lodge Cast Iron - Enamel Cookware

Today is Frugal Friday over at Life As Mom. Be sure to check it out for great money-saving ideas!


Even before the Food Network days, I've loved all stuff kitchen related: gadgets, dishes, cookware, etc.

When we lived in our apartment, I kept promising myself that when we finally bought a house, I would buy myself a fancy Le Crueset Dutch Oven. I could have bought one sooner, but I didn't want to waste it on that awful apartment kitchen.

So, we finally found and bought a house and I quit my job since it was too far to commute. We made the decision that I wouldn't return to working and we'd start a family. Well, with the lost income, I couldn't bring myself to keeping the promise I made to myself. Have you seen the prices of those things?

Even though I couldn't rationalize the cost, I still wanted one. I really, really wanted one. Okay, I wanted an entire set, but would settle for one.

One day, I was in Walmart. It was after Christmas and a lot of their stuff was marked down. Not just holiday stuff.

That's when I saw these:


(Sorry for the bad photo.)

They are made by Lodge. They are enamel-coated, cast iron dutch ovens. They are super-heavy and look really nice. And they are RED!

They were perfect and marked down from their regular price! I really wanted the larger one (6 quarts), but sadly, I had to leave Walmart that day without them. We just didn't have the money for them that day, since it was so soon after the holidays. We had to stick with just the neccessary items on our shopping list that day.

I went home and just knew that they wouldn't be there by the time we had the extra cash. But after a couple of trips to Walmart (again for just neccessities), we finally had some extra money. I happily put the large one (6 quarts) into our shopping cart!

A few weeks later, they still had the smaller one (3 quarts) and it was still marked down and I just had to have it!

Now, I don't remember the actual price I paid for each of these, but I do know that the the cost of both of them if they weren't on clearance wasn't even near the price of one of the actual Le Creuset pots.

Williams-Sonoma currently has a 5.5 quart Le Creuset dutch oven ON SALE for $230....that's the SALE PRICE!!! It's regularly $310.

At Walmart, you can get a 6 quart Lodge Color Enamel dutch oven for $65.97. Like I said, I was lucky enough to get this size and the smaller size (3 quart) on a clearance sale, but even at the regular price, it's a steal!

And since I've never cooked in a real Le Creuset pot, I have no idea if it's the same or not, but I don't think I am missing anything since I love to use my Lodge pots.

They are really great at keeping food warm. I can start a soup or stew early in the day and when it's done cooking the pot keeps it warm until dinner time! And they clean up easily too!