Dutch oven

A heavy pot with a tight-fitting lid, usually made of cast iron, designed for stovetop cooking and oven use. Its thick walls retain heat for steady cooking.

Cast iron: An iron-carbon alloy valued for its heat retention and durability in cookware. Its thermal mass helps the pot maintain steady temperatures.
Stew: A dish of ingredients simmered slowly in liquid, often until tender. The pot's even heat supports long simmering without rapid liquid loss.
Enameled cast iron: Cast iron coated with a smooth, glasslike enamel layer. Enamel avoids seasoning and reduces concern about acidic foods reacting with bare iron.
Sand casting: A metalcasting process in which a mold is formed from compacted sand. A widely cited account links the cookware's name to Dutch expertise in casting iron in sand molds.
Seasoning (cookware): A baked-on layer of polymerized oil that protects bare cast iron and reduces sticking. Seasoning is the protective cooking surface on traditional cast-iron versions.
No-knead bread: Bread made with a long fermentation instead of extensive kneading. A covered pot traps steam, helping bread develop a crisp crust.
Bare cast iron: Uncoated cast iron used as cookware, typically protected by a layer of seasoning. It needs seasoning and different care from an enamel-coated Dutch oven.
Abraham Darby I: An English ironmaster who pioneered the use of coke in iron smelting and casting. His early eighteenth-century casting work is part of the pot's often-told naming history.
Condensation: The change from vapor to liquid when a gas cools. Steam condenses on the lid and returns moisture to the food.
Deep frying: A cooking method in which food is submerged in hot oil. Heavy cast iron holds frying oil at a steadier temperature.

Linked from 8 pages