I bought my first piece of enameled cast iron cookware in the spring of 2007. It was from TJ Maxx and cost all of $40 (which felt like a fortune on my grad student budget). It was lime green, held about five quarts, and I thought it was the nicest thing in my kitchen. Heartbreakingly, the enamel began to chip and crack after only dozen uses.
Since then, I’ve had a number of pieces of enameled cast iron from a number of different makers, but continue to search for the unicorn of this category. A piece that is affordable enough that I can recommend it to someone on a grad school budget, that doesn’t chip easily, holds enough to feed a crowd, and is great for cooking down jams, fruit butters, and sauces.
Friends, I think I’ve finally found the mythical creature of enameled cast iron cookware and it’s known as Anolon’s Vesta Cast Iron 7 Quart Casserole. The outside is an elegant coffee color and the interior sports a matte black enamel interior. The underside of the lid is studded with raised nubs that are designed to channel flavorful liquid back into the food as it cooks. It conducts heat evenly, cleans up beautifully, and is far more affordable than other enameled cast iron pots of comparable size.
Now, if this pot looks familiar, that’s because I featured the braiser from this line a couple of years back. And while I still regularly employ that braiser, this seven quart casserole is the pot that’s taken up permanent residence on my stove top. I’ve used it for at least eight batches of jam, chutney, and compotes, as well as several rounds of soup and pasta sauce. It’s a work horse and I couldn’t be more pleased with it.
If you watched my livestream earlier tonight, you saw me scooping chutney out of this very pot! And happily, this week the folks at Anolon are letting me give away one of these highly useful, totally durable, and perfectly elegant casseroles away to a lucky blog reader! Use the widget below to enter!
For more information about Anolon and their cookware, follow them on social media. Here’s where you can find them.
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Disclosure: Anolon is provided both the casserole you see here and the one I’m giving away at no cost to me. All opinions expresses are entirely my own.
Most likely an Indian chicken dish (at least that is what I’m hungry for at the moment 🙂 )
Great looking casserole!! Fingers crossed 🙂
Tis the season for tomato sauce here. So many tomatoes and a nice large pot would be perfect.
The first thing I would make is jam. I’ve been wanting an enamel cast iron pot!
I would LOVE to make a blackberry cobbler with the wild berries the kids and I are picking!
I think the first thing I would make in this pot is a batch of salsa or tomato sauce to preserve.
I’ve got 20-odd pounds of free pears to process… sure could use another suitable pot!
This looks like a perfect size for a nice large batch of blackberry jam using the wild blackberries that grow here.
It’s so pretty! Probably soup, I’m always making soup.
I wonder if it would be a good pot for making cheese in.
I would make a nice pot of chili! Thank you!
I’d try to bake some bread in it.
I would make a split pea and ham soup.
Braised short ribs…as soon as the weather makes them so delicious! Great product…thank you!
Enamel on cast iron does seem to be the holy grail of cooking. I have enamel on steel and even it gets an occasional chip. I’ve heard the cast iron is worse because of the differences in temperature and expansion and contraction.
Does this really perform as good as you say?
I love the idea of the little drip nubs under the cover.
Oh, and I’d try chili because I hate the clean up. Plus you’re not supposed to do tomato anything in cast iron.
I would make peach jam straight away!
Coq au vin.
Apple butter – once apples are back in season this fall.
I had no idea until I saw another poster’s idea for tomato bacon jam and now that’s all I can think about.
Big batch of soup!
I’d make my Dad’s spaghetti sauce, yum!
id make some soup
I’d make a big batch of blueberry-rhubarb jam!
I would make some pozole or noodle soup.
Blackberry jam!
Soup! I have several recipes flagged that make more than my current biggest pot…
Hmm… refried beans or tomato sauce!
A massive batch of steel cut oatmeal!
I would make a big batch of home fries. You can make them an endless number of ways to suit any taste.
I would make the biggest yummiest batch of corn chowder!
Greek lamb stew with olive and new potatoes!
Probably veggie tex-mex chili – a winter staple for me. Or, tortilla soup. Also a winter staple.
I love the black interior. Practical and beautiful.
I would love this pot for Italian tomato sauce, beef stew and soup!
Jam!!
Oh gosh, either preserves or stew!
I would love to try tomato jam!
I’m going with roasted tomato bacon jam.
A big pot of meat sauce!
The first thing I would like to make is a chutney. Thanks for the chance. I have always wanted to own a cast iron pot.
Maybe the peach cutney you featured!?
Considering it’s the start of tomato season, I’d make tomato sauce and tomato ketchup.
Spaghetti sauce is the first thing. I always like to try a well used recipe on a new piece of equipment, so I know what it is supposed to be like.
A giant batch of black beans!
Would it work for salsa? That’s what I’m making today and hoping to do another batch soon.
Strawberry jam with all the berries in my freezer.
Jam, sauce, and salsa!
I’d probably make some homemade soup or tomato sauce.
beautiful! i’d make plum jam in this. 🙂
I’d love to make a big crusty loaf of sourdough!
I would make a delicious pot of stew, good anytime of the year in this house!!!