T-fal E83452 Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Dutch Oven Cookware, 6-Quart, Black

CUSTOMER REVIEW



Vine Customer Review of Free Product (What's this?) Two stars, you say? What on earth is not to love about a 6-quart, 600-degree-safe cast iron Dutch oven? I mean, Dutch ovens are one of the all-time workhorses of the kitchen, and cast iron is the all-time workhorse of cookware, right? Should be a match made in heaven!



But it's not. This is the second T-fal piece I've had this year that just reeks of slipshod manufacturing. The surface is so rough and sandpapery it's actually uncomfortable to handle. (But on the plus side, hey, it can double as a nutmeg grater!) Food sticks to the bumps on the surface. Some of the reviewers here say that new cast iron is supposed to feel like a belt sander. Really? No cast iron I've ever bought, seasoned or not, was anywhere near this rough. It makes food and residue stick, making both cooking and cleaning unpleasant.



And there were exposed "flashing" seams -- the overflow from the casting mold. These are supposed to be trimmed off. Not trimming them off is not "rustic," "artisanal," or "wabi-sabi" -- it's just unforgivably sloppy.



Come on, T-fal. Stop trying to foist this cheap junk off on us at full retail, and go back to your old ways, before your name stops being associated with quality, durable, heirloom cookware and starts becoming synonymous with made-in-China factory rejects.*



*Disclaimer: I have no idea where these are made, but I know a lot of T-fal cookware is in fact now made in China (instead of in France, as in the old days). However, the fact that the item description does not mention country of manufacture is telling. I guarantee that if they were made in France, or say in the USA or Canada, it would be prominently mentioned in the item listing.