Bayou Basic 7441 1-qt Lined Solid Iron Sauce Pot Options Self Basting Lid Excellent For Small Parts Decreasing Sauces Simmering Soups or Boiling an Egg

Great little pot for my smoker
Solid quality and turns out to be just the right size for my XL BGE to render down fat trimmings for briskets I’m smoking. Quality similar to lodge and the seasoning is good right out of the box (light cleaning) highly reccomend

Great Little Saucepan…!!!
I’m new to the world of cast iron cookware, but this is my 7th piece that I now have in my kitchen. I bought this Bayou Classic 1 quart saucepan specifically to cook my oatmeal that I have for breakfast pretty much every day. I’ve been using this for about a week, and it just keeps on getting better. I wash it immediately after using it and then season it every day because it’s so new. The oats come right out of this saucepan after boiling for a few minutes without any scraping of any type required, and it cleans up easily with a regular kitchen sponge. Due to my seasoning efforts, the release of the oats from the saucepan and also the cleanup after is just getting better and better, which is what I expected.The saucepan was delivered in more serviceable condition than my 3 pieces of Lodge cast iron cookware! My Lodge cookware had a very rough texture inside that made me decide to sand it down and start over with the seasoning from scratch. No way could I fry an egg using that stuff as delivered. But this Bayou Classic saucepan has a fairly smooth texture inside. I’ll call it “the most usable piece of cast iron cookware upon delivery out of 7 pieces so far.”As far as the seasoning is concerned, I would HIGHLY recommend that you run the saucepan through the oven DRY before doing anything else with it. The reason is because the seasoning feels just a bit soft, as though it’s not fully polymerized or something. I personally did a partial sand down upon delivery using 60 grit sandpaper, and the seasoning clogged the sandpaper instead of ending up becoming a dry powder. I believe that this sanding effort was unnecessary, but I did it anyhow. I sanded it down maybe about 50%, and then I ran it through the oven at 500 degrees F to harden up whatever seasoning remained, which worked out just fine. Then I seasoned it with very thin layers of oil once or twice (I can’t remember because I seasoned some other cookware with it), and then I started using it with zero problems and no looking back. For the record, I use canola oil because it has a high smoke point at 425 F, and is why I season my cookware at 500 F.I constantly see people asking the question: “Is it seasoned and ready for use…???” The answer that I believe in is: “You have to continue seasoning cast iron cookware for the rest of your life, and new cookware needs to be seasoned very frequently in the early stages with many thin layers until the seasoning is (1) thick, (2) hard, and (3) smooth.” So, the REAL answer to that question is: “Just stick with traditional nonstick cookware because cast iron cookware requires constant maintenance especially in the early stages, which makes that question sound like you want something that’s ‘wash-n-go’ instead of what cast iron cookware ownership truly is.”Sorry if that statement is rude and blunt, but the question is silly. I can cook stuff after only one or two layers of seasoning after being sanded down to bear metal. The thing that’s more important than “pre-seasoned at the factory” is “sanded smooth at the factory.” This Bayou Classic saucepan is what I’d call smooth enough to begin using right out of the box…once the factory seasoning has been hardened up by a trip through the oven.-Brian

Size is important
First off I’m a big cast iron fan. I prefer vintage U.S. Made cast. And if I buy new, I only buy lodge (U.S. made) cast. BUT, I wanted a small sauce pan with a handle. I usually use the 2 quart lodge Dutch oven as a stove top sauce pan. I took the plunge and ordered this 1 quart Chinese pot, because I couldn’t find anything else. I had low expectations for this pot. Well, was I ever pleasantly surprised. This is one really heavy piece of cast iron. It’s thick ,takes longer to heat up, but retains heat for quite awhile. The preseasoning is no worse than lodge. I would prefer to not have it on any new cast and just do it myself. The lid fits very well.it is very well made. I’ve been using it quite a bit. Not only on the stovetop but also in the oven. It is a decent pot well worth the price.

Item came as described.
Item came as described.

This heavy, cast-iron pot is well made but rather small. Amazon correctly reports the size, so that I expected a larger one is entirely my fault.