Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Introduction: Let me start by saying that I did a bit of research before investing in a dutch oven, and that this is my first dutch oven purchase. Everyone's eye is always drawn to the nice French brand of these pots (in certain-high end cooking stores), and I was no different. However, I refused to pay upwards of $300-$500 dollars for a simple pot made out of cast iron, and thus my search began for a cheaper alternative. On the lower end of the scale for these sorts of products are brands such as Lodge and Cuisinart, which from my experience get mediocre reviews and are somewhat known as simple Chinese knockoffs. Some people claim they love them and they'll last forever, others say they have issues with the enamel chipping or bubbling off (perhaps user-error, perhaps not), but nonetheless I was hesitant to have buyer's remorse, much less deal with the process of returning and shipping a very heavy object in order to fulfill some sort of warranty claim. Alas, my search led me to this Marquette Castings dutch oven. Having never heard of the brand (I stumbled upon it on Amazon), I did some quick Googling and found they are very much a start-up company - check out their website: [...] You can also find their Kickstarter campaign here, which is over now: [...] What I really enjoyed about the information provided by the company is their detailed comparison of the Sand Casting versus Investment Casting manufacturing processes. Marquette uses the Investment Casting process, which although more labor intensive and expensive, results in a higher quality product with a better surface finish and dimensional control. As someone with a manufacturing background, I can appreciate this attention to detail, and although this is less important for something like an enameled dutch oven which is going to have a nice surface finish anyway due to the enameling, I figured I'd give them a shot, especially considering the price point. Enough about the company and why I chose to support them - let's get down to the item itself. First, the item arrived in the normal Prime shipping speed fashion, quick and right on time. Upon opening the box, my eyes widened at the heft of the oven, but also due to the fine quality packaging. Picture unboxing a new top of the line smart phone - high cardboard quality, elegant folding, excellent design work - Marquette went above and beyond in their packaging. I am hopeful that their attention to detail with something as simple as packaging a nearly indestructible cast iron dutch oven will be representative of the oven itself, but only time will tell. I have used the dutch oven only about 10 times so far, and it has yet to let me down. I've made excellent soups, braised meat, and even simple items as stove-top popcorn, which turns out delicious every time. Clean-up is a breeze and the white enamel on the interior has yet to be stained. Overall this dutch oven has proven to be effective at doing its job, while also requiring very little maintenance. Be warned that it is very large (not a flaw of the oven itself, I chose the 6 quart on purpose), however if you're planning to store it on your stove top (as beautiful as it is, how can you not?), unless you have a very large stove, it may look awkward due to the size. One minor complaint about the company: I would like to have seen the item manufactured in the USA rather than China. While I understand China has much cheaper raw materials and labor, especially when it comes to castings, I find it a little hypocritical to be marketing the brand as a homegrown, rust-belt-esque American product from the great state of Michigan, but then having it be made in China. It is a little reminiscent of how Apple does their business. I would gladly pay a bit more and know that the product was made here - I hear Detroit is still at a 10% jobless rate... Overall a great product, and would buy future items from Marquette!