A French oven is a large pot used for cooking and baking, typically made of cast iron and coated with enamel. It can be heated on a stove and transferred in or out of a hot oven. It should be cleaned with warm water and a wire brush, and acidic foods should not be prepared in it.
A French oven is the name for a large pot used for cooking and baking. This pot can be quite large and round, with a flat bottom, and often comes with a tight-fitting lid. While different pots of this type may have different types of handles, they usually have a thick wire handle attached to two sides and may pivot above the pot or hang to the side, or two smaller handles on opposite sides of the pot. A French oven is usually made of cast iron, although it is not uncommon for the iron to be coated with enamel or ceramic.
Typically called a Dutch oven, “French oven” is simply a term that has traditionally been used by several French makers of these types of cookware. Dutch ovens have been around for hundreds of years and continue to be used even with modern technology. They were originally designed to be able to cook over an open fire, and many of the features that made these ovens so popular 300 years ago continue to make them popular today. A French oven can be heated on a stove over high heat and can be transferred in or out of a hot oven in the course of a single preparation.
Just like a Dutch oven, a French oven is usually made of cast iron and can then be coated with enamel or left uncoated. If uncoated, it will typically need to be seasoned and cured just like any other type of cast iron cookware. Cast iron should not be washed with soap or detergent and should only be cleaned with warm water and a wire brush. Soaps and cleaners can damage cast iron cookware, and that includes an uncoated French oven.
Cast iron also needs to be seasoned, which means it needs to be treated with oil before it’s used and then treated again after each cleaning. A French oven that is properly cleaned and treated can literally last a century and still be usable. After sufficient use and proper treatment the inside of this type of cast iron cookware will typically become non-stick to a noticeable extent. The nature of iron, however, is such that acidic foods should not usually be prepared in them, as the acidity can react with the iron.
That’s why a French oven will often be covered in enamel on the cast iron body of the pot. The oven will still be able to conduct heat effectively, but it doesn’t need to be seasoned, can be washed with soap, and won’t react with any foods. High heat can potentially damage the enamel coating of this type of pan, however, so it may not be suitable for use in hot oil frying. Some of these cookware can also be made using ceramic rather than cast iron and enamel, although they are typically not as sturdy as their metal counterparts.
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