Arrived UPS in fine shape--uses mini-wooden pallet inside heavy carton for protection. I have cooked two beef stews (one for 15lots of left overs-every one in family loved it and took some home and my dogs got some after a week). Another for about 40 in a pot luck Birthday event--still leftovers and everyone raved over it. Cooked one over fire and coals and one over a propane burner. Fire adds ambience but burner is bit quicker and easier but noisier. I will probably do wood when I have time and propane when away from home. Stand is well designed and sturdy for coal or gas. Unit just fit in my Oven for curing--twice at 500 wth Crisco and fan on high. Recommend the cover lid of course, the wooden stir paddle (paddle slides under lid handle to remove from pot) and big 22in aluminum laddle. Am looking to buy Lodge folding lid holder now. Next year plan on event for 150 hungry cavers, butterflied young steer on big outdoor grill, and will use cast iron pots for the sides. Highly reccommend for large group, leisurely cooking with low failure rate,and added ambience. Great addition to your outdoor cooking if you don't mind handling 50-60 lb empty pot (the included pot hooks work well).
Substantial packaging withstands rough handling by FedEx or UPS.
I'd recommend this to a friend, in fact, I have, plus re-sold a couple.The product is well constructed if you get all the parts! I did not receive the ring that the pot goes in to place on the stand. After talking w/Mike from Bayou he told me he could not help that I needed to have Amazon contact them. So Amazon did w/ me on the line and Mike still wasn't helpful. I mentioned this product came from his company and by him not supporting that, this is poor customer service. He said I was Amazons customer not Bayou. I said you are selling your product through Amazon and you are supporting your product to me the customer.
After Timothy from Amazon spoke with Mike from Bayou he finally said he would look to see if he had 1 and would might call me back in about 30 min if he finds 1 to ship.
After spending 56min of my time on the phone Amazon wasn't sold that Mike from Bayou was going to follow through so is making it right. Too bad I spent approx $200 after shipping and still had to fight w/ manufacturer to get what I needed to be able to use the pot as intended.It is packaged well and the pot had a layer of oil or grease on it. No rust. Took 5 minutes to get that oil off.
The casting is fairly rough, decided to smooth out the inside a little. Angle grinder with a metal grinding wheel for high spots, then put on a sanding pad to smooth it up. Watch out for the 3 stubby legs, they'll scratch whatever it's sitting on. It's a shame you can't find good cast iron anymore.
The pot does just fit in a full size oven for seasoning. Used Crisco at 300 degrees for an hour. Did that twice. Then spent an hour cleaning the burnt Crisco droppings off the bottom of the 2 day old range ! Suggest putting aluminum foil under the pot.
Cooked bacon it a few times to help further season it. The smell of bacon cooking outdoors really attracts the neighbors!
Made a pot of jambalaya for 50 people, all the men (and quite a few women) were fascinated with the cooking and stirring with a 3 foot long paddle. Yeah, you do need a strong paddle to stir, alot of food weight to move around. Those lifting hooks came in handy, pot alone is +-40lbs, with food in it 70lbs plus, it took 2 of us to move it.
The stand is sturdy, good thick steel. They screw into the metal pot ring, allowing a little adjustment for leveling. Sits right over top of my propane burner. The feet just slip over the 1/2" steel rod legs. They don't stay on, don't think I'd trust them on grass or dirt. Maybe glue or weld them on.
Hopefully lasts a long time, don't trust the quality of materials used in China.The Good: Heavy Duty, solid, frame well-built and should last. 7 gallon size perfect for a party of 20 to 50 people. Great for jambalaya, but also can be used as a fish fryer, chicken fryer, french fryer, chili, gumbo, or other soups.
The bad: the casting had a few rough spots that I had to smooth out using an angle grinder. This is common with most cast iron today; folks like the old Griswold company and its perfect cast iron, or Lodge's higher end USA made iron, aren't around anymore in this size.
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