I realized after I posted that I had posted in the Cooking forum and really this should be here...

I have not bought any Cast Iron in a few years but the other week I was camping and we visited a neighbor camper and they made me envious of their monster 16-inch camp fire dutch oven. Not that I need to serve 30+ people but what they had made was a Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza in theirs and the pizza looked and smelled so great I decided I would look for a larger dutch oven when I got home. I currently have a 12-inch Lodge camp fire stove and use it along with my various skillets, etc.

What I discovered however is that Lodge has discontinued the 16-inch Dutch ovens a couple years ago (2013 from what I could find) and now even the 14-inch ovens look like they are being discontinued. I see there is one 16-inch Lodge on Flee Bay for $260 and climbing and a second with an over $460 buy it now price YIKES! I would prefer an USA Made Dutch oven if possible but I can get a 16-inch Camp Chef unit made in China for about $90.

I decided to grab one of the remaining 14-inch 10-Quart Lodge units I could find for sale! I figure it will work for making Pizza just fine and if I ever want to cook a larger item or for lots of people I will have this for the rest of my life. I certainly wish I had bought a 16-inch a few years ago as I remember them costing about $110 or so new and at the time I thought that they were too big and expensive and I would never use it. Getting the 14-inch cost me $137 as is.

Oh well, at least I didn't wake up too late and have one on the way! Now I need to watch flea markets etc for a 16-inch campfire Lodge Dutch Oven but in the thread I started in the cooking forum I was also informed that both the 6 and 8-inch campfire dutch ovens from Lodge have been discontinued too (See http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_1_163/1888191_14_inch_Lodge_Camp_Fire_Dutch_Ovens_Discontinued_.html)  

I am not sure if everyone here knew this and I was just under a rock but I figured I would share so if you happen to find some of these you can get them before they start to become collectables like Grizwald and others or Lodge moves the manufacture of these to China like Camp Chef has done.

Well, I wasn't able to make a full sized hand tossed pizza but I did discover that some of the store bought crusts happen to be 12-inches...

Starting about 33 char coal brickets ( I know I need to practice with wood coals some day)



Dutch Oven over the char coal to pre-heat



Master Chef helping make the pizza



I know, it needs meat and vegies but my little scout doesn't like those on his pizza



Nine coals for under the lid



Lid on the coals with the pizza on there



Dutch oven over the lid - 22 coals on top



Baked for about 15-17 minutes and it was really good after a day of hiking!



Glad a fellow camper showed me this last week!  They had made homemade crust too but honestly this was far easier and when you are out hiking all day who wants to deal with a complicated meal!

I was at Wal-Mart last evening and the Lodge hibachi grills are on clearance.  They were marked down to $65 and I already have one but thought about getting a second.  Also, I was at a Bass Pro Shop (Harrisburg PA) and they had the 14-inch Deep Dutch Ovens for $99.  I picked one of those up given I know these are at least temporarily discontinued.  I also picked up a 6-inch camp dutch oven last week for a slight ransom (Cost me $100 but I've seen worse!).  This gives me real options if I want to make anything and in an emergency there isn't anything I can't cook over a wood fire and coals with this!

So, now I have the following Camp Dutch Ovens (I think I can stop now)
6-inch (1-quart)
8-inch (2-quart)
10-inch Deep (5-Quart)
12-inch (6-Quart)
14-inch Deep (10 Quart) - Have two of these monsters now

For Skillets, I have (I could fill in some gaps here)
10-inch
12-inch

Others:
Griddle
Hibachi Grill

I think you are referring to MACA.  If so, they were in Utah and then moved production to India.  They were very high quality even when made in India and they had some huge dutch ovens - large enough you could could two full sized turkeys in one!  I have seen a couple of them for sale but they are very expensive ($400+) when you find them.  MACA stopped making cast iron cookware a few years ago as well, even from India.

My Father has an old Kettle like these that has been sitting there for probably 40-years.  I should ask him if he will ever do anything with it and try to restore it.  I don't think it has a lid but it has to be 14-16-inches at the lid.  Still too big unless I had a larger outing.  My scout den is only 7-kids and even with parents the real big stuff is too big for most meals.

Inches is the diameter, this is just the dimensions that Lodge Uses other companies in the past have used other scales and I am no expert on the variations to the theme.  I did however compile a list of the sizes of the Lodge Camp Ovens:



As an aside, I managed to find a "Fish Fryer" that fits the Lodge hibachi grill. That now gives me a dutch oven and griddle combination I can use with the hibachi grill or it could be used over a normal stove or campfire/charcoal with a lid stand.  The part numbers were 3060 and 3093.

Note:  These are not my photos below





After I bought this thing I found this reference:  http://www.modemac.com/cgi-bin/wiki.pl/Sportsman_Grill_by_Birmingham_Stove_and_Range

This cost me $100 and it was a little rough but a little vinegar and some elbow grease and it is looking like new again.  I need to season it this weekend still.

As I posted earlier, Bass Pro shop still had the 14-inch Deep ovens in stock last weekend (I was shocked).  Shipping on these sucks however so it is always best if you get lucky enough to find one locally.  The 16-inch or the non-Deep 14-inch will likely take a lot more effort to find.  I saw one of the smaller 14-inch ones and the seller wanted $200 for it.  I don't need it that bad!

Well, I learned something new last night at a scouts meeting.  There are still a few places that have the MACA cast iron in stock and it only took about 5-minutes of searching to find some:

http://www.ahappycamper.com/products/dutch_ovens/maca/index.html

I ended up buying one of the 13-inch Deep Cast Iron Dutch Ovens (12-quart for $124.99) and one of the smaller 8"x12"x7" Deep Oval Cast Iron Dutch Ovens (8-quart for $109.95).  Shipping cost me a small fortune at $120 alone (40lbs + 32lbs = 72 pounds of cast iron in two ovens).  Far better than what I have seen the big Lodge Units sell for lately so as much as I hate to pay this much I know these have been discontinued and I have seen what the market has done to the prices of other sizes of these and cheaper than another AR

When I called, they said they only had a few of each left.

Seriously I need to stop buying Dutch ovens now!  I spent the morning with my Father who I don't get to see often enough and low and behold I managed to pick up a 14-inch Lodge Dutch Oven that was not one of the deep ones.  I got it for $75 too which was darned cheap but it had some rust issues so I started working it with Vinegar and a scrubber.  Came out pretty nice and I did a quick first seasoning with Vegetable oil to make sure it didn't start rusting on me again.  Anyways, while we were out I went to Cabala's and for $79 I decided to just buy their 16-inch Camp Dutch Oven to end my desire to search out oversized Lodge Ovens.

Ready for my insanity - Here is the list of what I have now ( I Only had two of these before this past month)

Lodge - 6-inch - 1 Quart (I want to try this motorcycle camping)
Lodge - 8-inch - 2 Quart
Lodge - 10-inch Deep - 5 Quart (I had this one)
Lodge - 12-inch - 6 Quart (I had this one)
Lodge - 14-inch - 8 Quart
Lodge - 14-inch Deep - 10 Quart
MACA - 13-inch - 12 Quart
MACA - 8x12 OVAL - 8 Quart
Cabela's (Camp Chef) - 16-inch - 18 Quart
MACA - 17-inch - 29 Quart

The only thing I can't easily cook now over a camp fire would be a Turkey or a Goose (At least not without cutting it up).  To fix that I need bought a 17-inch or that insane 22-inch MACA but I am not willing to pay what they sell for so perhaps I will learn to cast my own giant dutch oven.  I can feed a lot of hungry Scouts with this collection I put together however  

To Add to the fun, my father pulled out a Caldron had has had since I was little (He has had it at least 40-years) and gave it to me to try to bring back to life too.  I figure it is about 3-4 gallons but I didn't try filling it with water/Vinegar as I was busy enough cleaning up the 14-inch Lodge.  I need to go to the store and buy a couple gallons of cheap Vinegar and then I will try to clean up the inside and figure out the volume.  I also debated taking it to a local Media Blasting company and have them just blast it as that would be easier and quicker.

That is like $800+ $1500 in cast Iron but the darned MACA ovens with shipping was $350 $1050 of this alone.  So, I really need to stop now!  Perhaps a couple more skillets in the 10-12 inch size but otherwise I filled some serious gaps and I have my cast iron needs under control.  

Now I need to get some photos of my hording exercise!  It's been fun however - we have made cobblers, brownies, a pie, breakfasts of all sorts, lasagna, chicken, Pork BBQ, BBQ Chicken, Grilled (if not pressure cooked like chicken), and so much more in these this summer!  With a subset of the 8-inch, 12-inch, 14-inch standard, 16-inch and then the monster 13 and 17-inch MACAs there isn't anything I can't cook with nothing more than some hot coals.

You can cook anything in a dutch oven.  The only issue is the food will pick up some of the taste of what was in there before.  Normally that is a good thing.

Acidic foods will eat at the seasoning so if you cook a spaghetti sauce, lasagna, etc in a less seasoned pot it may end up sticking and you have more work to clean it and you will need to re-season.  I have cooked lasagna in my 12-inch that I have used for a few years and the seasoning on that oven is well established and works great.

As an updated to my own dutch oven search, I think I bought my last Dutch Oven for a while!  I managed to buy a MACA 17 and one of the earlier USA made ones.  The thing cost me a small fortune but I saw it as a lifetime purchase ($600 + $140 for shipping).  I need to find a good weekend to cook a Turkey in this monster now as I need to practice but the next time we have a scout outing I am going to have a surprise for the troop!

I was not until I did a quick search:  https://www.reddit.com/r/castiron/comments/37lslf/my_findlay_skillets_anyone_know_anything_about/?st=isdsgino&sh=9cdb583f

If anybody is interested I just got an email from Happy Camper that MACA is willing to continue making some of their larger ovens as long as they place orders in 20-unit batches.  This includes the 13, 15, 17, and monster 22-inch ovens.

http://www.ahappycamper.com/products/dutch_ovens/maca/index.html

Obviously I screwed up as I paid enough for my 17-inch MACA that I could buy buy 3 and a half of these!

I plan to order one of the large ovals but otherwise I am done buying the monster ovens.  I would bet these will be a solid investment as I assume these could be a limited opportunity offering.   I think however between the 13 and 17-inch oven I am good and can skip the 15 and 22.

If you look around you might find a whole stove for what you will pay for the grate.  As I posted earlier in this thread, my local Wal-Mart had these on clearance a month or so ago.  Otherwise, I would just contact Lodge as I bet they would sell you the part you need.

Parts list can be seen here:

http://www.petergower.co.nz/shop/lodge-cast-iron/lodge-outdoors/l410lodge-sportsmans-grill-spa/

https://www.lifestylesco.com/products/lodge-cast-iron-sportsman-grill-parts

I would start with the 12-inch 6-quart lodge oven.  It is the most versatile of the dutch ovens and most recipes are for the 12-inch.  After this, the 10-inch would be my next purchase for sides or smaller dishes as you can still buy the lodge 10-inch at normal retail prices.  The 8-inch lodge would be my preference over the 10-inch but Lodge discontinued these for now so they prices on them are often unreasonable for what they are.

Once you have the12 and 10-inch, my next most used oven is a Cabelas 16-inch Deluxe Oven.  We use it for Pizza as well as cooking big whole chickens or small turkeys!  These three ovens combined with their lids that you can use as griddles would cover darn near everything you describe (assuming you add some skillets).