Average Rating:

If you can carry this beastie on a camping trip without getting a hernia, you WILL be rewarded. This grill will get a little rusty looking, but it won't ever let you down, - if you have any cooking sense at all.
I've used the Lodge whenever I had that "must-have" charcoal taste over the last four years (I was a Weber gas grill owner without a charcoal Weber kettle to fall back upon until recently).

The 'ol Lung always wins out when I want to make sizzling lamb chops or choice steaks that could earn a spot in a Martha Stuart Magazine article.
I love the feel of this little beast. There is nothing on the market that can compare to the hefty feeling of working with it. No thin metal and weakening corrosion here. The concentrated heat and heft can't be beat. It's a retro celebration. Also, aromas and smoke rising really count...

I have a Weber kettle now since XMAS ( I am prepared for prayer because of its results...), but the Lodge is an object of reverance too. Good stuff. Get one. Have fun. Discover minimalist grills and maximal results!

Cast iron, simple, fuel-efficient. Draft door for heat-control. Upper flip-door for adding / managing coals. 2 cooking levels (flip footed-grill). All you really need. Used every other day in bitter N.E. winter. Small, perfect w/ practice. Some tips (still learning / welcoming ideas):

1. Grill on outdoor wood surface (if desired) by elevating feet w/ bricks / flat stones
2. Use charcoal chimney starter
3. Level grill prevents food rolling on un-edged surface. Otherwise, watch closely.
4. Don't stress cast iron (your investment) by spraying water. Move food to side. Let flare-ups die down.
5. W/ grill's ability to hold heat, plan cooking and next day's meals: Start with long-cook foods, move to quick-cook foods, EAT, and while watching TV, roast potatoes in coals and in cast-iron pot or pan on the grill cook beans, roasted corn and onions, etc (you decide). Killer.
6. Lodge's #404 Sportsman's Cooker completes grill's potential: cooker bottom perfect fit as grill lid for smoking or indirect grilling, cooker and lid obviously cook fish and stock beautifully, and flipped lid is pancake / egg / sausage, etc. -heaven. Good additional investment.
7. When cooking's finished, wait till grill's warm and pores are open, brush down thoroughly and use clean, plain paint-brush (natural bristle) or foam brush to brush grill surface (both sides), top rims, and outside with oil -- peanut oil has an excellent, high smoke point.
8. Grill can be left outdoors with oval galvanized bucket as lid, or plastic tarp.

Definitely email me with further tips.