Review by D. Hsu:

Super-heavy construction, and preseasoned to boot. This is as close to a commercial griddle surface as you’ll ever take outdoors camping.

Did I mention heavy? It’s 29 freaking pounds! Gobs of thermal mass…I took it out to a big picnic of foodies, and we ran a bacon tasting (15-20 pounds of multiple bacon brands, cooked under cast-iron bacon presses) with superb results.

Not mentioned in the product description: the grease gutter incorporates a drain hole, and the product includes a wire cage to hang a steel can from as a grease catch. Nice.

Review by R. Dale:

If you have a sporting goods store nearby, you might save a few bucks by just going there to purchase this item. If the drive is too far or store does not carry the Camp Chef accessories, the free shipping offered makes up for the difference in price. Shop around.

Review by John Bolene:

you could row a canoe with this paddle

I use it in beer brewing to stir the mash and kettle

Review by Nitai G. Joseph:

I bought this to make big batches of cheese and discovered in my first batch that the handle filled up with milk. This contaminated the batch of cheese and the milk coagulated inside the handle.

Amazon sent me a replacement that ended up being worse than the first. I took it to a welder friend of mine and she could not even fix because if she tried to heat it it would just break. There are holes all around the joint between paddle and handle, and in the top of the handle. It is totally unsanitary.

I am trying to get Bayou Classic to refund me directly, but we will see.

Some people seem to be very happy, but why risk it just to save a few bucks?

Review by S. Dougherty:

The grill works great, and has a large cooking surface. The raised edges are a definite plus to keep hot dogs and other items from rolling off the grill. The one issue with the grill is that if the support post is set in soft ground it can start to lean over since the grill with food on it is very heavy. The raised edges on the grill help to prevent food from falling off, but a second support post would have been a nice addition to help support the grill.

Review by Otis Maxwell:

You gotta love the party spirit of the Bayou Classic company. Rule #1 of their instructions warns that it’s for “sober adult operation ONLY!” You won’t find that on a Cuisinart or Le Creuset pot! They also tell us how to season the pan with “solid vegetable shortening (Lard, Crisco or bacon drippings are best)”. Maybe in the Bayou, vegetables are defined as things that aren’t moving?

Cooking philosophy aside, everyone should find an excuse to buy this pan. It is massive and heavy, as all the reviewers have noted, and completely indestructible. Your great grand children will curse you for it because it’s so large and hard to store.

My excuse was making sourdough baguettes using a version of the Jim Leahy no-knead bread recipe. I figured if it works to use a cast iron Dutch oven to capture the moisture from the dough, maybe I could do the same for baguettes in a pan like this if I covered it with aluminum foil or a sheet pan. So far I haven’t got it right, but I’m having fun anyway. Maybe I should pay more attention to Rule #1…

Review by K. Kennedy:

I use my grill A LOT, and when I saw this pan I had to have it to make chicken in! I knew it was going to be large when I ordered it, but when I got it I was surprised just how large it was. I can easily put three chickens in it (and depending on size I have squeezed 4 whole chickens into this!) It evenly disburses the heat so that the chickens can roast nicely over low heat for hours without me worrying about the bottoms of the burning. I have used it on the top rack of my grill (yes, it is a LARGE grill LOL) over high heat to make an awesome crusty bread, I have used it in my conventional oven to make huge pans of corn bread and it has lived up to my expectations every time I have used it.

The Cons: It is LARGE! This is also one of the pros of this pan – and the specific reason I purchased it.

No lid – I would have LOVED LOVED LOVED a huge domed lid – I just wonder if anyone could have lifted it then!

Storage – you really need to think about where you are going to store this pan because it is approximately the size of a half sheet cake pan. I actually ended up putting to large nails into a wall in my pantry and I hang it instead of trying to find room in my cabinets.

The Pros: It is LARGE! Easily cooks 3 whole chickens with room for all that nice hot air to circulate and make them deliciously browned.

It’s cast iron! Built to last, this pan will be something my son and his family will want when I am gone – and it will be just as wonderful then as it is now!

The best thing about cast iron is how evenly it cooks, how durable it is over high heat, and how easily it cleans up – if you are thinking about getting this pan think no more, jump in and do it! You’ll love it!

Review by Valeriane McNeill:

Pot was larger than expected, with a very coarse surface. Coated with wax, which messed up the floor of my oven during curing. I have several cast iron products from lodge, and compared to those, this is very unwieldy and poor constructed. Tossed it in the trash after the second use.

Review by Richard A. Epstein:

This pot was a bit of a disappointment. I guess that the adage “You get what you pay for” is true. I picked this one because it was the cheapest I found and now I know why. It is made with thinner aluminum and is less quality. The pot was distorted out of shape from pressure on the carton during shipping. This was actually easily fixed by just squeezing the pot back into shape. A good quality stockpot of this size would never be that flimsy or easy to bend out of or into shape. I can’t wait to fill it up with water and pick it up by the handles. It feels like it is likely to distort just from the weight of the water and pressure of the handles on the flimsy sides. I would recommend paying a little more and getting a thicker, more commercial quality pot.

Review by N. Cody:

This is an impressively large and sturdy pot that I’m sure will last for years of occasional use. The handles seem sturdy as does the basket and its lifting handle. The lid is a bit thin and if dropped could get warped easly, but it is aluminum so easy to bend back. I only have one complaint; I would have liked the basket to be a little shorter, that way I could put something in the bottom of the pot to leave a space to use it as a steamer. As it is, if I put even a 1″ spacer in the bottom, then the lid doesn’t sit tight.

I don’t agree with the reviewer that said it was flimsy. I think that is just the feel of aluminum compared to the normal steel pots we are all used to. Even the higher end aluminum pots that cost twice as much still have the “flimsy feel”. But I will say this isn’t a professional grade pot, it you plan on using it every day or every weekend you may want to invest in something better. For me, I’ll use it 3-4 times a year, and I have no doubt it will last me for years.