My Lodge cast iron dutch oven works like a charm. Unlike enameled ones, they never chip, and if they rust you can always refinish it yourself.
I’ll put in a good word for Emile Henry over Le Creuset - the difference in ease of clean-up makes it a clear winner for me. One of my best wedding presents.
Mine came from a thrift store. It was cheap, but of good quality: a nice, heavy iron one. Don’t be afraid of checking secondhand stores – lots of people donate Grandma’s old kitchenware without realizing what great stuff it is. Don’t worry so much about brand name. Look for one with a heavy bottom.
I have a lodge enamelled & I’m kind of eh on it. It’s half the price of a Le Creuset but, as far as I can tell, the cast iron is thinner & the enamel is slightly more sticky. It ends up being a bit more finicky to sear stuff in it and often, I’ll end up with black spots.
Learned how low the melting point of aluminum is when we were baking biscuits in Dutch ovens for our Cooking merit badges and George chose to show off his wicked firebuilding skillz using only pine branches he had gleaned. We knew his biscuits were probably overdone when rivulets of molten aluminum ran out of the mound of coals.
No kidding? My parents bought me a MB and I really like it, though I wish they had gotten me one size larger.
I went with a Le Creuset, mostly because I knew from experience that it can be a lifetime purchase is cared for properly (my mother is still using the one she received as a wedding present almost 35 years ago, and I fully expect that someday I’ll have to fight my sister over who gets to inherit it).
The primary motivation for us was the fact that the Le Creuset is enameled, which means it’s less likely to scuff up our ceramic cooktop than the un-enameled Lodge. Not really sure how much of it is just paranoia (or anti-Lodge propaganda by the Staub/Le Creuset mafia), but we’d rather be safe than sorry given that the cost of a new stovetop would probably be more than the extra we paid for get Le Creuset. 
Get the Lodge it will last a lifetime just as well as the Le Creuset. I have a Lodge it is great. There is no need to pay 5 times the price for the fancy french name.
I have one too! I make a fantastic chili with it. I start by cooking up some beef cubes on my George Fauxman grill then I toss it in the pot to simmer. The real secret is that I add a little bit if Bleuman’s Own brand salad dressing. It’s called Knock off chili but I don’t know why.
:smack: