Ask the A2K cooks!

I notice, and approve, that you didn't say "too much" parsley. For there is no such thing as too much parsley. This gnocchi recipe sounds tempting.

testing to see if I can post over here in food and drink

Any idea, anyone?

Can chipped enamel on cast iron cookware be repaired?

I dropped one of my pots (the one below) onto a tiled floor and chipped some enamel on the lid & on the pot itself. (damn). It's not a huge amount of damage but I'm wondering if any of you know if repairs are possible?
I've looked online & can't find anything.
I guess it's more a cosmetic thing about appearance than anything else ... & the chips are on the outside of the pot & lid, none inside , so there'd be no problem with cooking in the pot in the future.

This is the pot in question. Same colour and all.:

Check out all the ideas in this thread ranging from doing nothing to using enamel to repair the chips to getting replacements from Le Creusete.

http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/336082

Different site, same range of advice:

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/cookware-tools/chipped-enamel-need-to-replace-this-cookware-086730

Thank you, Butrflynet.
Reading now.

I have that pot, in green. Oy vey, to chip it..
How about contacting the company online?

dunno about 'stralia, msO, but...

here in america, one could go to an automotive paint supplier and get a small amount of "bake" enamel mixed to a close color match. I'm not sure how hot to think your pan gets, but 250 F or so should not be too hot for it...

for about $20.

I asked at the retail outlet I'd bought it from, osso.
They said no go, most likely.
I checked the company (Chasseur) online but couldn't find any information about service/repairs. I might try again.

I know.
I love that pot, the most often used of my cast iron pots. (not that I have 10 of them, or anything! )

Now there's a thought!
Thanks, Rocky.
I'll certainly check that out.

The pot, as I mentioned before, is perfectly usable with those 2 chips.
But, you know ...
It was so beautiful before!

Mine's Le Creuset, but they look the same type of pot. So, I'd look at the Le Creuset site, and at Butrfly's first link, myself. The auto paint thing sounds doable.. though I sometimes put my oven up as far as 450. On the other hand, I don't put this particular pot in the oven, since I never ordered a knob other than the one that came on it. They have substitute ones in, I think, stainless steel, which doesn't melt in an oven like the black one shown in the photo.

Oh right ... the plastic nob.
Hmmm ... that probably puts the khybers on that idea.
Didn't think of that before.
Thanks, osso.

(I use mine in the oven as well as on the stove top. No problems.)

That's one of the suggestions at those links I provided. Home Depot has it in their paint department also.

The caveat is that it should be used for external repairs not surfaces that will contact food since it isn't known whether the repair materials are meant for ingestion.

http://forums.overclockers.com.au/showthread.php?t=900458

Good idea, ehBeth.
But a concern (perhaps unnecessary, I don't know) : I wonder how much a company which specializes in say, bath restorations, would know about whether their enamels are safe/suitable for cooking utensils.
As I mentioned earlier, the inside of the pot & lid are fine - the chips are on the outside, so the new enamel wouldn't come into contact with food.
I'm thinking about stove top & oven suitability of the enamel.

Re the knob - how high do you set the oven? I'd love to use mine in the oven - thinking braising..

Osso, mostly use it on the stove top (I have a favourite free range chicken recipe, including a whole garlic & lemon, which has been cooked in that pot quite a few times! It's Deb's recipe, BTW. )
But in the oven? It depends on what I'm cooking, of course. I'd like to be able to use it for "normal" enameled cast ironware oven cooking in the future. I just looked in the little Chasseur booklet which comes with their pots. Most oven recipes in it appear be at around 200C degrees. My top oven temperature is 250 C degrees.
There aren't any suggestions in the booklet that 250 C might be a problem.

Just checked a conversion site:

This seems promising (after looking at the conversions from C to F), I'm going to try it.

the bathtub restoration folks use high temp enamels - they tend to know quite a bit about the qualities and safety features of their products - and can give you info about the products you can check on online

OK, thanks, ehBeth.
The online check would put my mind at ease.