I grew up using Dutch Ovens at Summer Camp with the Boy Scouts - our troop opted for a camp where we did Patrol Cooking on a Sheepherder stove and a 1/2 barrel open fire for some things, including boiling the cleaning water in pails.
We all learned how to cook, and well.
When my wife and I got married, some good friends of the family gave us a deep cast iron fry pan and matching Dutch Oven. We used for awhile, then they got put away - I pulled them out several years ago and use them almost all the time, anymore.
If you want to make cakes or cobblers, particularly if you're banking coals outdoors, you can fit an appropriately sized pan inside the oven - find either three like-sized stones or burn some bottle caps to get rid of any plastic/easily flamed paint and put in the bottom - this helps create the oven cavity so the outsides of the cake don't burn.
I've also made cornbreads and pot pies where I've wanted the crusting and then gone straight to the pot.
As for pot roast - Browning does add a lot of flavour.
The same is true of stew, but you don't "have to".
I just made a stew where I started the beef in the crock pot as we were heading out to church.
I don't use a lot of salt - we use fresh ground black pepper, and Granulated Garlic to season, and MAYBE a Little salt. We prefer adding salt at the table - helps those with high blood pressure, and we don't miss it - we get enough sodium in our diets elsewhere.
Depending on my mood, I also will use some Lea & Perrins on beef to let it sink into the meat, and some celery seed.
This particular stew I had two bottles of red wine with about a glass apiece left over that I used for the liquid.
We also love our oven roasted root veggies - adding lots of Potatoes, Carrots, Onions, AND Parsnips.
Roasted or fried parsnips add a natural sweetness and interestingly complex flavour to the meal.
My 16YO is a picky eater - took a long time before she ate meats - she about devoured the stew.
We use the same veggies in a pot roast or roasted leg of lamb. We may use crushed/chopped garlic with the larger cuts of meat, and definitely add bay leaves to the leg of lamb (we're not big mint jelly users).
Winter cooking - the more you cook up of the veggies, the longer you have them to savour - they're the foods that mellow and get even better as leftovers.
If you get towards the end, you can always grind them up and make hash, too.
I make a fast sauce, similar to ratatouille (sans the eggplant) in our Dutch Oven - THAT does require that I reseason the pan - the acids in the tomatoes cuts to the metal.
Cabelas (online
www.cabelas.com) also carry the full Lodge line of cast iron.
I love the pure, natural cast iron.
I'm not a big fan of the enameled. Between the easier to burn things onto the enamel (maybe that's just me, lol) to the inherent risk of chipping, I like the plain.
As for roasting a moist turkey - for years and years we ignored the advice that came with the bird and added liquid, covered the turkey - last year I didn't - the turkey was too big, and I didn't even tent it at first - it came out browned and the meat was more moist than when I'd added liquid. I was essentially steaming the turkey before. This was true roasting.
As for the earthenware - We had a Rommertopf years ago, which did Chickens and made a very nice roast - but it wasn't a stove top item.
