Cast Dutch oven advice?

You'll get all kinds of disagreement sot this suggestion, but look at a pawn shop and any junk dealers or flea markets in your area and see what their prices are. You may luck up and find the perfect pot for cheap and give a good old pot a new home too.

Buy as big as you think you'll need for the number of servings you want to be able to cook. A umber 10 (10 inches) is a pretty big cast iron pot.

Thump a used one with a metal object to make certain it is not cracked. A cracked ne will ring differently. Thump a few and make certain the ring in the same.

I use the hell out of my 7 qt lodge.

Wal mart and many hardware stores carry Lodges enameled cast iron line. It's affordable, and a whole lot easier to maintain than uncoated cast iron. I use the heck out of a 7-quart enameled cast iron, it is my go-to gumbo pot.
5, , 7, 9 quarts are good sizes to have.

Just go to Wal Marks and get a $30 Lodge, they are great pots.

Got a Lodge 7 from Acad. I think it was $54. They had a cheaper brand, but the sides were too shallow. I tend to spill.

Academy