I wasn’t sure if it had changed; I googled it and got that answer.
Mrs. L had some (brand unknown) handed down from a grand parent that was damaged, and she wanted new. We tried the inexpensive route multiple times and it all failed. I think all the other brands we tried were made in China.
The problems seem trivial, just a small chip, but it isn’t ordinary paint.
“Vitreous enamel, also called porcelain enamel, is a material made by fusing powdered glass to a substrate by firing, usually between 750 and 850 °C (1,380 and 1,560 °F). The powder melts, flows, and then hardens to a smooth, durable vitreous coating. The word comes from the Latin vitreum, meaning “glass”.”
So you can see it won’t be easily fixed at home and ingesting glass sounds like a bad idea. I don’t think they even fix it at the factory.
I have both round and oval Staub cocottes but we use the round one a lot more than the oval. If you buy the right size, the round cocotte will pretty much fit everything the oval one does including whole chickens and roasts. And it sits better on the gas range than the oval.
I don’t know… I’m the owner of 2 or 3 Le Creuset dutch ovens (the smaller 2-ish quart sized ones- a round and an oval), as well as a large 7 qt oval Rachael Ray branded one that we got as a gift, and a large round Tramontina one.
We’ve had the Rachael Ray one for 13 years now and use the shit out of it. Other than some discoloration of the inside enamel (but not chipping), it’s going strong. I did replace the lid knob with a stainless Lodge one, but that was by choice, so I could put it in a higher temp oven than the factory silicone one could handle (like 350-400 degrees!)
I still haven’t seen anything that makes me want to spend $300 on a Le Creuset, Staub or Emile Henry whenever the RR one finally craps out to the point of unusability. I’ll probably get a Lodge or some other less expensive one.
FWIW, I’m not a cheap cookware guy- I have a full set of All-Clad classic, Wusthof knives (and a random assortment of other stuff like a Mercer Genesis chef knife, some Victorinox and Dexter-Russell boning knives, Misen, and a Kyocera ceramic Usuba knife). I just don’t see the performance difference to warrant 3x the cost in the spendy French brands.
I have a LC with a chip on the edge. It doesn’t seem to be flaking. It’s been this way about 5 years. I did it my self by tapping the spoon I was stirring with on the edge. Will warranty fix or replace it?
God, I bet it would cost a fortune to ship it back to France!
I think it weighs 20lbs.
According to the info I’ve found, this is incorrect. All Lodge enameled cast iron is made in China- it’s the seasoned cast iron and carbon steel items that are made in the US
That’s exactly what I was saying. The enameled pieces are made out of their immediate control, and that concerns me. I don’t care particularly that it’s made in China, just that it may not be up to their other standards.
Perhaps it would have been clearer had I said “made outside of their own factories”.
In discussions with my wife last night she had a strong preference for the oval shape, mainly for roasts and whole birds. One thing I found interesting was that for LC, the 5 quart ovals have the resin knobs, the 6.75 ovals go to the metal knobs. But the LC site says that the resin knobs are good to 500 degrees.
Any guidance on how big a chunk of meat will fit in the 5 qt vs the 6.75 qt oval? I typically cook for 2 or 4 people, but I love leftovers.
We picked up at Ald some, in fact, for super cheap and it cooked well enough. Mrs L was happy with it until it chipped. One piece (I forget the brand) had a lid and its underside chipped—there was no contact with utensils, even). Mrs. L doesn’t abuse the stuff, and it’s supposed to be so tough and all.
This Le Creuset pdf may give insight. If we assume them to be a gold standard (or at least a silver?) what do they say, and should we figure that advice goes double for other brands?
One thing, for instance: don’t take that hot pan off the stuff and plunge it into cold water. There’s a thermal shock possibility.
Another: They say don’t heat up an empty pan.
Another: They mention avoiding electric mixer beaters (so I’m going to say no metal immersion blenders)
There are chips, and then there are chips. Personally, unless it’s the sort of thing that compromises cooking in it in some fashion, I’m not going to get too bothered about cosmetic chips unless it’s brand new and chipping in the first year of use or something like that.
In essence, it’s glass-coated cast iron. It’s tough, in the sense that it’s cast iron, with all its advantages, but it’s enameled, so you don’t have all the issues that go with it being seasoned and the care and feeding involved with that. But it’s not “tough” in the sense of being tougher than say… a stainless steel dutch oven of the same capacity.
I’m not going to say anything new but I’ll throw in my opinion. Don’t get an oval pot if you plan on using it mostly on the stove-top (e.g. browning meat, cooking soups, caramelizing onions); I don’t have an oval pot but I’ve read (like on The WireCutter) that oval pots are more prone to hot (and cold) spots on the stove. If most of your cooking will be in the oven then an oval pot is fine.
America’s Test Kitchen recommends a dutch oven with a light-colored interior and I concur; it’s helpful when browning/caramelizing to be able to differentiate food from pot.
I love my Lodge dutch oven; it gets more work from me than just about any pot/pan and it doesn’t have any chips so far. I’m not especially careful with it (e.g. I routinely haul it to my parents’ summer cottage). Like lobotomyboy I’ll spend money on kitchen gear when it’s warranted (I have a few copper pans) and for me Lodge was the easy choice.
As long as you’re okay with staining. My oldest one, used for year has(had?) a white interior but is permanently fairly brown on the bottom now.
Well maybe not permanently, It’s possible with a lot of chemical and scrubbing I could eventually get it white again, but as the enamel is a thin layer I really don’t want to go nuclear cleaning and abrading for no real reason.
Emile Henry has really great deals on their site right now. I have snapped up a few things. Well worth browsing I would say.
ETA: I use a round pot so that I can easily use it on the stovetop and the oven. Round fits the burner shapes better.
I did originally get the Lodge in cast iron, but I regret that now. It’s harder to clean.
When I moved in with my gf 15 some years ago I brought my round and oval Le Creusets with me. She already had the same round and two ovals. Luckily, we have plenty of storage space, so we kept them all. I use whichever best suits my need, and am glad I have the choice.
This has been my experience, though I only use the dutch oven for cooking big hunks of meat and making chili. The big round one gets all of the use. When I had a smaller round one though, I couldn’t fit a whole bird in it, but could in the oval one of near equivalent volume.
That said, I rarely cook with it on the burner. I get better results and fewer burnt spots when I cook it in the oven.
I’ll echo that as well. Ours works best in the oven although I’ve made lots of stews on the stovetop as well. FWIW, Lava cookware is made in Turkey, not China. Sorry if it sounds like I’m shilling for them but I really like their products, and we’ll be buying the dutch oven/pan combo soonish…