I have two pieces of Staub (which is the same as the Le Creuset price level) and some $25 on-sale Chefmate (or whatever the cheapo brand at Target is) of enameled cast-iron Dutch ovens. It’s only been five years so far, but I use them interchangeably and have not noticed any difference in their performance or durability. I slightly prefer Staub to Le Creuset, as it comes with a metal handle and a lid with a dimpled underside but, honestly, if they weren’t bought for me as a Christmas gift, I would have been perfectly happy with the sub-$50 dutch ovens, too.
Aren’t you the one who posted that yummy onion soup recipe a couple of years back?
Seems to me a Le Creuset dutch (er, French!) oven would be perfect for that. I keep thinking of getting one and the first thing that comes to mind, should I do so, is onion soup.
I miss my regular cast iron dutch oven, though. I messed up the seasoning once (forgot to clean it right away :smack:) and it needs to be cleaned off using napalm or tactical nukes or something so I can reseason it.
[quote=“Mama_Zappa, post:22, topic:580091”]
Aren’t you the one who posted that yummy onion soup recipe a couple of years back?
Seems to me a Le Creuset dutch (er, French!) oven would be perfect for that. I keep thinking of getting one and the first thing that comes to mind, should I do so, is onion soup. QUOTE]
I did this in my dutch oven about two weeks back. AWESOME! I used the “joy of cooking” french onion soup recipe, with a few tweaks. It was so good, I made the entire recipe again two days later (my husband bought a bag of onions from Costco, and they needed to be used).
I’ve got kind of a dumb question - I bought an enameled dutch oven at Walmart a few years go (2008), and until we got our other dutch oven (plain cast iron), we cooked literally everything in it - high heat, oven, serving dish, fridge storage… The handle on it is not metal, I’ve always thought hard plastic, although it could be rubber. Do they really make these things with non-ovensafe handles?!
Ooo that is my absolute favorite one, I had one when I first moved out - white, with nonstick lining from the early nonstick models back in the late 70s.
The 2 qt one is the perfect size for a single person =)
I keep mentioning to their reps when I run across them that they bring those back!
I am currently collecting it in red, I have the =/- 9 pc set and a couple extras, and need to start working on the ceramics next. Heavy, but it lasts forever with proper care =)
If you’re going to reseason anyway, you can treat plain cast iron as iron, instead of delicate cookware. Steel wool & fine sandpaper will take it right down to bare metal. I’ve bought some rust covered cast iron pans for $1 and brought them back to life this way.
We almost bought an enameled Dutch oven with Martha Stewart’s name plastered on it. I avoid celebrity products like the plague, but the price was good. At the last minute I checked for reviews online and sure enough, people had problems with cracking, etc. It’s probably the only piece of this stuff I’ll ever buy, and in addition to the sale price, we got another 10% off. Now if I can just get this 7 pound pork roast to thaw, I’ll have to look up that chili verde recipe thread from awhile back and give it a maiden voyage.
Lodge says their resin handles are only ovensafe to 400 F.
Does your oven have a clean cycle, and need a cleaning anyway? If so, toss in your pizza stones, cast-iron that needs a clean, and fire it up.
Open the windows and set up some fans, there will be some mild smoke, but everything will come out nice and clean. Reseason properly.
Wow. Upon reading that care guide, we are basically doing everything wrong - using the broil setting when making Alton Brown tomato sauce, washing while hot, using metal utensils, heating it empty…
Suppose that thing’s a trooper, but I may start using the plain one more. Those are all things that made me like it to begin with, and I’m slowly kililng it. Oh well - pans are meant to be used, not put in a museum, right? 
The chili verde is simmering on the stove as I write this. Roasted a bunch of anaheim peppers and a few jalapenos and some tomatillos and garlic. Peeled the peppers, cut off the stems, threw it all into the food processor and dumped it on top of the browned pork shoulder, along with some cumin, Mexican oregano, a few cloves, lime juice and two bottles of beer. Hopefully, it won’t just taste like mushy crap.
That sounds delicious.
I got my first pieces of Le Creuset as wedding gifts from my Mom. At first I got mad at her for spending the money, but it turns out she got them cheap from someone who was clearing out her kitchen and getting rid of stuff she’d never used. They still had stickers on them! I am in love with my little braiser, in “fennel” color. I’ve also got a small round dutch oven in “azure blue”, and a third big oval tomato-red dutch oven that’s not Le Creuset but is still holding up great.
I actually love that they don’t match - gives my kitchen more character. When I’ve got one on the stove, I feel like I’m cooking.
It was excellent, but I have enough to feed an army.
Hmmm…Portland is about 6-8 hours from me. Darn, too bad I have to work. 
Glad to hear the dish was a success, Chefguy. In honor of this thread, I’ve used my dutch oven to make some chicken stock this week and some pulled pork using this recipe. It wasn’t bad, but your recipe sounds better. Next time I get some pork shoulder, I’ll be shamelessly stealing your recipe.
Actually, I used a conglomerate recipe from a thread I started called chili verde recipes. It wasn’t that long ago, so a search should turn it up easily.