Staub Oval Cocotte

I have hoped to find a true competitor to Le Creuset for years, one that was more affordable and of the same quality. Staub fills the bill, and fills it with style. This cocotte is large enough to accomodate a good-sized chicken, and is perfect for slow-cooked stews and braises. The interior coating is easy to clean and effectively non-stick. While its weight may be a deterrent for some, it is so attractive that it can be left on the stovetop or on a counter for easy access. It is my best purchase of the year and I look forward to using it for years to come.

I am an American who became a chef in Paris, France, and fell in love with Le Creuset enameled cast iron cookery over a decade before the first Staub "La Cocotte" was cast. Staub innovations deliver the cooking performance, commercial durability, and increasingly easy cleanup that clearly surpassed Le Creuset. The "Almost No Knead" artisan quality bread touted by the New York Times and Cooks Illustrated bakes up better in the oval cocotte. The even heating quality of Staub cast iron and the superior tight fitting lid design allow this easy-to-make, healthier, crusty, yeast raised "slack dough" bread rival bread baked in expensive steam injected commercial ovens that sells for over $4 a loaf! The oval shape and size of this cocotte bakes a large loaf that slices well. Granted, cast iron is heavy... but heavy is the secret to spectacular cooking (and baking) as Staub interior enamel is the secret to easier cleanup with prolonged use. My home kitchen now includes a bevy of Staub bargains...Read more

I've had the 7 quart Staub oval cocotte for a few weeks now, but it was too hot to cook anything stew-like until this week. Tonight I finally tried it out with a recipe for Chicken Stew with Winter Vegetables that I've been cooking for a good 10 years now. A classic Pierre Franey recipe. My old Le Creuset 5.5 quart French oven was never quite large enough. The Staub performed to perfection. It large enough to accommodate a large cut-up chicken and a ton of veggies with room to spare. It came up to a brisk simmer very quickly, and maintained the heat when I turned the heat to very low. The lid performs exactly as advertised. It seals completely. Not a wisp of steam came out of the pot. The spikes on the underside of the lid condensed the steam into moisture and cooked those vegetables at the top of the stew that were not completely submerged in the broth perfectly. My old Le Creuset would leave some of those veggies half-cooked while the rest were overdone. The veggies in...Read more