Yes, those suckers are heavy.
They are heavy for sure. I love my Staub. But I would not have spent $350 to buy it for myself. $200 was fine. I would never have paid that much for my kids.
One has a Martha Stewart one from Macy’s that was maybe $50 on sale.
The other has a Le Crueset but only because because I was given one that had a crack. I sent it in a fixed rate box back to the company. They claimed it was user error (seriously) but sent me a voucher for a 6 qt for $100. Sold.
It kind of floors me that, especially given the price, most Le Creuset doesn’t come with a proper handle.
Nice choice. I went back to cast iron skillets years ago. I have two Lodge Dutch ovens. One with legs for the campfire and another like the enameled that looks more like a pot. I used it on the smoker this weekend for smoked mac-n-cheese and smoked scalloped potatoes. Heavy but worth it. Good luck.
I bought a Martha Stewart version at Macy’s- loved it, got recalled for a safety issue (I think handle breaking off?) Replaced it with the more recent version, also recalled for a different safety issue (the top knob).
Agree with the Costco suggestion.
I would say a dutch oven and a couple of cast iron skillets (two sizes) are items I didn’t give a thought to owning or using the first 30 years of marriage/adulthood. Now I use the cast iron skillets more than other fry pans and the dutch oven can be used for SO much if you put it to use. You can bake bread in it, braise meat, any stovetop to oven recipes, soups, fry chicken, etc. Super versatile. Heavy in weight and variety of usage!
The black phenolic resin knobs on Le Creuset are actually oven safe up to 500*. I’ve baked bread in LC dutch ovens at that temperature and have never had a problem.
Looks like it depends on which line one purchases. From the Le Creuset website:
The black phenolic lid knobs on our Signature range of enameled cast iron are heat-resistant to 500°F / 250°C. The black phenolic lid knobs on our Classic range of enameled cast iron are heat-resistant to 390°F / 190°C.
From my reading, it sounds like Le Creuset has recently upgraded handles on newer dutch oven lines, likely in response to increased bread baking using dutch ovens over the past years, even pre-pandemic and criticism about their traditional handles. Their older product likely isn’t safe to 500%
Bon Appetit published an article today on this subject and recommends Lodge as an affordable alternative to Le Creuset.
https://www.bonappetit.com/story/just-buy-it-lodge-dutch-oven?
The really large cast iron pots are just too heavy for me. I’m comfortable lifting my 3.5 qt one in and out of the oven, but not the 5 qt. one, when it’s full.
The large pot I use most often is my All Clad 8 qt Dutch Oven. It has a squat shape so it goes easily from stove top to oven. I use it to cook soups, stews, pot roast, pasta, chili, greens, ratatouille, cabbage, and more. I love this pot so much I got one for my daughter, too.
The great strength of cast iron / enameled cast iron (CI / ECI) is that it retains heat. Certainly it retains heat longer than clad stainless steel. If you want a potful of (whatever you cooked) to stay hot, off-heat, until you serve it, iron is better than steel. I can see where this might be useful in some circumstances.
But my clad steel pot browns meat as well as iron does, and has some advantages over CI/ECI pots. It heats up more quickly than cast iron. It conducts heat better than iron, so there is no scorching. Unlike ECI, it doesn’t stain, and has no coating to potentially chip. Unlike non-enameled CI, it is non-reactive to acidic foods, and doesn’t need to be seasoned. And, of course, it’s lighter.
The All Clad pot has the disadvantage of costing more than the lower-cost CI/ECI pots, but one could find a similar size/shape pot of a different brand. Steel pots with heavy disk bottoms conduct heat as well as clad pots, according to a study I once read posted on Chowhound cookware forum.
I would not recommend my 8 qt pot for making no-knead bread. It’s way too large.
I have several pieces of cast iron cookware, both bare cast iron and enameled pots. The brands from France are beautiful but are pricey and I bought my LeCreuset and Staub cookware at steep discount. I second the vote for Martha Stewart (the Macy’s line), but I suspect those pots are no longer produced since they are hard to find online. My favorite bargain brand is Tramontina. Lodge is perfectly fine also.