I'm finally about to buy my first dutch oven. For those of you who have these brands' dutch ovens, is there really a difference that justifies the difference in price or Le Creuset costs more just because is more famous?
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My husband is gifting me a good dutch oven for Christmas and I am torn between the Staubs and Le Creusets. I am looking at the traditional 6-7 qt. oven. I like to braise, so having the bigger one is nice. They're both similar in cost (Staub is a bit less), but a local store has a lovely Teal Le Creuset 7 qt. for $399 (they are typically $460).
Edit: I have a Lodge already. Have had it for years (10+). The enamel is scratched on the interior (we don't use metal utensils on it). It's my go-to for making bread and frying, but I want something nicer.
Edit 2: I think I'm going to go with a Staub!
Hi everyone, I'm new into the sourdough world, and was wondering if anyone has a recommendation between these three brands for dutch ovens, and the best or most versatile size to get for sourdough and bread making in general. Is Le Creuset worth the price tag? and does a dutch oven essentially give the same results as a bread oven?
Hi everyone, I'm new into bread making and was trying to decide between these three brands for either a 4.5 Qt or 5.5 Qt Dutch Oven. Does anyone have a recommendation? Is Le Creuset worth the price tag as an investment piece? Thanks!
If you’re only doing bread, it’s hard to beat Lodge. It’s affordable, I think my combo cooker was $35. You don’t have to baby it or worry about staining. It’s a good beater to have around for really high heat tasks like hard searing, frying, and bread.
That said, I do think Le Creuset is worth it as an investment piece if you want to use it for soups, braises, etc as well. I personally have both, and I reach for the lodge combo cooker first for bread, but occasionally do two loaves at once and use both LC and lodge. For most DO recipes, I reach for LC first.
This 5.5qt DO from Staub will make beautiful bread as well and the sale price is hard to beat. Fully enameled and on par with LC quality, very versatile size. Staub is supposed to have the best steam retention of the three brands, which is good for bread. Staub 5.5 visual imperfections sale. I just received one of these yesterday, and the only “imperfection” I can find is a tiny pinhole dot on the outside of the pot. Pretty thrilled with it for $130.
I can't say much about Lodge enameled cast iron, they did not start making it until 2005, after I already owned LC, but I love my old school Lodge cast iron skillet.
I am not a bread maker, so I use my dutch oven mostly for soups, braising and deep frying.
The reason I went with Le Creuset over Staub is because I prefer the light color interior of the LC that makes it much easier to see how food is browning.
Honestly, if the Staub dutch ovens were not black inside, I might have picked that brand over LC, because I love their rich colors and they don't discontinue them as often as LC.
We want a BIFL Dutch oven. Will the Staub Cocotte 7qt oval ($449) really give me any better performance than the Lodge 7qt oval ($100)? I’m leaning towards the Staub because I prefer the black interior, people trust the brand, and the sapphire color is gorgeous. But the price tag is astronomical compared to the Lodge of the same size. Anyone have the Lodge and been perfectly happy? Is the responsible thing to be frugal and purchase the Lodge because it performs just as well or to “buy once, cry once” and get the Staub?
I've been wanting to buy a dutch oven for some time and always balked at the price tag of a Le Creuset, $420 nowadays! These are considered the be all and end all of dutch ovens and also have lifetime warranty to boot.
Then I'm looking at Lodge and I can now get one for ~$80 (with discount) and since I have a few Lodge cat iron items already, I'm torn. Lodge quality is indisputable, but the price difference on the two seems too big to be just due to hype etc. Lodge admits the enameled cast irons are made in China, but they say to extremely high metallurgical standards. Not sure about warranty, what I can find suggests it's also lifetime.
Any direct experience with these two items and recommendations? I'll pay the hefty price if necessary, it is BIFL after all!, but still like to spend less if possible. Thanks!