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my next pot
I’ve been thinking lately that what I really need is a nice cast-iron enameled Dutch oven. They’re such versatile pots because you can use them for everything from soups to sauces to braise to roasts to ... well, the sky’s the limit. Unfortunately, when I look around at the selection, it seems you have two choices: Expensive and well-made and inexpensive and cheap.
Here’s the thing: I already own a cast-iron enameled Dutch oven. My older sister gave it to me a few years ago as a birthday present and it seemed to work just fine… at first. Then one day, as I had it heating on the stove with some oil in it, I heard a popping noise. I looked over and saw enamel chips popping out of the pot! Now I’m not sure if it was something I did wrong or if it was a defect in the pot, but I suspect the latter. I’m fairly certain that a nice LeCreuset or Staub would not be susceptible to the same flaw.
The problem is that the LeCreuset and Staub are both so expensive. A Le Creuset 5 1/2-Quart Round French Oven (I don’t know why they call them “French”; looks like a Dutch oven to me), which I think is the minimum size if you’re only going to have one Dutch oven, is $190. The 7 1/4-quart model, which is the size I really need, is $229! The Staub is even more expensive at $219 for the 5-quart model. That’s just too much for me to spend. Yes, I know good pans are expensive and this is heavy-duty hardware that will last for generations with care. But I just can’t spend the dough right now.
So I looked at less expensive models. One that caught my eye was the Mario Batali Italian Essentials Enameled Cast Iron Pot - 6 Quart for only $99, a relative bargain at about half the price. And if you can overlook the ugly retro-colors, it does get a lot of rave reviews. Yet, if you look at the negative reviews, you’ll find that some people had problems with manufacturing defects. While Amazon made exchanges, I’d rather not deal with the flaw, especially if crops up later rather than sooner.
So what do I do? My philosophy is generally that you get what you pay for and so I think I’ll wait until I think we can afford the better pot. In the meantime, I’ll also keep an eye on sales. Once in a while, either Le Creuset or Staub have a big sale, sometimes up to 50% off, and if I can catch one, I’ll be on top of it.
Meanwhile, I’ll continue to daydream about wonderful braises and all-day stews and osso buco and ...
COMMENTS
TUESDAY MORNING!!!! There are 6 of them in the Boston area - Nationwide they all have identical merchandise due to the way they distribute the large lots they buy. Marc and I have amassed a small collection of Le Creuset cast iron by haunting Tuesday Morning stores. Our first purchase was a 5.5 quart (I think) round dutch oven in a discontinued color (green) - it retails at about $200 - we got it for $75!!! Abount a week later we got a 3.5 quart blue oval one for a little less. The deal was these are always marked down there (check for damage, there usually isn’t any, but check) to about 1/2 retail, but we hit the store during a 25% off sale. So, 2 pots for less than the full price cost of one! I highly recommend them for hidden treasures of higher end cookware. (they never have all-clad though)
Later on we got a good deal on very large but much more shallow one (I think they call it a risotto pot), at a Le Creuset outlet - 30% off i think. very good sale, more expensive than the ones from Tuesday Morning, but still an awesome deal. We use this one for fairly large batch frying - It’s fantastic for fried chicken.
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