Nothing says “serious home cook” like an enameled cast iron Dutch oven sitting on a stove, except perhaps insisting on being called “chef” by your loved ones. When it comes to these gorgeous, glossy monuments of cookware, two names stand apart: Le Creuset and Staub. Both these revered brands, based in France where their cast iron is made, have reputations equalled only by their prices. They’re not cheap, but they promise to last several lifetimes. But which brand is better?
At the BestReviews Testing Lab we examined both Staub’s and Le Creuset’s cornerstone products, their enameled round cast iron Dutch ovens or cocottes. We found small but key differences in design that may give Staub an edge with adept cooks. But we also appreciated Le Creuset’s longevity and simplicity. In the end, it’s a draw. Both brands are worth the investment.
Both Staub and Le Creuset boast handcrafted quality, decades of experience, beautiful design and excellent performance.
Staub and Le Creuset share drawbacks common to enameled cast iron, most notably weight. They’re also expensive compared to enameled Dutch ovens from competitors.
We tested the Staub Le Cocotte Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven over an extended period to learn its strengths and any drawbacks. We also wanted to include one of Staub’s fun specialty shapes, in this case, its 3.75-quart Pumpkin Cocotte.
Product specifications
Material: Cast iron | Coating: Enamel | Heat Source Compatibility: Electric, gas, induction, halogen, oven | Maximum Oven Temperature: 500 degrees | Dishwasher-safe: Yes (hand-wash recommended)
In our opinion, the Staub cocotte is one of the most versatile and durable pieces of cookware available. It produced great results in our testing, especially in roasting, stewing and simmering, and it simply looks smashing on the stove, with its multiple layers of enamel giving it the shine of Italian majolica pottery.
It retained heat and moisture well during our tests, especially thanks to its tight-fitting lid with clever moisture spikes that catch and channel steam back onto the food while it’s cooking. Its dark, matte-finish interior coating sets it apart from competitors, and we found it superb for browning and searing once we got used to it. The Staub cocotte is oven-safe to 500 degrees with its lid and metallic knob, or up to 900 degrees without the lid. It comes in 16 colors and 10 different sizes.
Product specifications
Material: Cast iron | Coating: Enamel | Heat Source Compatibility: Gas, electric, induction, halogen, oven | Maximum Oven Temperature: 500 degrees | Dishwasher-safe: Yes (hand-wash recommended)
Staub not only makes regular cocottes but also is famed for having fanciful specialty shapes regularly available. A great example is its Pumpkin Cocotte. Cast in sand molds in Staub’s foundry in eastern France, the Pumpkin Cocotte is a visual showstopper that cooks as well as it looks.
It has the same black matte interior as the standard Staub cocotte, and a flat enamel bottom that’s compatible with induction cooktops as well as gas and electric. Its lid is curved to match the contours of its pumpkin shape exactly, while skipping the moisture spikes feature. It’s oven-safe to 500 degrees and is a fantastic choice for going from the stove to the table as an autumnal centerpiece.
The Le Creuset Signature Round Dutch Oven arrived at our Testing Lab already prestigious and craveworthy. Our tests only confirmed the fact that it’s as beautiful and reliable as it’s known to be. We also included one of Le Creuset’s novelty-shaped products, the Traditional Heart Cocotte.
Product specifications
Material: Cast iron | Coating: Enamel | Heat Source Compatibility: Gas, electric, induction, halogen, ceramic, oven | Maximum Oven Temperature: 500 degrees | Dishwasher-safe: Yes
The Le Creuset Signature Round Dutch Oven is beautiful, with a glossy enamel coating available in up to 26 different colors. But its beauty is not just skin deep. It cooks evenly, doesn’t burn if heated correctly, is easy to clean and promises to last generations. We’ve seen a 60-year-old Le Creuset Dutch oven in perfect working order and still as beautiful as ever.
The Le Creuset’s vitreous (glassy) enamel not only comes in dozens of vivid colors, but gives the interior and exterior of the cast iron a nonreactive finish that can stand up to all kinds of cooking, from soups to stews to roasts to deep-frying to bread baking. Its light, polished enamel interior shows off browning and fond (the tasty bits of flavor left by caramelization) with ease and food releases quickly when the Dutch oven is properly heated. Its curved lid has enough vertical space for rising bread, and its handles are wide enough for a comfortable grip while wearing kitchen mitts. It’s also dishwasher-safe; however, we feel hand-washing when possible is advisable.
Product specifications
Material: Cast iron | Coating: Enamel | Heat Source Compatibility: Gas, electric, induction, halogen, ceramic, oven | Maximum Oven Temperature: 500 degrees | Dishwasher-safe: Yes (hand wash recommended)
Le Creuset is not quite as versatile as Staub when it comes to novelty shapes, but it does have some examples, including this popular heart-shaped cocotte available in a few different colors, including red, white and sea salt. (Le Creuset does make a pumpkin-shaped Dutch oven as an exclusive for Crate & Barrel.)
The Traditional Heart Cocotte comes in a single 2-quart size enough for two to three servings. It’s oven-safe and would be a great choice for both baking and serving a chocolate souffle or other romantic dessert, or perhaps as an impromptu fondue pot. It offers a larger knob compared to lid size than the regular Dutch oven, and its loop handles are large and comfortable to grasp in pot holders.
These two Dutch ovens compete directly with each other. Both have the deep sides and tight lid of the Dutch oven design, with the Staub having straighter sides, giving it a little more surface area on the bottom. The Le Creuset has a rounded, domed lid, offering more vertical space for taller dishes such as roasts or bread, and wider, rounder loop handles, offering a bit more comfort and stability.
Both have an enamel finish that resists acids and allows you to cook almost anything with them. The Staub has a dark matte interior that according to Staub helps in browning, while the Le Creuset has a light, glossy interior that makes it easier to see cooking progress. Staub offers more sizes of cocottes, down to 0.425 quarts, than Le Creuset, but Le Creuset has more colors, 26 compared to Staub’s 16.
Both the Staub Pumpkin Cocotte and the Le Creuset Heart Cocotte are novelty or special Dutch ovens that nevertheless are full-fledged pieces of cookware as adept as their regular counterparts. Staub’s Pumpkin Cocotte is available in two sizes, 3.75 and 5.5 quarts, suitable for main or family-sized cooking, while the Le Creuset Heart is 2 quarts and more suited for small dishes or desserts. Staub’s Pumpkin Cocotte has rounded handles and a higher lid than its standard cocottes, while Le Creuset’s Heart Dutch oven has a relatively larger lid knob than the Le Creuset Dutch oven.
Based on our testing, we can look at how Staub and Le Creuset compare with each other in functionality. Spoiler alert: Both did great as long as some basic rules applied — namely, don’t overheat them.
The biggest difference between Staub and Le Creuset Dutch ovens is their cooking surface. Staub’s is dark, almost black, with a matte finish. Le Creuset’s is a light cream or ecru and is glossy. Both are enamel, so both won’t react to acids the way raw cast iron would, so you can cook tomato dishes, vinegary stews or lemon pan sauces with impunity, or boil salty pasta water without damage. Both release food well as long as they’ve been heated properly: starting at lower temperatures and taking time for the cast iron core to heat up.
The main performance difference between the Staub and Le Creuset cooking surfaces is with browning the food. Staub says its dark matte interior helps in browning, and after testing it, we would agree; but we also had experience letting some foods brown too much with the Staub cocotte because of its dark interior color. The light Le Creuset surface gave an easy-to-read background for telling when onions, for example, were the right shade for a recipe. However, eventually we know the surface will itself go brown over time. This won’t hurt its performance, but it does look a little unsightly.
It was pivotal for us to heat both the Staub and Le Creuset Dutch ovens at lower temperatures. From experience we knew to avoid using it over the stovetop at the highest heat settings, which could damage an enameled Dutch oven. Cast iron doesn’t actually heat quickly, which is why it’s so good at retaining and dispersing heat. Both the Staub and Le Creuset Dutch ovens dispersed heat evenly and well in our experience.
The Staub’s lid is its other notable difference from the Le Creuset. While both are well-fitting and heavy, keeping cooking steam inside, the Staub’s flat lid is studded with small nubs or spikes. These catch and condense the steam evenly across the cooking area, rather than channeling it down the sides as in a typical lid like the Le Creuset’s. We liked this basting function in our testing, noting how it helped keep foods moist when cooking low and slow for hours.
Both the Staub cocotte and the Le Creuset Dutch oven are considered by the brands to be dishwasher-safe. However, Staub does recommend hand-washing when convenient, and while Le Creuset says this only of its Traditional Heart Cocotte, we would apply it to the Le Creuset Signature Round Dutch Oven, too. The enameling on both brands’ products should hold up to the high heat and cleansers of a dishwashing cycle, but it’s gentler to clean them by hand. We let stubborn food particles soak in the Staub for easier removal, as with the Le Creuset, but the Staub’s dark interior camouflaged residue better.
Note that the 5.5-quart Staub cocotte weighs 12.57 pounds, something to consider when washing by hand or lifting and placing in the dishwasher. The 5.5-quart Le Creuset Dutch oven weighs 11.5 pounds, somewhat lighter but still heavy.
The Le Creuset Signature Round Dutch Oven costs between $260 and $625, depending on color and capacity, while the Staub Le Cocotte starts at $139.99 for the 1.25-quart capacity all the way to $659 for some colors of the 13.25-quart size. The Staub Specialty Shaped Pumpkin Cocotte retails for around $357 on Amazon and comes in three colors, while the Le Creuset Traditional Heart Cocotte comes in only one size at $220.
Le Creuset is available from Amazon, from its website and from retailers such as Williams Sonoma, Sur la Table, Crate & Barrel, Macy’s and Nordstrom. Staub is sold via Zwilling USA and is also available on Amazon, Williams Sonoma and Sur La Table. Staub is also available from Target.
You can’t go wrong with either Staub or Le Creuset. Both have the quality, performance and prestige of the highest-quality enameled cast iron cookware. If price is an issue, Staub’s products cost slightly less than those of Le Creuset, and its moisture-distributing lid is a clever feature for slow-cooking meats and other proteins. But Le Creuset is slightly simpler and more straightforward and remains an heirloom investment that won’t disappoint.
Prices listed reflect time and date of publication and are subject to change.
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