Customer Reviews

Le Creuset Enamel-on-Steel 16-Quart Covered Stockpot, Red

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a nice pot but chips easily. The overall quality is not the best. Defects can be seen on the pot if you look closely, especially on the handles. The pot cooks food well and is a great size when making food for a party. If you plan on buying this pot, be very careful when using it and when cleaning it. It will chip very easily. I only use a wooden spoon when cooking with mine. You should also inspect the pot when you first receive it to make sure you get a pot without defects.

I use this stockpot weekly, for stocks, and even as a pasta boiler when I am cooking large quantities (I just wish there were a pasta insert for this pot). The interior enamel is very durable, and clean-up is a breeze. A magnet sticks to it, so it can be used on an induction-type burner. I am going to get an induction burner, and I can't wait to see how it will perform.

I bought my stock pot about 2 years ago, and I have used it twice on high heat. For my 3rd use of the pot, I attempted to make spaghetti sauce. After turning up the burner heat, the pot began smoking almost immediately. Then it then started releasing an acrid/chemical stink that filled my home with choking fumes (the chemicals were actually bubbling up through the sauce). Needless to say, the sauce was ruined...but after emptying the pot my husband & I noticed that the enamel from the pot had melted onto the burner coil. This disaster cost us about $200 to replace all of the items ruined either by the smoke/chemical residue or the paint that had dripped off the pot. We were also conerned about our family's health because of the chemical smoke.

We took photos of the ruined pot and burner (luckily), and tossed everything. I initially contacted the Le Creuset company by email...with no response. Later, my husband called the company and spoke to a very rude customer service employee who wanted us to mail the pot back to their company (they won't pay the shipping) so they could give us a new one. We informed her that we didn't keep the melted, stinking pot due to health reasons (she told us that we should have kept it on the back porch). She was also informed that WE DON'T WANT A NEW POT. How do we know that one won't melt too? We asked to speak with her supervisor...surprise, surprise, that person wasn't working. Our next course of action will be to write a letter to the company and include the photos and our reciepts for all of the items we had to replace that were ruined (2 burner coils, 2 drip pans, a smaller stock pot, teflon cooking tools, oven mitts, hot plates, not to mention all of the food that was wasted...)

Save yourself the trouble and don't purchase any enamel on steel pots from this company!!

While this is not Highly Recommended by the owners manual, it is Recommended. And for the record, the bottom is FLAT. This is also a good size for feeding 100 of your closest friends.