Customer Reviews

Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron 4-1/4-Quart Soup Pot with Cover, Red

5 star:		(32)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Ok, so this pot is really two tools in one: A Great piece of cookware and a piece of exercise equipment. Lordy, it weighs a TON.
Ok so how does it cook? Very Well: Very even heat, no hot spots to burn your chowder, it will hold a simmer and come to a quick boil. It has a tight fitting lid that really seals in the heat. It is oven safe and the slopped sides make it easy to stir ingredients in to the broth without loosing them in a corner.

Easy to clean, well, really, VERY easy to clean. And I LOVE the red color. I find NOTHING other than cost and weight to criticize but let us face it: one gets what one pays for and this is a lifetime pot, your lifetime, your kid's lifetime, you r grandkids lifetime. Moreover, considering it is a pot and a Nautilus in one.......

First let me say that I would not have bought this kind of high-end cookware had Amazon not made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I actually bought this on a whim thinking that if it wasn't anything special, then it goes into the church rummage sale.
The maiden voyage dish was a pot roast with vegetables. Okay, so it wasn't soup, but what a great roast. I browned the meat as usual, drained the fat, added the veggies and liquid. The whole thing went into the oven, cover and all. I served the meal from the stylish pot with rave reviews on all the components. Since then I have made soups and stews. It really holds up to slow stove-top cooking also.
Clean up? The enamel coating makes everything slide off with hot soapy water and a little nylon scubby. What more could you ask for? Okay, someone to come and actually do the cooking and clean up. But if you don't have the luxury of a personal chef, get this pot. I actually think of it as a potential heirloom to be passed on to my daughter. It is a little pricy, but worth the splurge.
Hey Amazon, make me a few more offers on Le Creuset cookware and I'll buy. Thanks from the bottom of my pot.

This is a wonderful all-purpose pot. I use it for a multitude of purposes:

1. Making sauces for pastas and then adding the pasta to the sauce and tossing. The curved sides make it perfect for the quick and easy blending of shrimp scampi with lemon spaghetti for example.
2. Stir-fry. The sloping sides and great heat retention make stir-fry a natural.
3. Casseroles - Easy clean up and a comfortable size make this a wonderful casserole pot.
4. Reheating - the large surface area makes this the pot to go to when reheating almost any main course - lamb shanks come to mind immediately.

I find that I use this pot for almost everything except soup. For soup I turn to my handy 5-½ quart Le Creuset Dutch oven. Less surface area means less chance to slop over when stirring. I had the 7-½ quart soup pot and gave it away. It was far too much of a space hog on top of the stove. However this pot is neither too large not too small - it is just right!

Everything that has been said is true - it cooks (everything) beautifully. I've only had one small problem - storing the lid upside down on top of the pot will scratch the enamel unless you store it with a towel or waxed paper in between. I'm saving my money to buy a whole set!

What a distinct pleasure to have this fine Creuset in my kitchen! It was worth every penny and then some. The 4-1/2 quart size is perfect for our small household, perfect for use as a Dutch Oven, and a true Best Buy in the Creuset line.
The sloping edges of the pot are my favorite aspect. Or maybe it's the gorgeous variegated "Volcanic Flame!" with the rich vanilla-colored enamel interior. Or maybe it's the smart, competent way it sits atop the stove, ready for any assignment. Spaghetti sauce! Beef stew! Chicken soup!
Solid and enduring pots and pans for the kitchen are always a wise investment; and this one, this one in particular, was love at first sight.
Hallelujah.

This is a great piece of cookware.

I realize now that for my purposes I should have gotten the dutch oven, but for the price I am not complaining.

I use it mostly for meat sauce for spaghetti and for stews.

I have browned 4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts in it.(I suspect I could fit 6 if I tried)

Although they will not all fit/lay flattly on the bottom, when I lay them around the base (like a wreath) whatever is in contact with the pot, anywhere, browns. (lightly oil the chicken first)

As mentioned I wish I had goten the dutch oven instead because it would give me a larger FLAT cooking surface. And in reality it could be used as a soup pot as well.

This pot is not big enough to make soup (the way I do)for my family of four. I have the butcher cut up a whole chicken, then I throw in a package of wings. By the time I would add carrots, turnips, celery and water this little pot would be OVERFLOWING. I purchased an 8qt pressure cooker to make stock instead.

But this makes a really fine meat sauce for spaghetti!

Happy cooking!

I have had the same experience with this piece that others have--I had to return it because of the cast iron showing through in several spots. I exchanged it for another one, which is much better--just short of being perfect, so good enough to keep this time. In general, I highly recommend Le Creuset--the other items I have (most purchased through Amazon) are just wonderful, but I do have reservations recommending this particular item. The customer service from Amazon in regard to the return was impeccable!

If I could marry a soup pot, this would be my groom. He would last longer than a lifetime, cook like a pro, and clean up without any effort, all whilst looking like he's too beautiful to do anything but sit and preen.
I truly adore this pot. It does everything they say it does, and better than you expect. The solidity and weight of the pot, a problem for some, are to me the emblems of durability and resilience in a line I will look forward to passing down to my children.

This is a great all-around cooking pan. For sauces, stews and soups, we fry onions, garlic, and/or meat and then add the vegetables and liquid ingredients directly (no separate fry pan is needed). The interior surface is relatively stick-free (we always use oil) and the whole pan is easy to clean with soap and a sponge.

Before getting this pan, we used a cast-iron pan of similar size and shape. While this Le Creuset pan is much more expensive, it is about half the weight and a third the trouble to clean.

The pan comes with a sticker attached to it that is impossible to remove with your finger-nail. But soap and water remove the sticker with ease.

Don't buy this pot unless you want everything you cook to taste better. Recipes you've been making for years suddenly taste better and you haven't changed anything but the pot... it's amazing!
I bought the first Le Creuset pot for my wife as one of her Christmas presents, requested, and remembered thinking, "This is a lot of money to spend on a pot!" but I'm a true believer now and we have nothing but Le Creuset in our kitchen. All of our other pots and pans have been distributed to charities, family and friends. (If you don't like to spend too much on a pot then be patient and wait for the sales. After all, is there really any rush to get a pot?) If you're just starting out, or looking to get a new set, I would recommend making the investment in Le Creuset. With a little care and a 101 year warranty it's the last set of pots you, or your kids, will ever buy!

On a final note there is another benefit in cooking with Le Creuset... you might be able to skip the gym one night a week depending on how much you cook - they are heavy!