Customer Reviews

Le Creuset 5 1/2 Quart Round French Ovens

5 star:		(39)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The price of the Le Creuset French Oven is prohibitive - it always has been. Ten years ago, I exchanged five beautiful but unwanted wedding gifts for this French oven. I feared that it might not be worth it, but my fears were ungrounded. The quality, beauty, and versatility of this product is unsurpassed. You can easily braise a meat on the stove, and then bake it in the oven. You can simmer tomato-based sauces for hours, or slow-cook a stew to perfection. If you have a family and enjoy cooking, you will use this product over and over. After ten years of heavy use, my pot still looks new and I still derive great pleasure in using it. Expensive? Yes, but quality items usually are. You will be so glad you bought this.

last year my mother gave me 3 of her 20 year old le creuset pieces. since then i have been replacing all my cookware with le creuset. this is my favorite size of the ovens. i'm usually cooking for two, but prefer this as my pasta pot. it's GREAT for soup too, and to have when cooking for guests, potlucks or for leftovers. and you can put it right in the fridge after dinner. the clean up on all these pieces is the absolute best. highly recommend! (i was even using it as a larger skillet substitute for a short while!)

I spent countless hours pouring over the various reviews of all the different Dutch ovens out on the market and in the end, this is the one that I ended up with. I have no regrets and this purchase only reinforces the old adage that you get what you pay for. Provided you don't do something stupid--like pouring ice cold liquids onto a blazing hot enameled surface--this pot should last a lifetime. More than I could say for the cheaper Chinese-made pots on the market. Lodge, Calphalon and Rachel Ray have got nothing on this pot.

When I first started looking at a decent enameled Dutch oven, I just wanted something to braise meats. Now that I have it, I go out of my way to find recipes that will allow me to use this pot. At first I thought it would be too small for the size meals that I often prepare for family dinner night. But it could easily hold a 6 to 8 pound roast or a small chicken. I looked a the 7-1/4 quart pot but found it to be a bit too heavy and was afraid it wouldn't fit in the cabinet. The 5-1/2 quart is the right balance of size and weight, fits conveniently in the drawer with my other cookware and it looks wonderful in the kitchen and on the dining room table.

The enameled surface is extremely durable. I have accidentally left it on high heat and scorched the surface but it cleans up just fine without any vigorous scrubbing. The light cream colored interior is perfect for seeing the color of the liquids. The handles are sized right and the lid fits tightly. It's a joy to use and if I had any complaint about it, it would be the weight.

I believe this is the the best size dutch oven for anyone. It's perfect for a medium roast with veggies, soups or stews, etc. Very easy to clean. This pot is approx. 10 1/2 inches across the top opening and 4 1/2 inches deep. Not too big -- not too small. You'll be grabbing this pot for almost everything you do.

This is my first Le Creuset piece and I must say that it is the absolute best cookware I have ever used. I've owned it for about 4 months and find myself using it as often as possible to make soups, stews, chili, sauces, the best pot roasts and whatever else I can throw into it. On the downside I will say it is quite heavy and takes some getting used to because it transfers and holds the heat so well. Instead of setting your soup on a 3 or 4 setting to simmer you can actually set this on 1 with the lid on and it will simmer great. As I progress in age I have found myself buying higher end cookware, electronics, appliances, etc. and have finally realized you get what you pay for. This cookware, in my humble opinion is definately worth the extra money and is by far my most used piece of cookware that I own. I just ordered my second piece of Le Creuset and can't wait to use it.

A perfect tool for the serious cook. It hardly ever gets put away. Perfect browning, even heating, easy to clean. Who could ask for more?

This enameled cast iron cook pot works very well, as expected. Foods such as soups, stews, braised meats, etc are all cooked much better than would happen in just an All-Clad pan or pot.
Very pleased with the purchase, the performance, the quality and the utility of this item.

You cannot go wrong with this. You will own this forever, it will become a staple in your kitchen. Nothing sticks to it, it goes from stove top to oven, you can use it for practically everything you cook.

I bought this oven because Consumer Search and the Best Recipe cookbook folks all recommended it highly, but the Best Recipe folks at least recommended the 7-1/4 quart size as the most versatile. I was concerned that this 5-1/2 quart version wouldn't be big enough, but we have cooked about 8 different recipes from the Best Recipe series of cookbooks without having any capacity issues. In fact, I'm glad that we got this size, not only because it's cheaper than the larger pot, but because it's already quite heavy--easily the heaviest cooking vessel in the house.

One note: we like to weigh our food to help with calorie-counting individual portions, and this pot is too heavy for most kitchen scales, which max out at 11 lbs, so we have to empty the food into a different vessel in order to get the weight... or bring the bathroom scale into the kitchen.

A nice surprise was that this product really does come with the stainless steel knob, so no need to buy one separately, as with some of the other Le Creuset french oven listings.

From what you read at the Le Creuset website, you would think there must be 1000 QC steps ensuring a perfect product before the product ships, but in my narrow experience the price does not absolutely justify the quality. Let me explain.

My first, first quality 5.5 quart French oven was received (not from Amazon.com) with a VERY warped lid. I requested, and received the OK from Le Creuset USA to return the oven for exchange, they issued a call tag, and 3 1/2 weeks after I shipped the defective oven I received its replacement. The new oven's lid seems to be OK, but there is a small round discolored spot on the top of the lid, red over-spray inside the pot, discolored specks fused in the tan enamel, and the overall enamel on the bottom does not have a consistent texture (heavy toward the center). Seem picky?, maybe. But for a first quality $200+ enamel cast iron pot with such a self vaunted reputation for flawless quality, I expect more and don't want to have to use the warranty again for what seems like a pot that should have been marked "seconds". I can only hope what I now have will not effect the integrity of the enamel with use.

I'm pleased that the warranty does seem to be honored; just the same I wish better QC could be used so that the hype lives up to the reality. After my recent experience, I believe I would only buy seconds sight unseen, not first quality. Not sure if 3 weeks and 3 days is the norm for warranty service, but I can tell you it would be nice if it could be expedited a bit if it is the norm. I write what I say to be constructive, and do not want to appear negative for what might seem negativity sake. I will say properly made Le Creuset French ovens work very well, are a joy to use, and make me a better cook. If you get a good one, you will love it and the results you receive.