Customer Reviews

Staub 7-Quart Oval Cocotte, Orange

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I have hoped to find a true competitor to Le Creuset for years, one that was more affordable and of the same quality. Staub fills the bill, and fills it with style. This cocotte is large enough to accomodate a good-sized chicken, and is perfect for slow-cooked stews and braises. The interior coating is easy to clean and effectively non-stick. While its weight may be a deterrent for some, it is so attractive that it can be left on the stovetop or on a counter for easy access. It is my best purchase of the year and I look forward to using it for years to come.

I am an American who became a chef in Paris, France, and fell in love with Le Creuset enameled cast iron cookery over a decade before the first Staub "La Cocotte" was cast. Staub innovations deliver the cooking performance, commercial durability, and increasingly easy cleanup that clearly surpassed Le Creuset. The "Almost No Knead" artisan quality bread touted by the New York Times and Cooks Illustrated bakes up better in the oval cocotte. The even heating quality of Staub cast iron and the superior tight fitting lid design allow this easy-to-make, healthier, crusty, yeast raised "slack dough" bread rival bread baked in expensive steam injected commercial ovens that sells for over $4 a loaf! The oval shape and size of this cocotte bakes a large loaf that slices well. Granted, cast iron is heavy... but heavy is the secret to spectacular cooking (and baking) as Staub interior enamel is the secret to easier cleanup with prolonged use. My home kitchen now includes a bevy of Staub bargains bought on Amazon.com and delivered fast and free on Amazon Prime. For a consummate shopper like yours truly, there is nothing quite like buying the best products at the best price from the best web merchant! -Chef Ed

I've had the 7 quart Staub oval cocotte for a few weeks now, but it was too hot to cook anything stew-like until this week. Tonight I finally tried it out with a recipe for Chicken Stew with Winter Vegetables that I've been cooking for a good 10 years now. A classic Pierre Franey recipe. My old Le Creuset 5.5 quart French oven was never quite large enough. The Staub performed to perfection. It large enough to accommodate a large cut-up chicken and a ton of veggies with room to spare. It came up to a brisk simmer very quickly, and maintained the heat when I turned the heat to very low. The lid performs exactly as advertised. It seals completely. Not a wisp of steam came out of the pot. The spikes on the underside of the lid condensed the steam into moisture and cooked those vegetables at the top of the stew that were not completely submerged in the broth perfectly. My old Le Creuset would leave some of those veggies half-cooked while the rest were overdone. The veggies in this stew were all the same toothsome consistency.

I haven't tried to brown anything yet, but I am very impressed at the broad bottom surface that looks like it will accommodate a lot of meat at once. Very nicely designed.

Finally, the Staub is just gorgeous to look at. I know that how a pot cooks is more important than its looks, but, let's face it, we home cooks enjoy admiring our equipment. I bought the grenadine color and it is a really amazing shade of deep wine red, and the glaze is very glossy. It's just a pleasure to show off. I have a feeling that Staub may be discontinuing this color, because I got it for $199 on another site and now it is $203 on Amazon while the other colors are $239. So this color is a fantastic value if you buy it here or look around for a special.

I have had this Staub dutch oven for a couple of months and have found so many uses for it. I have gotten rid of all my slow cookers and use this dutch oven instead. I have made pot roasts a couple of times and they come out so tender. Everything can be done in one pot because this dutch oven can be used on the stove and in the oven. You can saute onions and garlic and then brown the meat. After adding water, you can bring it to a boil before putting it into the oven. When potatoes and vegetables are added later, you can bring it to a boil again before returning it to the oven. This saves time in getting the water back to temperature after adding ingredients. I've also made some wonderful soups and stews using this dutch oven.

Cleanup is a breeze. Just rinse with hot water and wipe with a dish rag. Nothing sticks.

If you're shopping for enameled cast iron, you already know the rave reviews for Le Creuset - and I agree with them. But Staub is also a fantastic product line, equally gorgeous and with its own long tradition of French-made craftsmanship. These are the best of the bunch for cast-iron ovens.

I prefer Staub for its black, impossible-to-stain interior finish, super-heat resistant brass/stainless handle knobs and the built-in "doufeu" lid ridge to accommodate ice cubes for even more moisture/basting generation. Le Creuset sells a separate doufeu oven, at more than $250, but it's not a feature of their standard French or Coq au vin ovens.

This oven is large -- easily fitting a large roast or whole chicken plus veggies. It has handles generous enough to fit four fingers, and the dimpled interior lid well described by Staub literature for optimal internal basting. The basil enamel is absolutely gorgeous, deep and rich with gradations in coloring on both the lid and body. My pieces have no flaws in enamel coverage at the seams, and no nicks/bubbles/imperfections in the finish, inside or out.

I ordered mine through Amazon, but it wasn't shipped through Target, so I can't speak to the vendor or shipping experience. I'm happy to see Staub carried by more popular stores; it's a shame it doesn't have Le Creuset's market exposure, just so discerning folks know they have a choice in really exceptional enameled cookware.

I said I would be lazy and re-print the relevant parts of this review under all the Staub products I own, for those looking at specific items rather than the entire product line. If you're in the market for a French oven, definitely consider Staub's features and quality -- you won't be sorry.

I have been waiting to buy a Staub Cocotte for quite some time. I have read very positive reviews, however that was not my experience.

My Staub Cocotte arrived and I unpacked it and took into my kitchen to be cleaned and seasoned. Thats when I noticed that the lid did not seem to fit properly. It would literally rock from end to end. This poor fitting left a noticeable gap at either end. Such a gap would let to much moisture escape and make the pot useless for braising. So I notified Amazon I wanted a replacement.

My replacement arrived in 5 days. I unpacked my replacement and carried it into my kitchen to be cleaned and seasoned. Upon first inspection I checked to make sure that the lid fit properly. However, thats when I noticed a large crack on the end of the pot that ran from the lip all the way to the bottom. I notified Amazon that I wanted a refund.

At this point I'm not ordering this pot from Amazon again. It appears that either they got a bad shipment from Staub or fail to inspect the pots before shipping. Inspection would be very easily done since the box from Staub is not even sealed up.

This was a beautiful dutch oven out of the box, but both my husband and I were not able to get the lid to rest flat. We noticed that there was a bump on the lip of each side of the lid which caused it to rock back and forth. I was so disappointed because I have a 4 qt round Staub cocotte that we love and was really looking forward to cooking bigger meals in this pan. I noticed that another reviewer cited the same lid problem. I wonder if I got his returned cocotte because ours looked like a return. Someone else has peeled the inspection sticker from the inside of the pan (I could see where it had been) and then while flipping through the pamphlet that came with the pan, I saw that someone had stuck the sticker (said something like inspected by Frederick) on the back page.

I've been wanting an enameled cast iron stew pot for some time, and came across Staub at a kitchen store. As I've heard tell, Le Creuset is for the masses; Staub is for those in the know. I have the oval Cocotte in Grenadine, and purchased it as a package with two mini 1/2 quarts that will make a mean queso dip.

The biggest difference between the two brands is that Staub browns meat better and has the picots on the underside of the lid for self-basting. My chili came out more flavorful than I've ever made it in other pots, and my homemade spaghetti sauce was left simmering for 3 hours and came out savory as well. Whether that's due to the Staub's picots or my mad cooking skills, we may never know.

I highly recommend the Staub. I'd buy it again, and again, and again. As the brand gains more traction I've seen it carried in more and more kitchen stores in more size and color variety.

This product has met all our expectation. Its quality is superior and its exterior look is beatuiful. Whe spent 3 weeks in France this summer and my son used the cast iron cookware and was hooked. He used the LeCreuset brand so that is what he wanted. After much research I felt the Staub cookware was a better product so I purchase it for him. I was right. He is much happy with the quality and proformance of the Staub cookware both are very good products but the Staub is a step above. I will continue to buy him more of this cookware. He is a gourmet and takes his cooking seriously. I reap the benefits

I received my Staub Cocotte on Wednesday, a work day, and couldn't wait until my next day off. The first thing that I did was go the the Chinese market and purchase a suitable chicken for braising. I find the Chinese market excellent for fresh, older chickens that are flavorful and suitable for soup and braising. Anyway I prepped my new pot, dropped my chicken in with some vegetables and stuck it in the oven at 300 degrees. Four hours later I had this flavorful, slightly chewy, moist chicken for dinner. The leftovers were excellent in the chicken pot pie the next day. My wife is anxious to try it out for sauerkraut. Yes, it's an expensive pot but I'd do it again...