What do you use your Le Creuset/dutch oven for?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious if anyone had a comparison between Le Creuset brand and a non Le Creuset brand dutch oven (Lodge, for example). Is it worth it to spring for Le Creuset?

I have a Le Creuset and a Staub and slightly prefer my Staub. I don't think it's that much (if at all) cheaper though. I have a Lodge cast iron pan and it seems to require a bit more care than the 2 other brands but I can be a little sloppy with care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious if anyone had a comparison between Le Creuset brand and a non Le Creuset brand dutch oven (Lodge, for example). Is it worth it to spring for Le Creuset?

I have both Le Creuset and Staub Dutch ovens. While they are both great and comparable in quality, I find myself reaching for the Staub more often than the Le Creuset. Slightly better at searing, easier to clean, better lids, and slightly cheaper to boot.

[Anonymous]

I use my dutch oven frequently for chili and soups. I also use it to make large servings of pasta. I got a braiser for Christmas and have only used it once or twice. I thought I would use it more.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious if anyone had a comparison between Le Creuset brand and a non Le Creuset brand dutch oven (Lodge, for example). Is it worth it to spring for Le Creuset?

I have a Le Creuset and a Staub and slightly prefer my Staub. I don't think it's that much (if at all) cheaper though. I have a Lodge cast iron pan and it seems to require a bit more care than the 2 other brands but I can be a little sloppy with care.

I own Le Creuset and that’s interesting about stub maybe it will be my next purchase.

I am very careful with my cookware and my lodge enamel pots did not last at all. I stopped buying them. Thier cast iron is very good though.

[Anonymous]

I have a Le Creuset and primarily use it for sourdough bread, soups/stews, chili and stocks. Yes I have an instant pot and use that too, but if I have time to simmer it slowly on the stove I will.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Haha. Sure.












I bake sourdough every week and have two 4.5 quart ovens that I use for bread (and other small batch stuff). I have two so I can bake both loaves at once.

Also this week:
- duck fat fried potatoes last night in big Dutch oven
- poaching chicken breasts for Caesar salads tonight
- also tonight making an apple crisp that I’ll bake in one of the smaller ovens (cast iron is great for baking because it holds heat really consistently, is easier to pull from the oven than a baking dish because of the side handles, and I love having a lid for leftovers storage!)
- tomorrow night making dal and rice. I’ll use one oven for the dal, another for the rice. And my cast iron LC pan to heat up my naan.
- Thursday making homemade gnocchi and will boil the pasta and then toss with pesto in my Dutch oven.
- Friday pot stickers, again in my cast iron pan.
- Saturday I’m baking braised short ribs, polenta, and roasted green beans. I’ll probably use three for just the meal, although may do the green beans on a sheet pan.
- Sunday I’ll make stock and then soup, so that’s two more uses…

It goes on and on and on

Wow!! Your family is lucky. That's an amazing plan for the week. Can you list some of your other go tos and favorites? I tend to like healthy (lean meats and fish) and lots of vegetables or legumes etc. I bet the duck fat potatoes were delicious.

Wow. Thanks. I feel so *seen.* I love to cook and recently switched to a much more plant-based diet so I only cook with animal protein twice a week. It’s made me much more adventurous. I usually do a big soup once a week - my favorites are an Asian-flavored noodle with tons of vegetables, red lentil-butternut squash, green lentils with sweet potatoes and spinach, simple white beans with pesto… I also make grain bowls once a week - some type of whole grain + homemade sauce + tons of fresh cut vegetables and maybe something roasted or crispy chickpeas. My family makes their own bowls with whatever they want. I also cook a lot of Indian - veg-based curries or dal, and do Italian once a week to keep everyone else happy.

PP, do you have recipes for these amazing sounding soups or do you just make it up as you go along? Particularly interested in the Asian-flavored noodle soup and the one with lentils, spinach, and sweet potatoes. They sound delicious.