Get yourself a copy of the Molly Stevens cookbook All About Braising! Everything we’ve tried thus far has been excellent

Yeah, it’s just a cooking pot. A beautiful, expensive one.

I swear these have become the new Vitamix, which is a blender that apparently so many people wanted but didn’t know what to blend in.

This is a fancy and well made Dutch oven. Bake bread. Make soup. Make some stew. Use it like a slow cooker. Braise things. Roast things. Use it like an almost tagine. Do Dutch oven things with it.

What did you want a Dutch oven for? What did you do with your non Le Creuset DO? Do those things.

Anything that calls for a slow cooker I do in my le creuset. Pot roast, short ribs, etc. I’ve found if you go to the comments someone will provide the temp/time conversion for the oven.

You can make anything in a le creuset covered casserole...it's literally just enamelled cast iron with a removable lid.

I love making bolognese sauce, braised dishes like chicken in sauces, and soups.

There are great recipes on Williams Sonoma and there is a specific Le Creuset cookbook.

https://www.lecreuset.com/kitchen-tools/cookbooks

Anonymous wrote:If you want it to last a lifetime, follow these two tips (buried on the le creuset web site):

1. ALWAYS use low to medium heat settings for best cooking results and care of the product.
2. NEVER heat the product too quickly or use on maximum/ high for preheating or cooking as excessive surface temperature changes (thermal shock) will damage the cooking surface of the product which can include crazing, cracks and chipping.

Learned this the hard way after both of my (heavily used) dutch ovens developed chips in the enamel around the 15-year mark.

Yeah, someone above mentioned bread but when I bake bread my oven is at 500 degrees which May crack the glaze.

I do use mine like a tagine. Not a perfect replica but still pretty good for Moroccan stews

If you want it to last a lifetime, follow these two tips (buried on the le creuset web site):

1. ALWAYS use low to medium heat settings for best cooking results and care of the product.
2. NEVER heat the product too quickly or use on maximum/ high for preheating or cooking as excessive surface temperature changes (thermal shock) will damage the cooking surface of the product which can include crazing, cracks and chipping.

Learned this the hard way after both of my (heavily used) dutch ovens developed chips in the enamel around the 15-year mark.

Basque chicken

^ if you turn into soup, save the bones for simmering. Also reserve some of the cooked chicken to add back in at the end. It loses flavor as it cooks all day.

If I were you I’d get some skin on bone in chicken leg quarters or a whole chicken, throw any Vegetables in the bottom of the pot you want- baby potatoes are a great base, onion, carrot, mushroom, whatever you want. Season the veg, add a little olive or coconut oil, stir. Season the chicken however you want and put on top the veg. Chop a couple slices of bacon and place on top the chicken to keep it moist. You can also completely wrap the chicken in bacon if you like. Add in a few fresh herbs like rosemary or whatever you like. You can find fresh poultry seasoning herbs in the grocery store veg section. I just throw those is. Cover and cook on 200 all day long. I usually check after a few hours and give it a few pokes. Add a half inch water if needed. Turn the chicken if needed. At the end you can take the lid off and turn up the heat to crisp up the bacon or chicken skin if you want. Serve over a side of rice or with pasta or just eat it as is. If you have leftovers you can turn it into soup really easily, just chop everything to the size you want, add water and simmer all day. Maybe freshen it up with more veg or rice.

Pretty much anything. You can bake bread it in make soups in it, roast a chicken in it. I most commonly use mine for ratatouille and chicken curry.

I just bought my first Le Creuset Dutch oven and am so excited to try new recipes! Any favorites?