Staub Essential French Oven is a great alternative to your traditional Cocotte. Instead of the sharp corners of traditional dutch oven, it sharp gentle smooth corners that allows for easy stirring and whisking. Not only that, its large and round rim makes it a perfect substitute for a Wok. This review will take a closer look at its design and construction. We will discuss whether you should get this or a regular cocotte.

Staub Essential French Oven Review Quick Summary

Categories	Staub Essential French Oven
Performance	Good
Compatibility	Gas, Electric, Halogen, Glass Top, Induction
Colors	Range of Color
Warranty	Lifetime Warranty
Brand Awareness	World Famous
Country of Manufacturer	France
Thoughts	Staub Essential French Oven is a great alternative to a traditional dutch oven. Its rounded corner makes it easier to whisk and stir. However, if you already have a dutch oven, its not really worth it.
Reviewed Cookware	Staub Cast Iron 3.75-qt Essential French Oven

History of Staub

Staub has been making cookware since 1974. The company was started by Francis Staub in a dormant artillery factory. They initially use wooden carving to create their mold. Through its colors and design, it slowly became one of the biggest competitor to Le Creuset. Currently, the company is owned by Zwilling. However, they still maintain independent operation.

Staub Essential French Oven Design

This section will discuss the overall design and construction of Staub Essential French Oven. We will go over shape, construction and overall perofmrance.

Handle

The handle is one single piece fused with the pot. It’s boxy wide design lets you grip it securely. However, the clearance on the handle is not as large as other manufacturer like Le Creuset. This makes your knuckle hit side of the pot when you grip it.

Shape

The shape is what makes Staub Essential French Oven different from the rest. It has a gentle rounded corner that is perfect for making sauces and creating roux. Other dutch oven has sharp corner that cause food to get trapped.

The downside to this design is that there is less of a cooking surface area on the base. This means that you might have to sear food in multiple batches. Increasing overall cooking time.

However, this design also resemble more of a wok. So if you want a pot that is more for stir fry and searing, this is a great alternative. It has ample room to move and toss food around.

Cast Iron Construction

The great thing about the cast iron construction is that it holds heat for a long time. This means when you sear food, it wont lose all the heat and steam food. When you bring it to the table, it also stays hot for a long time.

One thing you should be aware of is that it takes a long time to heat up. It also has issue with heat distribution. To get around this, you should heat up the cocotte slowly. This also prolongs the life of the pan since it wont cause thermal shock.

Lid

The lid has a interesting feature. It is called the Chistera droplet. What this does is that it drops liquid back down onto the food. Their claim is that it baste the food. In my opinion, its kinda useless. The droplet is mostly water and it wont add much flavor to it. Other than that, the lid is heavy and tight fitting. This means that steam wont escape as easily and more moisture is retained.

Staub Essential French Oven Colors and Enamel

The colors and enamel coating on Staub cocotte is one of the best in the industry. They are still made in France and the durability is a lot better than those made in China. Although they will still chip if you manage to hit it too hard.

In terms of color choice, they are deep and vibrant. Quite different from the choice that Le Creuset has. They also have less or a orange peel issue but its still quite bad. Orange peel is a ripple effect on the enamel coating. In the automotive industry, this is a sign of a bad paint job.

Interior Enamel

For the interior enamel, they use a black enamel coating. It supposedly helps sear food better. But in my past test, there is only a marginal difference in performance. The biggest thing that you have to worry about is the fond. The dark design means that you cannot judge the quality of the fond. If you are not careful, you can burn it, ruining your stew. The bright side to this is that since its dark, you wont see any stains or marks.

Another thing that you should know is that they do develop a nonstick coating like bare cast iron cookware. There are some claims that it develop a nonstick patina, but it wont work as well as bare cast iron.

Is it safe to use with chipped Enamel

The enamel coating is made of powdered glass. It protects the cast iron from rusting. However, because it chip sometimes, the bare cast iron can rust. But it doesnt make it dangerous to use. Manufacturer like lodge sell bare cast iron cookware. On the rim, they remove the enamel coating so that the pot wont fuse together. There is a lot of argument online on whether its coated, its not. I asked the manufacturer themselves.

Staub Essential French Oven Thoughts

Overall, Staub Essential French Oven is a great alternative to a traditional Cocotte. If you want a pot that is easy to stir and whisk sauce, this is the way to go. You can also use it like a wok to make stir fry. However, if you already have a dutch oven, I would say that its not really worth it. If you want a more wok like pan, I recommend Staub Perfect Pan.

I hope you like this Staub Essential French Oven Review, If you would like to see more, please visit our Pots and Pans Review page.