There seems to be two type of Daubiere, one that is a clay pot and one Copper Box. Both serve the same function, it is designed to stew meat and retain the juices. Mauviel Copper Daubiere is the ultimate french braising pot. The design is literally a rectangular box, with a tight fitting lid. Even then, Mauviel has managed to lift a simple box to a beautiful piece of art. The sides and lid are all hammered to improve structural rigidity and appearances. This review will go through the different aspect of the box and discuss whether this Mauviel Copper Daubiere deserve a place in your ktichen.

A thought about the different version of Daubiere

There seems to be a lot of different version of Daubiere. The one that I am reviewing today is about the copper version and not the clay pot. On ebay, you can see a lot of the vintage type of Daubiere. Unless you are a antique collector, I recommend that you get a daubiere that is more modern. The condition is better and in general the fit and finish is better. Those with the two handle are great for cooking over a fire or stove top but the main purpose of a box daubiere is to be more compact in an oven. I suppose it really depends on what your needs are.

How to use Mauviel Copper Daubiere

The primary purpose of a daubiere is to braise food, particularly tough cuts of meat like shanks. They are usually very long in one direction and a rectangular box allows you to fit the whole bone without cutting it. Cooking food on the stove top is not particularly practical, the heat will be concentrated on only one portion of the Daubiere.
The tight fitting lid is designed to trap moisture in so you can keep as much of the Jus as possible. In essence, it is like a Doufeu. I wouldn’t be surprised if the cast iron doufeu originated from that design. The more vintage doufeu actually have a recessed lid just like a doufeu.

Design

Handle

The handles are a very traditional french brass handle. It is wide enough to accommodate four of my finger for a comfortable grip. They are held on by copper rivets as such with tin lined copper. On the rivets there are number on it which I assume is meant to denote the gauge. You will only see this for the older type of copper cookware. Newer cookware seems be to lacking this. The handle on the Lid also share the same feature as the box, it has a number 2 on it. Something interesting to note is that after I touch the brass handle, my hand always stink, odd….

Its a Box

Yea, its a box. I use it to store stuff. I dont braise enough food to bring it out enough but I like the way it looks. The corner are rounded so its not a completely square rectangle. The tall sides of the Daubiere help prevent liquid from escaping by condensing steam into liquid. The lid fits over the box nicely and given the weight of it, I doubt a lot of liquid can escape from it. If you are really determined, I suppose you can put a dough around the edge to really seal it in. In fact, this daubiere can probably make some good biriyani. Layering food on it should be pretty easy.

Copper Daubiere Thickness

These daubiere are not overly thick. They tend to hover around 2.0 mm or lower. Given that, it is surprisingly heavy. Mines weight 5.3 kg without the lid on it. I suppose making something like this thicker would only add to its weight. You should be mostly cooking in the oven so a overly thick cookware shouldn’t be a necessity.

Fit and Finish

Fit and Finish is excellent on this daubiere. The hammering is well done and the attention to detail is excellent for something that is handmade. Something to note is that on the corner you can see where they weld the bottom in. You can see rippling ridges on all four corner. I thought this was just poor craftsmanship initially until I got my aluminum version. I am guessing that this is just something that you have to deal with.

Specs

Note:These measurement are done by me with the tools that I have on hand. The manufacturers have their own measurement guidelines and that should be assumed to be accurate. What I find on this review can vary widely due to several factors, such as ambient temperature, location, water, tool calibration, stove btu, etc..and should only be considered as my opinion.
Weight:5393 g Lid Weight:1268 g
Rim Width:Around 12.75 x 7.7 inch
Height: Around 7.25 inch
Thickness: 1.96 mm

Mauviel Copper Daubiere Conclusion

This is a very niche type of cookware. Most people in America probably will not even know what it is for. I certainly thought this was just a pretty box. A good alternative to the daubiere would be a oval cast iron dutch oven or even the copper version of that. Those are more readily available and a lot more affordable. The primary purpose of a Daubiere is to braise and a oval cast iron dutch oven will do the job just fine. The Copper Daubiere will do a little better in distributing the heat on the stove top though.

I hope you found this Mauviel Copper Daubiere review to be informative, If you would like to see more, please visit thePots and Pans Review page.