Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron Buffet Casseroles

I bought the casserole, and let me tell you, everything I love about the French oven is present right here. Wider than the oven, it is, of course, shallower, but it still holds a healthy amount of food. Certainly it's big enough for a good-size casserole. It's also great for browning meat before baking. I find that pork chops (holds four small or 3 porterhouse chops comfortably) browned in a little olive oil, then smothered in vegetables and slow baked (covered, always covered!) at about 325 in this casserole, turn out moist and juicy and tender, with a gorgeous brown sauce that you can turn into gravy or just spoon over the chops. The vegetables emerge aromatic and tender. Everyone is happy, and the world spins contentedly for one more night. This is a high quality piece of kitchenware; since I got the French oven I've been sold on Le Creuset, and I'm here to sing its praises. Things don't burn unless you're not paying attention, and cleanup is a marvel. Who needs non-stick when you have enameled iron? The red, as I've said elsewhere, is very jolly, and might even provoke you to flights of Gaulic fancy (Vous: Et pour dejuner, les escargots en casserole! Les enfants: EUUUUUUUU) There are more sedate colors available, but I do recommend the red if you have a frivolous bone in your body.

This wonderful pot is a cross between a dutch oven and a large heavy skillet. The bottom has about the same surface area as the 7-quart le Creuset french oven (big enough for a whole brisket or a large cut-up chicken), but the sides are half as high.

The large browning surface and shallow profile make this just the thing for dishes that involve browning meat or chicken, and then pouring on a sauce to slowly simmer and concentrate. The heavy lid makes the pot perfect for slow, wet, braising of tough cuts of meat like back ribs once the dish is done the pan goes right onto the stovetop to deglaze. Jambalaya turns out beautifully: sweat some onions, celery, and peppers over low heat, brown some sausage or smoked meat, and pour in the rice and liquid the heavy lid does wonders for the rice, and once the dish is done the whole thing can be brought to the table to serve from.

The only drawback to this pot is that you can't carve in it slicing up a brisket or corned beef would risk trashing the enamel. The weight is also impressive with the lid this pot is almost 13 pounds, which may be more than some cooks can handle.

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I first started seeing this pan on Giada De Laurentis' cooking show "Everyday Italian" when I began collecting Le Creuset.I didn't know it as a casserole at the time since it more resembles the "Everyday Pans" being sold by manufactuers like Calphalon and All-Clad.

Of course, you can use it as a casserole and it's the perfect size for macaroni and cheese, fruit cobbler, or chicken and dumplings.However, it is also a great saute and fry pan: steaks and chops brown beautifully; it's great for making a quick pasta sauce; it fries chicken like a champ; risotto cooks slowly and evenly; and it's even big enough for a small to medium roast.In fact, I like it so much I got the five quart model for big batches of paella and larger roasts like turkeys and hams.

Not only is this pan a joy to use and look at, it's also easy to care for.It can go in the dishwasher, but really all it needs is a little soak and the caked on food just comes off with a scrubby sponge or dish brush.

Though any cook would appreciate this piece, it is an especially good starter piece for the recent graduate or newlywed and it will last a lifetime.

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My thoughtful guy stopped off at a Le Creuset outlet and called me from the store: "Hey, I'm at the Le Creuset outlet and you can have anything you want!" Oh, boy, it wasn't even my birthday. After consultation with the helpful sales assistant, we chose this casserole. It's large and flat like a skillet, has a domed cover, two side handles and it has the regular enamel lining. The sales assistant claimed it was the most used pot in her kitchen. I agree!

We leave this out on the stove as it's rather large. We do a lot of things in it, but recently we made Swiss Steak. I am not a big Swiss Steak fan, but when someone comes home with the wrong meat for the grill (hint; you BRAISE round steak, not grill it) then you deal with it. I hammered flour into the steaks with the cubed side of the meat mallet. Then sauteed the meat in the Le Creuset casserole. I added minced onion, a can of diced tomatoes and let the whole thing simmer on the stove (though I could have finished it in the oven--this goes in the oven at moderate temperatures.) The result was a tender Swiss steak and with judicious stirring from time to time with a spatula to release the meat from the enamel surface, it was an easy cleanup.

Unlike teflon, you do have to stir to avoid catching the food on the bottom. I find that a nylon spatula, shoved under the meat from time to time, releases it well. But I'd advise you never really leave this kind of pot to cook on its own even on the lowest heat unless you have a heat spreader or even heat. Our gas stove seems to create hot spots under the surface, so I keep an eye on it from time to time.

The cleanup is easy--no abrasives or rough pads, please, but a good soaking cleans it up with a mild scrubbing nylon pad. The cream enamel does stain from tomato and caramelized foods, quick cleanup mitigates this, but over time, you will see some darkening. This bothers some people but as long as the surface is intact, we are ok with a bit of staining.

If you do a lot of skillet cooking and like Le Creuset, this piece is wonderful and it can go from stove to tabletop because it is quite pretty.

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Le Creuset manufactures porcelain enameled cast iron cooking vessels as well as other products. Le Creuset casts these cooking vessels from molten iron poured in sand moulds that are used only once. For this reason, one pot may look like another, but each is unique in its own way.

Cast iron is a highly efficient material which absorbs and distributes heat efficiently. It is recommended that cooking with cast iron is done on low to medium heat. There are exceptions like boiling water where cooking on high heat is appropriate and okay. Remove cast iron from the heat and it does not cool off quickly. This helps your food stay warm while serving. Beware; iron tends to be heavy so these cooking vessels tend to be heavy as well.

Cast iron is an effective material for cooking so why cover it with enamel? Iron tends to rust; iron oxide (rust) doesn't add any complimentary flavors to your food. If your cast iron cooking vessel was not enameled, you would have to season and maintain your cooking vessel. Adding the porcelain enamel not only looks good, but has multiple benefits. The enamel, being a solid coating, is one of the most hygienic surfaces to cook on, does not stain, absorb odors, retain flavors, and is easy to clean. The enamel can be damaged, so limit cooking tools to plastic or wood.

The benefits of cooking with Le Creuset cast iron are many, but lets get down to the buffet casserole specifically. 5 quarts can be a lot of space when it comes to casseroles, so consider your recipes when determining the size you need. The buffet casserole tend to do best if at least 3/4 full. Any less and you may overwhelm your food with heat evenly dispersed in the pot.

With a large flat bottom that curves up this pan resembles a curved sided saute pan the only thing missing would be a long handle. The tight fitting lid is mostly flat with curved sides. This lid seals in heat, moisture, and flavors and can be used to hold your meat while you are making a sauce from the drippings. Its shape and design makes this an extremely versatile pan.

I tend to use this pot for simple braising more than anything else. It easily holds a cut up large roasting chicken and other ingredients very well. But once you get past the basic functionality that lends itself to recipes such as paella, coq au vin, and basic casseroles, you can really open up the possibilities.

Keep in mind this is a 5 quart pan, feeding two out if it is ridiculous unless you want plenty of leftovers. With that in mind, how about roasting a chicken in it with potatoes and vegetables all in the same pan soaking up those juices? Pineapple upside down cake or bread pudding for when you need to please many guests, making spaghetti sauce which you can later braise your meatballs in, poaching fish, or sauteing pork chops. The possibilities almost seem endless.

One feature that people tend to complain about is the cost. The cost does seem steep compared to other pans made from other materials. Heck, cast iron doesn't seem like it should be expensive when comparing to that old cast iron pan past generations have used for cornbread and camping. However the manufacturing process requires making a mould for each and every pan produced. They then go through the enameling process before shipping these heavy pans. If you take what goes into making and distributing these high quality cast iron products, the cost tends to make sense. Then consider that this pan will easily last a lifetime when taken care of.

Here is one of my favorite recipes I use this pan for:

JAMBALAYA

1/4 cup cooking oil

1/2 lb. boneless cooked chicken, cubed

1/2 lb. smoked sausage, sliced

1 large chopped onion

1 large chopped bell pepper

1 bunch chopped green onions

1 cup chopped celery

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 16 oz can tomatoes, drained (reserve liquid)

1 tsp. thyme

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cup converted rice

1 1/2 cups chicken stock or water

1 1/2 tbsp. Worcestershire

2 lbs. peeled and deveined raw shrimp

1) In your Buffet Casserole, saute diced chicken if not pre cooked, remove and hold in the lid until later. Use oil as needed.

2) Saute sausage until lightly browned. Remove from pan and hold in the lid.

3) Sautee onions bell pepper, green onions, celery and garlic in meat drippings until tender. Add tomatoes, thyme, pepper and salt. Cook 5 minutes.

4) Stir in rice.

5) Mix together liquid from tomatoes, stock and Worcestershire sauce to equal 2 1/2 cups. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer.

6) Add raw shrimp, chicken and sausage and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes until rice and shrimp are done.

PROS:

Extremely versatile

Efficient absorption and distribution of heat

Hygienic enamel cooking surface

Does not stain, absorb odors, or retain flavors

Easy to clean when not abused or misused

Can be transferred from stove top to the oven to the table

Can easily last a lifetime

CONS:

Its heavy, as cast iron tends to be weighing in at about 15.5 pounds.