I have an oval one-- I LOVE it. I do both soups, stews and braised meat in it (if you don't have a copy of Molly Steven's All About Braising, you should check it out-- has lots of great recipes that turn out really well in a dutch oven).

I think the oval one is a little bit more flexible-- it can accommodate longer cuts of meat like brisket and short ribs.

If this is your first I would get a round. My most used is a 26 (5 1/2 qt.), and I think that is the often recommended starter size. I bought my sister the 28 and she loves it (she has a larger family and also uses it for canning). I don't generally use mine for a whole chicken. We like crispy skin and that is easier to achieve in a roasting pan.

I have a round - I think it is 5.5 quart. I wanted oval but they didn't have the color/size I wanted on sale at the LeCreuset outlet where I bought mine. I wanted oval because I was thinking chicken shape. Now that I've had it for a couple years I'm really happy with round. I use it a lot for soups and other stove top things so like round much better for that. I've been able to fit any kind of roasts and meats in this though sometimes in pieces. I've yet to try a chicken in it so I'm glad I didn't get stuck on chicken shape. The dutch oven is my favorite cooking implement - like it much better than All Clad DH bought for me.

Well, after a lot of deciding and mind-changing, I went with a 5 quart round Staub in blue. Figured the even heating of round outweighed the long dimension of the oval. Plus, it was almost half price and the color's very attractive.

I have the 5 qt round Staub in Grenadine and it is a thing of beauty. I use it for everything from making double batches of spaghetti sauce (Giada has a super simple recipe that I've tweaked just a bit to make it a 7-herb version) to oven braised pulled pork which my NC bred DH is crazy about. (Not too shabby for a Jersey girl. LOL!!!)

We are in the planning stages of a new house build and have allocated space in the kitchen so that my Staub can be on display on open shelves. I figure that it is so pretty I should incorporate my cookware as a decorative element with the added benefit that it will be easier to access.

When DH asked me what sizes I had so we could figure out the shelving, I laid out my "strategic plan" for the pieces I have and those I plan to acquire. The "benefit" of this is that on Christmas morning Santa had left a stunning blue bouillabaisse pot with the little fishy handle under the tree for me.

I think the 5 qt round is a great place to start. If you don't mind me asking, where are you getting it for 1/2 price?

Thanks - Jo Ann

Amazon...not quite half price, but $127. And I just noticed, since last night it's gone up $62! In fact, all the good deals aren't so good anymore.

What amazes me is the difference in price based only on color. Grenadine and Green seem to fetch a premium, in general, while Flame and Red are usually less.

We just bought a 6 quart Lodge color for $55. I hope it doesn't fall apart the first month. I know that there has to be a quality difference with such a cheap price, right? Anyway it was too good of a deal to pass up.

Thanks for the response, phrog. Yes, Amazon & Staub is like watching the stock market. (sigh) Months before Christmas, I got a great Amazon deal on the blue DO to give to me college student DD. I'm hoping she will use it to make spaghetti sauce on her own rather than raiding my freezer for sauce and soup every time she comes home. Somehow those plastic containers only seem to be able to travel from Houston to Austin and never make the return trip. LOL!!!

And the variation in prices based on color can drive you crazy. When I got my grenadine, it was the cheapest color for that size DO. Go figger. I'm not desperate to get the larger size, so I just keep checking vendors on a periodic basis.

Best of luck with your new DO. I know you will get lots of use out of it. Nothing beats the way a home smells when there is something delicious slowly cooking.

Jo Ann

Ncamy, this may make you feel better about the Lodge:

http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/articles/enameled-dutch-oven-review.aspx?nterms=53378

It almost made me switch from Staub to Lodge!

Drjoann, it pays to be vigilant with Amazon. Same thing happened to me with a Keurig coffeemaker.

Anyway, there are so many variables -- color, size, shape, price -- that I just went with what many people say is a good first or only DO.

May I ask a question from you experienced enamel dutch oven owners? I received a 7 qt Martha Stuart oval for Xmas. Used it for the first time yesterday. Cooked a brisket, 350 degrees - 3 hours. Then reduced the wine sauce on my Wolf rangetop. The meal was a success until I cleaned the dutch oven and saw a hairline crack in the inside bottom. Has this happened to anyone? What did I do wrong? I assume the pot is ruined and must be returned. All I can figure is that my rangetop at low to medium temps might still be too hot for a dutch oven. I would appreciate any advice.

I'm not an expert, but this review indicates that it could be the product itself:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000TJ4GLQ/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid=2557294941&ref=pd_sl_51dycro6b7_e

The other possibilities that occur to me are a manufacturing defect, or temperature shock. Was the burner on when you put the DO on it, or did you move the DO there first and then turn on the stove?

boysrus,
I would definitely return it. I'm wondering if there is some sort of design flaw in the MS Dutch Oven. It should not do that.

I know cast iron can break, though-- I ordered a lodge cast-iron skillet online and it took three tries for it to come in one piece. Did you order it online? It could have broken during shipment w/o you noticing.

Also, how high did you have the heat cranked up? I've heard it isn't good to have enameled cast-iron over high heat, but I don't know why...

Thanks phrog and danielle! I moved the DO from oven to burner and then turned it on. The rangetop heat was between low to medium. I'm taking it back to Macy's this morning. I haven't decided it I should try another one or just go to TJ Maxx and look for a Le Creuset seconds. Phrog, I'm going to check out the review now as I'm sure it will help me make up my mind. Appreciate the help.

FYI everyone. The sales lady at Macy's said there have been a lot of quality complaints on the Martha Stewart enameled cast iron.

HI Phrog, I collected enameled cast iron, LeCreuset and Descoware, 5 to 10 years ago, mostly on ebay. I even got an entire set of avocado green descoware for $20, ah, those were the days. I know I must sound like a crazy lady buying pots on ebay and paying for shipping them, but I got some great deals over the years.
I love my round dutch ovens and use them for everything both on the stove top and in the oven with no cracking.
My DH got me a large Cuisinart oval enameled cast iron pot for Christmas that he purchased @ TJMax. My darling ML caught me eying it (for my son) and hinted to my DH that I kept going back to it in the store. Truth is, I could not believe the $69 price tag for a such a large roaster-alas I did not pick it up for my son, he got a guitar instead - and I got this beautiful emerald green beauty. Not sure of the size, it was not boxed, but what a great deal. Check TJMax out.
Question - Does anyone out there use their oval roasters on the stove top?

debs

That's a good question in general. How much stovetop vs oven use? For example, if you put together a stew w/o a recipe, would you tend to brown the meat on stove and then cook in oven, or do the whole thing on stove? I'd guess the most even heating/cooking is in oven.

i use mine on the stove and in the oven. If I'm cooking meat, I always brown it first on the stovetop (i.e. I do not put raw meat in the dutch oven and then throw it in the oven).

Does anyone use theirs for baking bread in the oven at 500? I can see on Amazon that some of them are not recommended for over 400 degrees and am assuming it is because of plastic handles on the lid, but it could be just too hot for some enamel. I have old Descoware and Copco au gratins and have not had any issue with them but haven't got an enameled dutch oven and REALLy want one. I've been baking my bread in an old cast iron one and want to 'upgrade.'

I've read that you don't need very high oven temps because the iron conducts so well.

I use my oval on my induction cooktop. Its Le Creuset. I love it.
However, I have a large round that I've seared meat in (on the cooktop) and it is always stained, and is sort of a rough texture. Seems like something is wrong with the enamel. I don't think I did anything wrong to it. Anyone else with that problem?

shudda - Staub DO's are good to 500 degrees. They have a metal knob on the lid. Le Creuset says that it can go to 450 degrees.

HTH - Jo Ann

I use my Staub dutch oven to make the New York Times no-knead bread recipe all the time, heating the pan to 450° empty, then putting the bread dough in the pan. It doesn't seem to have harmed the pan so far. My pan has a metal top, so no worries about that.

Thanks for the reassurance! I think I'll go with a Staub because it would break my heart to ruin one by overheating it. I'll start watching for deals!

I just preordered from Amazon a book called Glorious One-Pot Meals. There's an older version, but this one's 3x bigger. It looks good -- lots of variety, healthy, easy, etc.

Anyway, books about indoor DO cooking are scarce. When you search, they usually turn out to be about "camp cookin'"

phrog,
Yes, you can use a dutch oven for foods that you would normally do in a slow cooker. I mentioned in a previous post in this thread that I always brown whatever meat I am about to cook before I put it in the dutch oven (I either brown it in the dutch oven, remove it, and deglaze.. or brown it in a large skillet, remove it, deglaze, and then transfer both the pan sauce and the browned meat to the dutch oven).