TechGearLab

The Staub 5.5-Quart Round Cocotte is an excellent and versatile product that's great for baking bread, cooking stews, and browning meats. The black interior non-stick surface performs well, releasing food easily. We tested many facets of this pot and found that it performed well in tasks like meatball browning, offering a well-distributed heat transfer that never got too hot for this task. Two cups of water were boiled in only one minute and 45 seconds, with average heat retention. We even banged on the outer enamel with a metal spoon over one hundred times, and it never chipped, which we found quite impressive. This product is advertised and used in ovens as hot as 900F, which is unmatched by other products. 
We have only a few small gripes with this dutch oven. The flat lid limits the amount of space inside the pot compared to domed-lid options. Also, the black surface can make it more difficult to see the food cooking against it, though this is a minor detail. Finally, the price point of this product is rather high. Still, if you are looking for exceptional performance and durability, this is a great option.

Do you enjoy extra crisp on the edges of your bacon and a nice brown bread crust? Then the Staub Round Cocotte is the dutch for you. The black interior of this seriously impressive vessel is far and away the best we've found for searing food quickly, easily, and practically perfectly. It has one of the largest searing surfaces among models we tested, further adding to how much we love browning with it. Bread baked in the Staub Cocotte came out with a wonderful deep brown crust. The small lid handle is a joy to use &mdash; our favorite of all the lids &mdash; as it has excellent edges that make it easy to grab with even the thickest folded-up kitchen towel. Staub rates this unit safe to stick in the dishwasher, and it's available in a wide array of sizes.
There are very few complaints we have about this excellent dutch oven. The pot handles could stand to be a little bit wider but are still excellent in most situations. When using the Staub to sear meat and develop a fond, we found it difficult to see the progress, making this a challenging pot for beginners. It's also one of the most expensive ovens we tested and may not be worth it if you're not planning to cook in your new dutch oven regularly. Still, the Staub is exceptionally durable and an excellent choice if you want the best possible option for browning and searing your food.

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expert-review

Staub vs. Le Creuset: Which Brand Makes the Best Dutch Oven?

Consumer Reports

CR’s take: The fire-engine red Cuisinart Chef’s Classic CI650-25CR we tested also comes in many other colors, including a dark blue. It aced our speed of heating test and posted Very Good scores in both heating evenness and ease of cleaning. Bread baking was so-so, and it’s not the best pan for simmering sauces.

bazaarvoice

America's Test Kitchen

This budget-friendly pot aced nearly every test: White rice was fluffy, meatballs were browned, and French fries were crispy. We liked its light interior, which allowed us to easily monitor browning. Though its helper handles were a bit smaller and the pot was nearly a pound heavier than the Le Creuset, it was still fairly easy to lift and maneuver. The Cuisinart’s smaller size and cooking surface did mean that a full batch of short ribs were a bit too snug and we could fit fewer meatballs. Overall, though, this is an excellent Dutch oven at a bargain price.

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This model costs a third of what our favorite Le Creuset Dutch oven does and performs almost as well. With a very similar design—low, straight sides and a broad, off-white cooking surface—it allowed us to easily move food, sear in fewer batches, and monitor browning.

This model costs a third of what our favorite Le Creuset Dutch oven does and performed almost as well. With a very similar design—low, straight sides and a broad, off-white cooking surface—it allowed us to easily move food, sear in fewer batches, and monitor browning. The trade-offs: The Cuisinart pot is 3 pounds heavier and has slightly smaller handles than the Le Creuset pot, and its rim chipped during abuse testing.

Casserole Comparison