What sized dutch oven?

[Takemebacktospain]

Family of 4 (2 small kids), have occasional guests over for dinner. Want something really practical for every day use, I know the biggest sizes would be too much but equally don't want it to be too small as want to be able to use it when I have guests over too. I am considering the 24cm and 26cm ones, what do you recommend?

My workhorse Le Creuset is the 24cm, anything bigger would be too heavy (for me) when full.

Do you mean a cast iron casserole dish?
I find 24cm is enough for a family of 4, not big enough for when you have guests as well.

Yes exactly, the round cast iron ones.
I am also thinking 24 is good enough. I just want to be able to use it when we have occasional guests but things I normally cook are soups, curries, pasta sauce. Wouldn’t for example use it for big pieces of meat etc as we are vegetarian so I am thinking 24 is enough even for 5-6 people max?

Can anyone recommend whether Staub or LC? I think I like the look of Staub a bit more but have heard that LC is slightly lighter and they have more colors…

Staub 26cm with steamer is quite heavy but very versatile. I have quite a collection of cast iron casserole dishes but this one gets way more use than the others.

I mostly use mine for batch cooking and typically make 8 portions of eg chilli or bolognese sauce. You could easily feed 5-6 even very hungry people from the 24cm.

I don't think 24 is enough for 6 people, sorry! My DC anyway would be v disappointed with 1/6 of the dish 🤣.
If serving 6 is important to you, go with 26.

I haven't tried the Staub so can't compare. I know my Le C is v heavy but if it died I would replace it, but probably with a knock off tbh, I wouldn't pay £250+ for a dish.

🤣🤣 my family must be very, very hungry!

I saw it on offer actually but does the steamer come off and becomes a normal casserole?

Well it’s normally 4 of us but occasionally have grandparents or auntie over. Maybe 6-7 times a year so not that often I guess

The 24cm is 4.2L, nearly 9 pints, do people really have a pint or more of bolognese sauce or a pint or more of chilli at a time?

Yes. They're also sold separately and you can stack them for things like dim sum. The heavy lid means you get a pressure cooker effect and things steam quicker than in a normal steamer.

https://www.lecreuset.co.uk/en_GB/casserole-size-guide/cap0148.html

Here's what LC themselves have to say on the subject.

Thanks all. I choose the LC 24cm. We went to a shop that had both and felt ever so slightly more spacious than the Staub 24 due to the shape of the pan (a bit wider top and bottom). Wasn’t an easy decision tough and I still fancy a staub one day.
We will mainly use it for pasta sauce, curry and soups really so for me it’s the perfect size for a family of 4 with occasional guests. The 26cm felt significantly heavier, didn’t feel it was worth it given what we’d use it for.

*chose

Good choice!

But, more importantly, what colour did you get?

Mine is traditional orange, plus a 22 in some sort of turquoisey blue.

@Scampuss I chose the red one. Now the issue is that I want all colors… my next purchases on the wishlist are another LC but the shallow round one in maybe orange and then a 22 or 20 staub one in another color, maybe yellow or sage. I won’t buy them any time soon though, will probably be a collection I will develop in years to come.

All my Le Creuset bits have been bought over many years, often in sales (TK Maxx used to be a good source of bargains) so nothing matches except the stainless steel pans.

I think it’s more fun to have them all in different colors!