Faith's Favorite Pan: Le Creuset 3 1/2-Quart Dutch Oven

What pan do you reach for over and over in the kitchen? Which pot or pan never leaves your stove? Each of us have been taking a few minutes this week to show you our own favorite pans, and I have been seeing a common thread of surprise in our stories. Many of us have shown you pans that we didn't think at first would be all that useful. That is truly how I felt, believe it or not, about this small Le Creuset Dutch oven. When I first got it, I didn't think I would use it at all. Well, how wrong I've been.

It might seem funny now to think that I wouldn't use or like such a beautiful pot. Le Creuset is a lovely thing to have around, of course. I received this pot directly from Le Creuset in a press mailing of the then-new color of Black Onyx. (Lucky, right?!) While I loved the color, I was dubious about the size. I loved my larger, less expensive 6-quart Dutch oven (Chefmate, $40 from Target) and I used it constantly. This smaller one seemed not as useful, and for a while it just sat on the shelf.

Then, while testing recipes for my big book on casseroles, I realized that this smaller Dutch oven was the same volume as a 9x13-inch pan. So recipes like oven risotto, gratins, and other classic casseroles fit perfectly in this 3-quart dish.

Well, I ended up using that pot over and over and over. I still use it for cooking just one or two chicken breasts, a small amount of short ribs, steel cut oats, beans, and more. I love baking vegetable gratins and oven risotto in this dish. With its lighter, more accessible size, and with my household consisting of just two people, I find that I use this Dutch oven far more now than my big 6-quart and 5-quart models. It's really the perfect pan. If I had to do it over again, I would buy this size Dutch oven before I went for the big ones; it has been infinitely useful.

• Find it: Le Creuset Enameled Cast-Iron 3-1/2-Quart Round French Oven, $194.95 at Amazon

Apartment Therapy Media makes every effort to test and review products fairly and transparently. The views expressed in this review are the personal views of the reviewer and this particular product review was not sponsored or paid for in any way by the manufacturer or an agent working on their behalf. However, the manufacturer did give us the product for testing and review purposes.

(Images: Faith Durand)

Comments (15)

That IS a gorgeous pot. I want to buy my first Dutch oven, and have been agonizing over what size to choose. Thanks for the perspective!

This is exactly the size I have and it is my go to pot for pretty much everything. I have a cheap apartment sized stove, and even this size, when full, makes my oven rack bow a little bit - a bigger one would collapse it.

You can make a 4 lb chicken or pot roast in it if you squeeze just a little bit. I haven't tried the no-knead bread yet; I'm thinking about halving the recipe so it will fit. Has anyone tried this?

Ditto, cedargr0! I can't wait to hear about halving the no-knead bread, too.

I've done the no-knead bread in mine. Full recipe. It worked just fine.

I just picked up one of these at a Le Creuset outlet. I debated whether it was a good size to choose (while they were having a sale, they were still pricey enough to limit myself to purchasing only one pot). I have a much larger oval dutch oven, glad to hear the 3.5 will make a good addition to my small (but slowly growing) collection :-)

I have the even smaller 2 3/4 size, and I use mine constantly. In addition to all the above mentioned uses, the smaller sized Le Creusets are great for fitting in the refrigerator. So if you want to cook something ahead and keep it in the fridge, it doesn't take up as much space. This comes in really handy if you've cooked a braised dish and want to skim the fat off later. Also, it saves you from having to store leftovers in a separate container if you know you'll just be reheating the dish in the near future.

The pictured pot looks like a 3 1/2 'wide' round oven.

I have a 3 1/2 regular and the cooking area at the bottom appears significantly smaller.

I've got a couple of Le Creuset French ovens (as they call them), including the 3 1/2 quart size. I love it; I use it (and its bigger brothers) all the time; I'd be bereft without it.

I thought the 3 1/2 quart size would be too small for no-knead bread, but nice to hear that someone has had luck with a full recipe at that size. Halving the recipe sounds pretty appealing as well. This pot is a real workhorse!

The 3 1/2 quart wide oval is on sale at Sur La Table for $120 in all colors, including the new green.

Our go-to pot is an 8-qt. copper core All-Clad stock pot that I found at TJ Maxx. We call her The Dutchess, because she's so elegant.

We use her constantly to make large batches of soup, so she's always either sitting on the stove or drying on a towel next to the sink.

I use mine at least 3 times a week, though I kind of wish I got the next size up - so often recipes fill it right to the rim.

Faith, I reached the same conclusion you did about using a 3 quart braiser for baking casseroles that call for a 9x13" pan. in fact, it was your casserole cookbook that inspired me because you pointed out that the capacity of a 9x13" pan is 3 quarts! (Something I'd never thought about before.)

I use an enameled cast iron braiser made by Lodge, available for $44 on Amazon last time I checked. Works great on the stove, in the oven, and makes a beautiful presentation, too.

I have 5.5 qt and 3.5qt risotto pot. The 3.5qt is wider and little taller than the picture above. It has more space for searing meat and stewing in the same pot. Love it.

I've been trying to get my hubby to invest in a Dutch Oven for our house and he just recently broke our 9x13 pan... I think it's time to convince him we should get the Dutch Oven first and then replace the pan. We're vegetarian's and are a family of 4 (our girls are little 3 and 5 months), so I think this would be the perfect size for us.