Doufeu, noun – A cooking vessel with a concave lid to be filled with ice and promote condensation. French for "gentle heat."
Word of Mouth: Doufeu
As we get into braising and roasting season, we thought we'd take a look at this particular style of dutch oven. The concave lid is filled with ice to create condensation throughout the cooking process. Dimples on the underside of the lid are designed to distribute the moisture to the food.
Cousances/Le Creuset introduced the doufeu in 1934, and the company says the condensation-creating design takes a dish from "good" to "spectacular."
Do you own a doufeu? We'd love to hear your thoughts. Does the extra condensation really make a difference?
More on dutch oven cooking:
Fall Cookware: A Roundup of Dutch Ovens
What to Do With... An Old Dutch Oven?
Good Question: Vegetarian Recipes for the Dutch Oven?
Good Question: Lighter Recipes for Dutch Oven Cooking?
(Image: Cookware.com)
Comments (6)
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never heard of this but I want to try it!
view mlleErica's profile
I remember reading about this and I can remember where but testers said no difference. I did find a blurb from Taunton's Fine Cooking on the pots like Staub that his the dimples for condensation to baste the food while cooking. Although hot coals on top of dutch oven (camping, etc.) does seem to work. ---- Spikes for basting: The undersides of the lids of many Dutch ovens are festooned with spikes (or raised dots) designed to form droplets of condensation from steam rising off the simmering liquid. These droplets theoretically drip down onto the food, basting it as it braises. In our tests, we found that condensation formed on the underside of all lids—spiked or flat—and dripped back into the pot. There was no significant difference in the amount of moisture or the appearance of foods braised under the two types of lids. ---
view Laurence--- 's profile
Cook's Illustrated has an excellent review. I was very intrigued by the idea, but Cook's Illustrated does not recommend the Doufeau. They said that in practice, the meat cooked with the doufeu ended up having a lot more water in the pot, making the sauce thinner and less flavorful. They recommend sticking with a regular dutch oven.
view Tracey at The Thoughtful Table's profile
all of the staub pots have 'basting spikes' on the inside of the lid. they say that this encourage the condensation to drip down all over the food rather than running down the side. I don't particularly see a need for the encouragement of more condensation than is already there, though.
view bewarethebaobabs's profile
Im sure Le Creuset used to do something like this ...
view MarkF's profile
I love love love my doufeu! Mine is a 30 years old one that belonged to my boyfriend's mother, gifted to her from her own mother in law.
Before I had it, I though it was ridiculous to spend $200 or $300 on cookware. Not anymore, we use it at least 2-3 times per week, and if by misfortune it broke one day, we would happily spend this money.
I am not sure if the extra condensation makes a difference compared to a standard dutch oven, but evrything cooked in there is so tasty!
view swisscheese's profile