Le Creuset Stockpot is perfect for boiling pasta, make stocks and cooking seafood. It comes with the traditional color of Le Creust cookware such as cerise, mariselle or even flame. Not only that, it has large and comfortable handle. However, there are a few downsides you should be aware of. Things like enamel chipping and carbon steel core makes it a questionable design for a stock pot. This review will take a closer look at the design and features of Le Creuset Stockpot.

Le Creuset StockPot Review Quick Summary

Categories	Le Creuset Stockpot
Performance	Acceptable
Colors	Wide Range of Color
Brand Awareness	World Famous
Handle	Two Loop Handle
Country of Manufacturer	France
Thoughts	While Le Creust stockpot does what its designed to do. The biggest issue is the enamel coating. It can chip and the carbon interior can rust. A better choice is the stainless steel model. They have none of the issue.
Reviewed Cookware	Le Creuset Enamel-on-Steel Covered Stockpot, 10-Quart, Cerise (Cherry Red)

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Why get a Stock Pot?

Stockpots are used for boiling large quantity of water. Most people use them to cook pasta but in french cooking, they are often used to make stocks. Stockpot are designed to be more tall than wide, this design has a lower surface area than a traditional dutch oven. By decreasing the overall surface area, the rate of liquid evaporation is lower. This design lets you extract more flavor out of stuff like bones, vegetables and meat. Important when you are simmering stocks for hours on end.

The larger capacity also makes it the perfect vessel for steaming and cooking seafood like crabs and lobster. In some of Le Creust stockpots, they have a lobster picture for that very purpose.

Le Creuset StockPot Design

This section will talk about the design and features of Le Creuset Stockpot. We will go over handle, construction and general performance.

Handle

Perhaps one of the best thing about Le Creuset products are their handle. While most people fawn over the color, the true winner is how ergonomic the cookware is. The stockpot handle is no exception. They use big beefy handle so that it is easy to carry and maneuver. If you get the 12 qt plus model, you will soon find out how important this is. The last thing you want is to drop all that hard work and food.

Shape and Performance

As stated before, this stockpot is more tall than wide. This allows for a reduce rate of liquid evaporation. While you can do this in a wider dutch oven, they will loose a lot of liquid quickly. They are not ideal for long simmers. Not only that, this tall shape lets you fit pasta and extract it more easily.

Enamel, Construction and Color

The color on Le Creuset products is what makes them such a huge icon. They have almost any color to fit your kitchen. On the cast iron model, they are durable and long lasting. Sadly, this is not true for the stock pot. The stockpots are plagued with enamel wearing issue. If you hit it or somehow abrase it, you will see parts of the paint missing. Some of the most common area are the handle and the base.

Not only that, these pots do not do well with very high heat. If you should heat it up empty, the interior enamel can flake off. Beneath the paint is a carbon steel construction, which can rust if you cared for properly.

There are further issue with this design. For starter, carbon steel are pretty poor conductor of heat. What is a even worse conductor of heat is the enamel coating. As such, now you have a pot who is a poor heat conductor. The good thing that its not that important when boiling water, but in terms of efficiency, this stock pot falls flat.

A better alternative is to get the stainless steel models that they have. While they do not the same beautiful color that le creuset is known for, they are more durable and perform better. The stainless steel model should pretty much last your lifetime. I also think that they are quite a bit more attractive than the original model. But that is a personal choice.

Which Size to Get?

In general, the bigger the stock pot the better. This recommendation is great if you plan on making large batch of stocks. It will save you a considerable amount of time. Making stocks every week is a time sink and freezing it will provide just as good results.

However, if you have limited space, maybe get the 10-12 qt model. That should be the good balance point for pasta and stocks.

Le Creuset Stockpot Thoughts

While Le Creuset stockpots are beautiful, the traditional enamel one should be avoided. The stainless steel model are better designed and generally perform better. They are also more durable and wont have the chipping issue like the colored version have. If you plan on getting a stock pot, those are the one to get.

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I hope you like this Le Creuset Stockpot review, If you would like to see more, please visit our Pots and Pans Review page.