A lot of you have written me over the years about picking up your own French Oven or Dutch Oven given that they last forever, are one of the best tools to have in the kitchen, are so versatile, and can make cooking certain types of recipes much easier. I never deviate on my past advice as, personally, there are only three brands I’ve ever found that I think are worth the money.
If you want something less expensive, there is a camping supply company called Lodge that makes the highest quality mid-tier Dutch Oven I’ve ever tested. The ~4ish quart models retails for only $100 (which you can get on sale for $50 to $70 if you look hard enough at the right time of the year … as a matter of fact, Target has a huge 6 quart model on sale for only $57.99 before coupon codes). We still keep one in our kitchen from our time in college and it is an absolute delight. It will do everything you need it to do. If I were young, learning to cook, and didn’t have a lot of disposable income, it would be the first thing on my shopping list as the dividends saved from eating at home can pay itself back many times over at a fairly low price point. Take the price difference between it and a more expensive brand and use it to buy shares of McCormick & Company or Nestle. You’ll thank me in 25 years.
[mainbodyad]Meanwhile, on the top end, if you are willing to spend at least $200 to $800, nothing beats a Staub or Le Creuset Dutch Oven. Which you prefer among them is a matter of taste. I adore them both but lean toward Staub. Finding sales can be hard but, sometimes, the manufacture will authorize big discounts or rebates so you can save a ton of money if you act quickly. I have a habit of only buying during events like this, even if it takes 1-2 years for another sale to manifest (I like my cookware like I like my stocks … at a bargain price).
This is one of those times.
While everyone seems to be offering some form of Thanksgiving or Christmas sales – and, personally, I give almost all of my household business to Williams-Sonoma as they are my favorite store – there is a company called CutleryandMore.com that has an incredible liquidation price for a limited time. Not only are some of the models significantly below retail, if you activate the coupon page that appears on the top of the screen by clicking on the ribbon (you have to click it otherwise it won’t adjust your total with the second discount!), you’ll get another double-digit discount stacked in the shopping cart on top of the existing sales price, plus you’ll receive free UPS Ground Shipping (a great bargain given how heavy these are), plus they’re throwing in a free $25 gift card. Pay for it all with a cash back rewards card and you’ll begin approaching wholesale cost.
To give you an idea of the depth of the sale, members of my family bought $1,514 worth of stuff and it cost us only $559.84, not counting the value of the gift card or the cash back rewards.
My mom is going with two new Graphite Gray Dutch Ovens that will look great in her kitchen as she has all stainless-steel appliances.
Whereas Aaron and I went with a couple of new Grenadine models to go with the Basil one we already have …
I’ve been loading up on cookie, cake, and pie supplies lately, too. There is so much going on, being in the kitchen is one of the only ways I can get into a rhythm and peacefully reflect upon what needs to be accomplished. Everything seems simpler, and the path obvious, when you’re deglazing a coq au vin for a beef stew or browning onions for a French onion soup as the homemade bread bakes alongside it. Today, I baked a caramel pecan apple pie after talking with Aaron about a portfolio allocation challenge I’m facing that has to do with international taxation. By the time your topping is done, you know what to do.
The time crunch is so bad, I’ve seriously considered resorting to a half hour talk-to-you-over-coffee audio file chat since it might be the only way I can keep up with this site for the foreseeable future. I could probably knock 60 or 70 mail bag question submissions off the list if I could just speak to each of you casually.
Update: You have to click this red banner at the top of the page to get the extra savings to stack with the sale prices:
Once you have, it should change your shopping cart. You’ll see a new line appear in red with a negative amount called “Cookware Savings” that applies the bigger discount to the already incredible sales prices:
Hat tip to a poster named “crispy” who, down below, points out some of the Staub sets actually end up being being cheaper than the individual items themselves so you can get paid to take extra cookware! It’s definitely worth researching! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen something this good so if you’re on the fence, just trust me and do it. This is about as good as you’re ever going to find anywhere, at any time, when buying from an authorized dealer.
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Reader Comments (18)
Comments are presented chronologically, with replies indented beneath the comments to which they respond.
dave (nestle)
December 2, 2014
Joshua,
Here is a new business idea for you,
Since we all could use an "Aaron", how about pimping him out with say 1/2 hour prepaid phones so we can bounce our life ideas off of him like you do?
Peace.
G
December 2, 2014
I would love to hear an audio file / podcast from you. There are certainly advantages to the written form, but a mix of audio and detailed 'show notes' may be a good format.
Engineer7006
December 2, 2014
Joshua,
What kind of oven is that?
Joshua Kennon
December 3, 2014
Replying to Engineer7006
Hold on, I'll check for you ... I know I have a spreadsheet somewhere. They redid their entire house this past Berkshire Hathaway shareholder meeting and it was part of the discount package I built for them so the model number has to be around here somewhere.
Be right back ...
Okay, LG LSES302ST is the model of the particular stove they purchased. It's part of the new LG studio line that is more modern. Here is the product page itself.
My mom loves it. I haven't had a chance to use it, yet, since we baked our stuff over here and brought it to their house the day before Thanksgiving when we had my side of the family's dinner but from what I've seen, it looks amazing. The bottom drawer isn't actually a storage drawer like on most ovens, it's another oven entirely with its own set of controls so you can cook rolls or other dishes at a different temperature than your primary oven, which holds the turkey or whatever you're making. If you prefer a cooktop separated from wall ovens, they offer those, too. The matching refrigerator is so cool I almost bought one on the spot (and would have if I didn't have a perfectly good refrigerator that has no need of replacement).
Engineer7006
December 4, 2014
Replying to Joshua Kennon
Thanks! It is a beautiful stove. We're in the market for a new one in our next house so I'm always on the lookout. I'll have to poke around and see if they have a gas equivlent model.
Mark Bright
December 2, 2014
"If I were young, learning to cook, and didn’t have a lot of disposable income, it would be the first thing on my shopping list"
I literally JUST bought a 6 quart pan with a lid a few days ago because of this fantastic website I discovered a few weeks ago about eating home cooked meals on a low budget: http://www.budgetbytes.com/
It's literally been a godsend for me. Wish I had read this post before buying that pot though!
dave (nestle)
December 2, 2014
All seriousness Joshua,
It seems like you may have built something so big and desirable to so many people that it has become sort of it's own monster. It seems like it must require a huge amount of your time and thought to do it to your standards. All the while wanting to help people, but at your own detriment. At least thats the felling I got over the last couple posts.
It's sort of a shame that the blog requires your nonstop personal attention in order to keep rolling. Alot of small businesses and business type ventures do, I find. At a time when your years of planting seedlings has brought you to a place where you can kick back and do exactly what you want to do at any given moment, you are faced with the relentless questions of people like me.
Years ago I had a similar situation where I started a business but it required my on the spot attention for every job. I could not rely on others without me being there to keep it up to standards and watch over the "product". It became misery because I could not enjoy any aspect of it due to lack of time, and thats all I saw when I gazed out into it's future. Also, just about two years ago I was ready to pull the trigger on a new startup. I had everything set, right down to a lease about to be signed and a consultant who trained me in everything I needed to know, just as a double check. I chickened out at the last minute and didn't pull the trigger. The reason: fear that I would be signing my life away to a new marriage, the business. The decision to pass on the new business was made crystal clear as I started looking around for young people for employees. I could not see any way of handling the type of significant volume that would come, while keeping up to my standards, with the pool of potential labor that I saw around me. I'm not saying that I am afraid of relentless hard work, just that I don't think it's wise or possible to be embedded with the day to day operations when I should be there thinking and steering the ship. But that's me, a conservative visionary with my capital(financial and personal) at this age.
So, please correct me if I'm wrong with my assumptions. I hope that I am. I cringe when I think about a blog-slowdown. Haha
Dave
crispy
December 2, 2014
This is huge.
I have had a small collection of Staub matte black cast iron mini-cocottes (0.25qt) from a trip to Paris, but the high prices have always deterred me from getting more.
Now, they will not only sell me a matching matte black 5.5 qt. for $230, they will _pay me_ $30 to take two more mini-cocottes along with it!
If anyone is interested in a 5.5 qt. matte black, but doesn't want to be paid to take some extra mini-cocottes that will only clutter things up, please let me know. I will gladly pay shipping to take them off your hands 🙂
Joshua Kennon
December 2, 2014
Replying to crispy
You're right! I just saw that, it's crazy! You can either pay $284.95 on sale (down from $407 retail) for , or you can get the set with the two mini cocottes for only $249.95 (down from $593 retail), as you said, getting paid to take the two extra cocottes!
Then, if you click the red ribbon at the top of the page that says "20% Off Cookware", it will activate an additional discount that gets applied as a line item in the shopping cart, it will bring the price of that particular set set down another $49.99 to only $199.99 plus free shipping, which works out to around 66% off retail! On top of all of that, they throw in the $25 gift card, too, on your next purchase.
(I attached screenshots so you can see how it works to make sure you're getting the second discount that stacks with the sale price. It's only shown on the cart page itself once you've activated it to stack with the sales prices.)
Andrew
December 3, 2014
I'm sort of embarrassed by my ignorance, but why is this worth $200+ when I can get a $35 cast iron dutch oven from Lodge?
Andrew
December 3, 2014
Replying to Andrew
He mentions the best Lodge early in the post! The $35 one off Amazon has no enamel coating.
Joshua Kennon
December 3, 2014
That site looks cool! Thank you for sharing it!
Joshua Myers
December 3, 2014
Thanks for the heads up on this. Picked up an 8-pc Staub cookware set in sapphire blue for my wives birthday. It's a little pricey up front, but I'm guessing that it'll more than pay off over the 40+ years of good use we're planning to get out of this set.
dave (nestle)
December 4, 2014
Embarrasingly, I admit that I dont own a dutch oven. So curiously, I borrowed one yesterday and tried the cornbread recipe listed above under related posts #6.(it seemed to be the easiest and quickest recipe I saw with Joshua's 'thumbs up')
I think the result turned out great! Although I did cut the sugar by about half and I did have to raise the oven temp to 375 about 2/3 of the way thru, and leave it in an extra 20 mins. I also uncovered it for about the last 10 mins to golden-up the top. (I was going in blind but under extreme pressure to get it right the first time because my daughter helped me make it and you know what disappointment could mean) The only downside is that it is enough to feed a hungry cell block of inmates in prison. I think I will cut the ingredients in half next time.
I also must admit that the only cornbread/muffins my mother made when we were young were from a boxed mix. It's kind of funny that she made so many homemade meals(we never went out to eat), and Christmas cookies out the wazoo (including some Italian meat breads like 'pizzagane'), and my family cornered the market on the Jersey shore with a zeppole recipe, yet she never made homemade cornbread.
Well, maybe I will fork over the $199 before Dec. 5th.
Thanks Joshua!
Preston Nelson
December 4, 2014
Joshua,
I'm trying to talk my spouse into getting a set, so thanks for this info as it was totally off my radar.
Also, the comments section will not load at all for me in firefox v.33.1 or v 34 and I've been having issues with them not loading properly in firefox for a while now...
Roundball
December 5, 2014
The comments section is messing up again, FYI. Viewing it in Google Chrome on a Macbook
Joshua Kennon
December 5, 2014
Replying to Roundball
It's Disqus. It started with Firefox a few days ago is now happening on Chrome, too. It's maddening. I'm checking for another micro-update to see if they fix it like they did last month they went through this same thing but, so far, nothing. In the meantime, we're disabling individual plugins to try and see what is causing the conflict on our end.
Stephen H
November 29, 2015
Looks lole Walmart Canada sells Lodge for a fairly good price so might try it out! Thanks for the suggestion! I wish I had your storage space, my wife is already giving me the evil eye for wanting to store more stuff we don't have room for. I guess I'll keep them in my sock drawer.. Haha