Staub Cocotte 24cm review: the brown that Le Creuset can't match
The matte-enamel French cast iron that turns a £15 chicken into the best meal you'll cook all week.
What's right
- + Matte black enamel browns at temperatures the cream-coloured Le Creuset can't reach.
- + Self-basting nubs in the lid drip condensed steam back onto the food — slow-cooks stay moist.
- + 3.8L is the right size for a 1.5kg chicken or 4 portions of stew.
- + Made in Alsace; Zwilling-owned; will outlive your kitchen.
What's wrong
- − Heavy. With a chicken in it, this pot is over 4kg — not for the wrist-weary.
- − Matte enamel hides chips less forgivingly than Le Creuset's gloss — be careful with the lid.
- − Black interior makes it harder to see when you're caramelising — you cook by smell.
There is a particular thing that happens when you put a chicken into a heavy enamelled pot, lid on, in a 220°C oven. The skin renders. The chicken steams in its own fat for the first twenty minutes, then crisps for the last fifteen. The lid traps every molecule of evaporating fat and drips it back onto the bird. You take the lid off and the kitchen smells like a French farmhouse.
Both Staub and Le Creuset will do this. Only the Staub does it well enough that I bought a second one to braise lamb in.
The matte enamel difference
A Le Creuset is glossy on the inside. A Staub is matte. This is not a styling decision. The matte interior is a microscopically rougher surface that the proteins and sugars in food cling to during the searing phase. More clinging means more browning, which means more fond, which means more flavour.
Le Creuset’s gloss is easier to clean, which is the trade-off. I’ve been cooking in cast iron for fifteen years; cleaning is not a problem if you let the pot soak for ten minutes after dinner.
The other difference: the Staub interior is jet black. Le Creuset’s is a creamy off-white. The black interior absorbs heat more aggressively and stays hotter under a lid. When you’re trying to maintain a 100°C braise for four hours, the Staub is more stable. When you’re searing onions for a soffritto, you can’t see them go from translucent to caramelised because the interior is the colour of the fond. You learn to cook by smell. It’s better cooking, frankly.
The self-basting lid
Both Staub and Le Creuset claim to have moisture-recirculating lids. Staub’s actually does the thing.
The underside of the Staub lid is studded with small spikes. Steam rising off the food condenses on the lid, beads up on the spikes, and drips back down evenly across the surface — not just at the centre, where a smooth lid would funnel it. The result is that the top of the chicken stays moist where, on a Le Creuset, it dries out by the end of a long roast.
This is, again, a difference of single-digit percentage points in moisture content. The kind of thing only a chef would notice. Except your friends will absolutely notice — they just won’t know why.
The Le Creuset is the friendly classic. The Staub is the better tool.
What I cook in mine
In rough order of frequency:
- Whole roast chicken, 220°C, lid off the last 15 minutes, basting with the rendered fat. Thirty minutes total — quicker than an open tin because the cast iron retains heat.
- Beef cheek braise, 4 hours at 130°C, with carrots, red wine, and a bay leaf. The Staub turns this into something that tastes like a Michelin restaurant put in eight hours.
- Risotto, when I want to feed six. The thickness of the cast iron means the bottom doesn’t scorch, even when you’re being lazy with the stirring.
- Bread, occasionally — the Staub heats up like a tiny pizza oven and gives a sourdough a crust you can’t get from a domestic Pyrex.
What I don’t cook in it: anything acidic for very long. The enamel is bulletproof, but tomato sauces over six hours can dull the matte finish.
The 24cm vs 28cm question
Staub make round cocottes from 18cm to 34cm. The 24cm holds 3.8L and fits a 1.5kg chicken or 4 portions of beef stew. The 28cm holds 6L and is the right size if you regularly cook for six.
I have the 24, and I’d rather pull it out twice for a dinner party than fight a 28cm into the dishwasher every Sunday. Get the 24 unless you have a household of five plus.
The Le Creuset comparison
Two questions to ask yourself:
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Do I already own a Le Creuset I’m happy with? If yes, you don’t need a Staub. They do 90% of the same job. Cook with what you have.
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Am I buying my first French cast iron pot? If yes — I’d buy the Staub. The £80 difference is roughly the difference between a chicken that’s “good” and a chicken that’s “best you’ve eaten in years,” sustained over a decade of weeknight roasts.
The Le Creuset is the friendly classic. The Staub is the better tool. Both will outlive their owner.
Where to buy
The Zwilling-owned Staub UK shop runs sales twice a year. John Lewis and Selfridges stock them at full price most of the time. ProCook does a “Staub-equivalent” UK-made cocotte that’s £140 — it’s fine, it’s not the same.
The 24cm in matte black is the one to buy. The fancy seasonal colours (sage, plum) command a £30 premium for an enamel that’s chemically identical. Black is also the only colour that doesn’t show fond stains over time.