Why Every Home Cook Needs a Dutch Oven
This versatile all-in-one pot is the original multi-cooker
When you shop through retailer links on our site, we may earn affiliate commissions. 100% of the fees we collect are used to support our nonprofit mission. Learn more.
Long before the Instant Pot came on the scene with promises of multitasking, there was the humble Dutch oven.
With the exception of pressure cooking, a Dutch oven can do everything a multi-cooker can do and then some: brown, boil, braise, bake, and deep-fry.
“A cast-iron Dutch oven will give you better results than an Instant Pot any day,” says Lance Nitahara, an assistant professor at the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. In fact, this one pan can replace your slow cooker, stock pot, pasta pot, loaf pan, and deep fryer.
And this type of cookware goes way back: Lewis and Clark carried Dutch ovens on their journey across the American West in the early 1800s, and you can still buy reproductions of the three-legged ovens they used. Today’s Dutch ovens look a lot nicer, though; most are enameled cast iron and come in a variety of colors. But they’re just as multifunctional, and they’re a good choice for simple tasks and more complicated recipes like braising meat, baking bread, cooking soups and stews, and deep-frying chicken.
Best Dutch Oven for Braising
Braising, in which you cook meat or vegetables partly submerged in liquid in a covered pot, is a good way to turn a tough cut of meat into a tender, delicious meal. In our braising tests, we cook brisket in the Dutch oven for 3½ hours. All eight models perform well on this test. “We didn’t see major differences,” says Cindy Fisher, who oversees our cookware tests. In addition to being great for braising, the Lodge below is one of the most affordable of the Dutch ovens we've tested—and it's among the easiest to clean—so it clinches this spot.
Best Dutch Oven for Browning
You might think you need a skillet to brown meat and fish, but a Dutch oven is perfectly up to the task and perhaps even better because the high sides prevent splattering. In our tests, we brown scallops, and there are some real differences in how each Dutch oven performs here, ranging from evenly caramelized scallops to pale, unevenly cooked ones. The best of the lot is Le Creuset, featured below, which earns the only Excellent rating for browning. It’s a cinch to clean, too.
Best Dutch Oven for Simmering Sauces
Our simmering test, during which we assess how well a pot can hold tomato sauce at a low simmer, proves to be a challenge for some models. Our lowest-rated model, the Tramontina, earns a Poor rating on this test because it didn’t heat the sauce evenly. None of the pots ace this test, and only one model, the Anolon Vesta featured below, earns a rating of Very Good. However, it’s a bit tricky to clean, which hurt its Overall Score.
Best Dutch Oven for Baking
In this test we bake loaves of white bread made from frozen dough. (At home, you may prefer to make your own dough, but we use store-bought for the sake of consistency.) The best breads from our tests have a crusty exterior and are nice and soft inside. The worst have a dense, heavy texture. We got impressive results from half of the Dutch ovens, including the Vremi baking champ below, which earns an Excellent rating.
Quickest Dutch Oven at Boiling Water
All but one of the Dutch ovens are able to quickly heat 4 quarts of room-temperature water to a near-boil, earning scores of Very Good to Excellent on this test. The best heat water in less than 10 minutes, but even the slowest accomplish it in 12. So you can skip getting out a pasta pot and use a Dutch oven instead. The Ayesha Curry model below is one of the top performers in this test, and one of the easiest to clean.
How CR Tests Cookware
One of the keys to successful cooking is choosing the right tool for the job. On the "Consumer 101" TV show, Consumer Reports expert Sara Morrow shows host Jack Rico how CR tests cookware so that you can focus on perfecting your culinary skills.
