Le Creuset Enameled Cast Iron Signature Round Dutch Oven

OH, I WANTED SO BAD TO LOVE THIS THING VERY, VERY MUCH. It is absolutely perfect, except it's too heavy for me. I am a petite old lady, so it's too much for me to handle, weightwise. I wanted to cry, having to turn around and send it right back, but meanwhile, I'm waiting for a smaller version of this, it is arriving today, yay!!! I have always believed in the adage, you get what you pay for, most of the time. With Le Creuset this is absolutely true. They've been in business a hundred years, and multi-generational families have continued to work there since 1925, because it's a good, solid company to work for. You can't go wrong with Le Creuset, especially if you take really good care of it. Read the instruction manual that comes with it.  It is in many different languages. Never heat it above medium, to avoid staining the sand colored enamel inside. If you do stain it, soak it in hot sudsy water during dinner, then later, pour out the soaking water, make a baking soda paste with baking soda and water and it'll come right off. And if it STILL sticks or stains, make a new paste of baking soda and hydrogen peroxide, and slather it all over the stain. Leave it to sit and go watch a movie or something. It should come off with a soft sponge at that point. Never use anything that'll scrape this cookware, and it'll last for generations. No steel wool, and no metal utensils; wood or silicone. The things you learn from the instruction manual, holy smokes!! According to the manual, it can be put in the freezer!! 😲 it can also be put in the fridge because there are no raw iron parts. A lot of people think that the rim and lid have raw cast iron and they season it. You don't ever want to season Le Creuset. That's not raw cast iron exposed. It's a matte grey coat that they spray on the raw cast iron to prime it before they apply the enamel coatings and melt it in an extremely hot crucible. Le Creuset means The Crucible in French. If you go to the factory, you'll see that the crucible is actually shaped like a big sideways C! Which is in their logo! IT HOLDS COLD TEMPERATURE AS EASILY AS IT HOLDS HOT TEMPERATURE! You can fill it up with potato salad or any other cold dish, and put it in the fridge overnight, and then you can take it to a barbecue the next day. Keep it well lidded, perhaps even sitting in a larger container of ice if you're going to be there awhile. Speaking of ice, it can actually be used as an ice bucket, believe it or not! When you look at all the things Le Creuset can do, you realise what a bargain you get when you actually buy it. I don't think the knockoffs can do the same thing, I could be wrong, because I don't know very much about them. I only know what people say about them, and from what I understand they don't really last. But you certainly can't do any cold treatment with raw cast iron, and you definitely can't sit it in the fridge or the freezer for hours and hours on end. It is the ABSOLUTE VERY BEST cookware to use for no oil cooking. My head was turned for about five minutes to the latest trend, beginning with a C and ending with a y... 🤔, because of the high reviews. But then I saw the horror stories on the other side of that. They were REALLY bad, considering that people paid Le Creuset prices for a cheap, thin product that looked beautiful as long as you didn't use it. I had purchased a brand new set of every piece they had, and then paid dearly to send it all right back. Somewhat expensive lesson to pay but whatever. This is the first time in my life I've ever sent any Le Creuset back. And it's only because of the weight. It's just not a realistic choice for me. I told my husband I don't know how anybody can cook with  the15.5 qt quart size!! 😲 If you are strong enough to wield a full pot of food in the 7.5 quart, and love plenty of room for mixing and stirring, then this is the pot for you. I couldn't even handle it empty! My hubs is taking it back for me. Hopefully, my next Le Creuset pot will be much easier to handle.