Best quality cocottes, and I've tried a few! – I have the 24cm cocotte (inferno red) and the 28cm cocotte (basil green). This review applies to both equally, but I will single them out as necessary.

These pans are worthy of me gushing like a new father.They are beautiful to look and beautiful to use.

They are heavy, and impossibly heavy when the tight-fitting lid is on. The lids are not domed like their competitors which allows you to pile ice onto the lid when a recipe requires, or you can heap coals on top and use it as a camp oven if you are glamping. There are also dimples on the inside to assist with condensation to braise the food as it cooks.

The 24cm pan was purchased on sale about ten years ago. It is still in A-1 condition. There is minor wear to the enamel where the lid meets the pot but there is still plenty of enamel left before it wears through. The cooking surface and external enamel are flawless. I estimate that I have cooked over 600 meals in this pan and it still looks new.

The 28cm pan was purchased about three years ago for tasks where the 24cm pan isn't quite big enough. This thing is BIG. It shows no sign of wear and has been used to cook over 100 meals.

If I had to have one pot, I'd probably go for the 26cm as a compromise (for a small but growing family).

Both pots go from hob, to oven, to table. They present beautifully and always elicit compliments from dinner guests.

The black matte enamel cooking surface is not non-stick, but the product doesn't claim this to be the case. If you use low/medium heat (which is all you need with cast-iron cookware), you won't have any issues with the surface performance or durability.

I have owned several brands of cast-iron cookware, from cheap Chinese pots to the top-of-the-line Frenchies and I will say, without any hesitation, that the Staub pots are the highest quality for fit-and-finish and performance. I would rate them more highly than Chasseur (no contest!) and on par or even better than Le Creuset, especially when you consider the design features of the lid (not that you'd have any cause for complaint owning/using LC!)

You can grab Staub on crazy discounts, so do your research. Everything. Amazing pieces of cookware. Beauty, performance, value. Nothing wrong with the product, but you will need to learn how to cook with cast iron.