Le Creuset French Oven Round or Oval

[angelo04]

What should I buy my wife for her birthday. Round or Oval? I've settled on size somewhere in the 6 -7 Quart range. I'm leaning toward oval, thinking that it might help if she has meat for a braise that is oddly sized, but what do I know? Help!

[Jennalynn]

If it's her first LC... go round. And go for the bigger one. You won't be sorry.

[MMRuth]

I agree on both counts.

[blondelle]

If she likes a deep blue or a gorgeous rich yellow, then get it at William Sonoma. Those colors are 25% off now, and might go down even more. You can always bring it back to them for an exchange if it gets damaged for any reason.

[warneral]

I would prefer a round if doing stovetop cooking. My LC dutch ovens are round and they work better than oval on a stovetop since there are the long ends. I used my sister's oval pot to make curry last month and the heat didn't distribute to the ends very well.

If she really makes big huge roasts that are very long adn this is mostly what she does, then go with the oval. But if she will use it on the stove top a lot, then go with the round.

[C. Hamster]

I use my 7 quart round almost every week.

Because it's designed to be used on both stove and in oven IMO the round shape is better because it fits on a round stove burner better -- more even heating.

I've never found anything (chickens, pork shoulder, beef) that would fit in an oval but not in a round. If you were buying a smaller size, that might be true but not with the 7 quart.

I also think the 7 quart is the best size, BTW.

Good luck. I'm sure she'll love either one.

[janniecooks]

I second C. Hamster - go with the round. I have both the round and the oval oven, and when I've used the oval I'm bothered by the fact that the ends of the oven don't receive direct heat from the (round) burner, but the round one fits perfectly and thus the heat source is even over the entire bottom of the oven.