My first really usable Dutch oven was a 50-year-old one, 18 pounds of solid aluminum! Eventually it pitted as to become unsafe. I've tried many of the current crop, and was very disappointed at the uneven heat distribution, with the propensity of food to caramelize and eventually burn at the transition point between the flat bottom and the sides (the metal thickness at this point is critical). In my testing, this pot is far and away the best designed, finished, and certainly the best cooking Dutch oven now being produced.

I purchased this item, and am thoroughly satisfied. The price for this superior "slow cooker" is steep, but if you really know how, and when to use this pot, you will marvel at the results, and it really beats the price tag of the restaurant "slow oven!"

Worth the price, and is in my opinion the best by far of all the offerings, spring for one, then really enjoy classical cuisine as it was once prepared!

Eric Scott PhD

22 of 23 found the following review helpful:

Not Just Another Pot  Dec 05, 2001

Using anything as finely made as this is an education. Food cooks differently in this than it does in anything I've used previously. The level of control this allows is amazing, and the key to this is just how forgiving the cooking surface is. There are absolutely NO hot spots. You burn the stew in this pot, you may as well hang it up and condemn yourself to fast food. This 5-ply pot is the best thing that's ever happened to my kitchen.

This is the highest expression in cookware.

15 of 15 found the following review helpful:

BUY THIS!  May 10, 2006
By Booksilly "booksilly"
Yes, buy this dutch oven. I own over a dozen All-Clad pieces and this is far and away my favorite. It's impossible to burn food in this oven. It cooks so evenly and makes heavenly stews, pot roasts, etc. I start my stews and roasts on the cooktop and finish in the oven at 325 degrees for 1-2 hours. Everything comes out perfectly. This All-Clad piece cleans up very easily. If there is any food particles that my plastic scrubber doesn't remove, an hour's soak with 1/2 inch of vinegar in the bottom of the oven makes it like new. If I had just one piece of cookware to take to a desert island, it would be the All-Clad Copper Core Dutch Oven. If I had two pieces to take, I'd add my All-Clad Copper-core 10 inch fry pan.

12 of 13 found the following review helpful:

Not Just Another Pot  Dec 05, 2001

Using anything as finely made as this is an education. Food cooks differently in this than it does in anything I've used previously. The level of control this allows is amazing, and the key to this is just how forgiving the cooking surface is. There are absolutely NO hot spots. You burn the stew in this pot, you may as well hang it up and condemn yourself to fast food. This 5-ply pot is the best thing that's ever happened to my kitchen.

This is the highest expression in cookware.

6 of 6 found the following review helpful:

The most versatile piece of cookware I own  Jan 19, 2008
By Justin
Dutch Oven is to limiting a name for this product. Sure you can use it to slow cook food. You can also use it to make casseroles, soups, boil pasta and more. This pot is smaller than a stock pot yet larger than a sauce pan. This is why my family chose it to start adding pots to our All-Clad collection. With a family of four and entertaining the 5.5 quarts this pot offers is perfect.

All-Clads pots, unlike their frying pans, do not seem to have a learning curve. You still learn to use lower heat, but as most the items we put in pots are covered in a sauce or water there does not seem to be the opportunity to sear as many things to this pot like there is when learning to use a frying pan.

One of the other reviewers intelligently stated that if stranded on a desert island this and their 10" All-Clad frying pan would be what they wanted. I would only alter that statement by replacing the 10" pan with my 12" pan (larger meals).

See all 9 customer reviews on Amazon.com