Uneven searing in overpriced ECI pans from Staub & Le Creuset - show us examples

Question

I would like to hear your experiences with uneven heating and searing using your overpriced garbage ECI pans from Staub & Le Creuset. 

I’m not a huge fan of ECI vessels, in fact I prefer stainless steel lined 2.5 copper pans and clad/ply, but for certain things ECI is king for me. 

Let’s hear of your experiences with ECI and how unevenly this overpriced garbage glass enamel cast iron in vivid colourful designs sears on your stovetop. 

Here’s two photos of chicken seared on my gas stovetop in two different overpriced garbage Staub ECI pans. 
Highly uneven searing or what do you think ?!?

The trick is to heat the pan up slowly for 8-10-12 minutes, then add the ingredients to the pan.

Cheers, Claus 
Pardon my broken English, I’m just a humble Dane

Answer

First off, you overstate the supposed hatred for ECI, even among us who really dislike it. It's not garbage, although it (Staub and Le Creuset) is so rapaciously overpriced that arguments can be made that it is a garbage *value*. The simple truth is you can buy much better cookware--and more of it--for the same outlay. This is true regardless of whether we limit the discussion to searing. Repeat with any mismatch, or smaller induction or electric hobs, and the results would be different. 

Next, your photos are of relatively small pans on better-grade gas hobs, which is the best possible case. Which is to say unrealistic in terms of food- and hob/pan mismatch.

As for your "trick" of long, slow preheating, that's a mitigation measure, not a virtue. A further step might be to fully preheat in an oven, but with any time actually cooking over an active hob that is smaller than the pan floor, the temperature discontinuities inherent with cast iron will come back. Only the degree will change. 

But OK, I take your challenge.

Answer

I am not a fan of ECI although own many Le Creuset pieces, some bought before I knew better and some gifted. They are fine for braises that go from searing on the stovetop into an oven. They do not distribute heat evenly and are notorious for scorching when used stovetop. That being said they are ubiquitous on cooking shows, foodie sites and in serious cooks kitchens, although I've rarely seen them in French restaurant kitchens where I spent the first fifteen years of my career cooking. Why is this? It's because better alternatives are not offered or marketed. I have a multi clad Dutch oven that cooks circles around any ECI pot I've encountered but there are not a lot of stainless steel clad larger pots and pans offered. Perhaps the manufacturers have just given up because ECI owns the market?

Answer

Claus,

I almost never sear in my ECI--and when I do, it's part of a one pot meal project in which evenness isn't that critical. Even then, the protein is not that central to my dish. To me, ECI is for cooking things right around the boiling point of water--stewing and simmering. Also steaming.

And I do lots of that--especially this time of the year . . .

Ray

Answer

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. IMO, the hob is more important than the pan; but sometimes the pan can make up for the hob's shortcomings.

Answer

Just do a shallow fry and don't worry about it. Let the hot oil hit all the nooks and crannies. Drain well and remove to a sheet pan and finish in a hot oven for three or four minutes if the pieces are really thick.

That said, they look pretty good.

Answer

I didn't take any pictures because I didn't think they looked good, but I bought two lightweight nonstick cast iron pans from QVC and it was noticeable in the bigger 26cm frying pan that it was not even heating for certain tasks. Potstickers for one was not even. The dumplings in the center that were located directly above the burner was close to burning before the ones outside at the edges even started to turn a pale brown. I'd rather stick with tri-ply or thick aluminum nonstick for more even eating food.

Answer

I’ve never had an issue with my ECI pots. It is my opinion that ECI pots and pans perform beautifully for most tasks. For some reason LC and Staub get alot of hate in these forums but honestly it seems more like people have a personal grudge against them than have ever actually been failed by them. I have 3 ECI Dutch ovens (in 3.5 qt, 5.5qt, and 7.5qt) a baking dish, 2 oval gratins, a bean pot, a tagine, a fondue pot, and a pate terrine mold. They all get used fairly regularly and I would not trade them. I also have several naked CI pans including a griddle, a waffle iron, a few skillets in different sizes and an actual Dutch oven for outdoor cooking and an oyster grill pan. 

All of my ECI is made in France or Belgium and I think LC followed in short order by Staub are the best of the heard. My LC pieces have not significantly stained or chipped despite 15 years of regular use. A few of the pieces that I have are vintage so they served someone else for years before me. They are expensive because they are well made and made in France where there are labor laws.

Edit: For reference I am cooking at home not in a restaurant. Were I cooking professionally in restaurant our hotel I probably would not want ECI as it’s far heavier and more fragile than aluminum or carbon steel. I can move a full 7.5 qt ECI pan cooking for a family gathering but if there was one sized for a nights service at a busy restaurant it would need a dolly.

Answer

I have a personal grudge against ECI precisely *because* I've had plenty (read years) of personal experience with it failing me. 

At one point, I owned substantially more pieces of LC than you enumerate. Not all pieces were epic fails at every application every time, but generally something went wrong with heat delivery or management on the stovetop. In fact there are only a few applications I would recommend any of it as a viable alternative to better materials and constructions.

Part of my ire relates to the fact that Le Creuset flat out lied to me and millions of other consumers about how wonderfully "even heating" their pans are. It was a lie back when I sunk serious cash into LC believing it was the best, and it's always been a lie. Performance-wise, it's bottom-rung stuff, and probably exists in the market today only due to the pretty colors of paint.

Answer

It is comforting in these turbulent times to know that the copper/ECI debate is still going strong. I have one piece of ECI, a large oval casserole. It does not heat as evenly on the stovetop as copper, duh, but with a little attention and use of tongs it gets the job done. When I use it, I choose it mainly for its size, but its cheerful flame exterior is kind of fun, its white floor makes it easy to see what's going on, not having to deglaze another pan is a welcome break, and it knocks out great braises. The other day I made a smaller than usual batch of CAV. I browned the chicken thighs and other goodies in a fry pan and transferred everything to an earthenware casserole for its time in the oven. It tasted pretty much the same as when I make a larger batch in ECI. I guess the tradeoff of having to wash the fry pan versus having to move pieces around more while they are being browned was about even, but truth be told I hover when I cook on copper, too. But it seems not only empirically true but blindingly obvious that ECI does not heat as evenly as heavy copper (or pretty much any other mainstream pans), yet ECI can be used easily to make great food.

Answer

Here's my example in a Staub 28 braiser. Just had to try it for this thread, we don' t often eat chicken like this. It looks pretty even to me or am I not seeing correctly?

Answer

So I seared a nice big fat 450 gram pork chop this evening in my Staub 24 cm oval ECI dish. 
Came out perfect. Juicy inside and crusty on the outside. 
I seared another pork chop in my copper frying pan yesterday. Both were juicy and crusty. 

But I honestly think the one made in my Staub ECI this evening had a better crust and taste. 
Highly subjective, but that’s my honest opinion. 

So do you guys think this pork chop ECI sear is uneven ?

Cheers, Claus

Answer

Not expensive enameled cast iron, but here's a carbon steel pan for reference to people who think carbon steel heats evenly as well. Found this photo on Instagram. Flat top electric stove and you can clearly see that the meatballs are much browner in the middle than they are on the edges.

Only included this here as this is a thread that mentions even heating for cast iron which is known to be a poor heat conductor. Carbon steel is basically it's cousin so I'm including it as well.

Answer

I seared 3 huge fat 14-18% fat hakkeboeffer (I believe hakkeboeffer don’t exist in the US, but it’s a thick hamburger) tonight using my Skeppshult cast iron 28 cm grill pan. 

They end up being very juicy and quite evenly seared.

This Skeppshult pan is a monster. 
But it’s not ECI. It’s raw cast iron. 
I clean it in detergent with no problems, just oil it afterwards and heat it up until smoke point on the stovetop 

Cheers, Claus

Answer

Here's Roger Verge' working in what appears to be ECI, could be enameled steel. Also some stainless.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plnpZeFzEVs

Looks good to me.

They don't get much more famous than Verge, God rest his soul.

Answer

If you need to put a little giddy-up on a dish and get proteins done at once, here's a blueprint for chicken at least (yes, they'll need to be moved around some):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWqxB0P1Iwo&t=135s

No real reason this wouldn't work in ECI, though my preference is for the type of pan you see in the video all things considered.

Heat, and fire, and fat, and goodness.

Enjoy!

N.B. If you're scared of fat, and smoke, an oven that looks like it's actually used, and getting a pan a little 'dirty' then don't bother watching.

Answer

Got a new ‘toy’ - a danish brand called Morsoe makes ECI pans in a very sturdy quality. 

I got the 28 cm round frying pan and tried it for the first time this evening. 

The black enamel on it is really sturdy and feels almost like a raw seasoned Skeppshult cast iron pan. It’s far more rugged than the Staub black enamel. 

To my surprise this Morsoe pan heats very evenly for a ECI pan. I’m shocked. 

Placed it on lowest heat setting on a 8-10 cm gas ring. 
The pan warmed up in 2-3 minutes, and felt hot all over the pan. 
I placed 6 thick Frankfurter sausages (84% meat) on the pan and they cooked to perfection on the pan at low to medium heat. 

Very even cooking result. 
No scorching. No burning. 
Excellent result, and on a 28 cm ECI filled up with 6 thick Frankfurter sausages. 

What am I doing wrong here ? 
I need for my ECI pans to fail at searing, please help me LOL (Just kidding of course)

How come ECI pans work so well for me ?!?

Cheers, Claus

Answer

Claus,

Thanks for this thread, humor and all. Enameled Cast Iron, and even Enameled Steel can be used for all sorts of cooking, including searing of meat, when used thoughtfully, but they never should be the only solution to a cooking task. Even within ECI, there are alternative pans of interest. 

Almost all of my higher temperature ECI cooking is with my 28 cm. Staub Crepe Pan--which mostly "sears" French toast. As long as I use some type of oil or butter on a preheated pan, I can get a very even toasted effect.

I use my wok like Staub "perfect pan" for stir-fry--where I can take advantage of temperature differences across the base to perfect my searing.

My best uses for ECI have always been around 200-250 degrees Fahrenheit, with controlled simmers for many dishes.

Ray

Answer

Examples of more noticeable uneven heating in cast iron.

Answer

Typing this while my Le Creuset enameled cast iron dutch oven is on the stovetop in the middle of cooking agnello e piselli! :) As always, beautiful and predictable performance. 

https://memoriediangelina.com/2016/04/08/lamb-and-peas/

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