Bumps that smooth cooking
The lids of some enameled cast-iron Dutch ovens have bumps, or spikes, that return moisture to all areas of whatever you’re cooking, effectively continually basting them. Ovens without spikes – or the raised rings some older Dutch-oven lids have – can only send condensing moisture down the sides of the pan. Le Creuset’s covered ovens come sans spikes; most ovens by Batali, Staub and Lodge have them.
The spikes are important mainly for slow cooking on a stovetop, when steam hits the cooler lid of the oven, condenses and then bastes the entire pot, not just the sides. The Cupboard cookware buyer Polly Erickson has a preference for lids with spikes, but both types of pan will work for the “Glorious One-Pot Meals” described in Elizabeth Yarnell’s cookbook – in fact, Yarnell says she developed her recipes using a Le Creuset oven.
