I Washed 4 Pots Every Sunday for 20 Years. Then My Sister Showed Up With 1.

The gravy had gone cold by the time I started on the pots, and there were four of them.

Mark found me at the sink around nine, kids already gone home, water running over my pruned hands.

"Why does one dinner need four pots?" he asked. He asked me almost the same thing every Sunday.

See the oval Dutch oven from this story →

I never had a good answer. It was just how I'd always cooked: chicken browning in the skillet, potatoes boiling in one pot, carrots roasting in a pan, gravy simmering in a saucepan on the back burner.

By the time everyone had eaten, hugged me, and gone home, I was alone with every single one of them.

The sink told the truth before I did

The skillet went in first, still greasy from the chicken.

Then the potato pot, the roasting pan, the saucepan, and whatever bowl I'd used for the gravy, until the stack blocked the window over the sink.

By the time I'd finished washing, the kitchen was dark and everyone else was already on the couch, laughing at something I'd missed.

I tried to cheat my way out of it

One Sunday I tried a sheet-pan dinner instead: one pan, one oven, half the dishes.

The chicken came out dry by the time the potatoes finished, and the vegetables never browned the way they did in a real roasting pan.

My daughter pushed hers around her plate and didn't say anything, which was somehow worse than if she had.

I went back to my four pots the next week.

Look closer

What one sheet pan did to the chicken

1. The skin. Dried out by the time the potatoes finished.
2. The carrots. Shriveled at the edges and never browned the way they did in a real roasting pan.

My sheet-pan shortcut. The circle is magnified.

If Sunday dinner ends at your sink too, keep reading. This is the pot that changed mine. See the 8 QT Oval Dutch Oven →

So I started finding reasons not to host

After a few more Sundays like that, I started finding reasons to simplify: taco night instead of a roast, takeout instead of pot roast and gravy.

My daughter finally asked why we didn't do real Sunday dinner anymore.

"I'm just tired," I told her. The truth was I was tired of the sink, not the cooking.

Then Rachel handed me one pot and said that's all of it

In October I went to Rachel's for Sunday dinner instead of hosting my own.

She was making a whole roast chicken with potatoes and carrots tucked in around it, and when I asked how many pots she'd need, she just laughed and pointed to one, already on the stove.

"That's it," she said. "Sear it, roast it, serve it. Same pot the whole time."

I watched her brown the chicken right on the stovetop, slide the whole pot into the oven, and carry it straight to the table an hour later, still steaming.

It was the Larder & Vine 8 QT Oval Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven, and it was the only pot Rachel used for the whole meal.

I ordered one before I'd even finished my coffee.

Rachel showed me why one pot could do the job of four

She lifted the lid while the chicken rested and walked me through it, one part at a time.

My old stockpot held plenty of water and no chicken at all. Hers took the whole bird with the potatoes and carrots tucked in around it.

Larder & Vine 8 QT Oval Dutch Oven

How one pot replaced my four

123

1. Self-basting lid. Drip bumps underneath catch the steam and send it back onto the meat, so a whole bird stays moist through the whole cook.
2. Loop handles, oven safe to 500°F. Sear on the stove, slide the whole pot into the oven lid and all, then carry it to the table.
3. Oval and 8 quarts. The base is 11.1 by 8 inches, long enough for a whole chicken with the potatoes and carrots around it.
4. Smooth enamel inside. No seasoning and no oiling between uses, and it won't react with the tomatoes and wine in a braise.

★★★★★

“Love this oven! Puts the crock pot to shame. Just made a pot roast in it, yesterday a loaf of bread, great heat distribution, the lid fits with no movement or wobble. Seals in the flavor. Best Paige of cookware I own. It is a little pricey it well worth it. Very heavy duty not to mention beautiful! 5 stars all day!”

Now dinner sears, braises and roasts, all in the one pot

Remember the dry sheet-pan chicken? This is the same oven, same stove, one pot. Sear on the burner, finish in the oven, and the chicken comes out juicy every time.

And it goes straight from the oven to the table

No transferring dinner to a serving dish. The pot goes from the oven straight to the table, and it still looks like something I want sitting there.

My sink is empty by dessert now, and Sunday dinner is back

The pot came on a Wednesday. That Sunday, I made a whole chicken with potatoes and carrots, all in the same pot Rachel had shown me.

One pot went on the table. One pot went in the sink.

Mark walked by around nine o'clock, looked at the empty counter, and asked where the rest of the dishes were.

"There aren't any," I told him.

It's just a pot. But I'm back at the table for dessert every Sunday now, instead of standing at the sink.

Black Friday sale

Cook the whole dinner in one pot, and save 20%

Larder & Vine is taking 20% off the 8 QT Oval Dutch Oven for Black Friday through Cyber Monday. No code needed: the discount is applied automatically at checkout.

$143.99 $179.99 applied automatically at checkout

Black Friday price ends in 

Check availability

• Limited Lifetime Warranty for home use, so the pot is covered for the long haul.
• Free shipping on orders over $100, so the pot ships free.
• 30 days to request a return after it arrives.
• Ships fast, usually within 1 to 2 business days.

Who this isn't for: You only ever cook for one and never host.