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See why.The Best Braisers
These wide, heavy pans, which are like a cross between a Dutch oven and a skillet, can be used for searing, simmering, roasting, and, yes, braising. Does one deserve a place in your kitchen?
Top Picks
What You Need To Know
At a recent tastings and testings team meeting, we played a fun game: Each of us named our top five must-have pieces of cookware. My number one pick was a braiser. My enameled cast-iron braiser pretty much lives on my kitchen stove, ready to tackle anything from chili to sautéed greens to shakshuka to roast chicken.
Traditionally defined, braising is a wet-heat cooking method that’s used to turn tough cuts of meat tender. The meat is typically browned on the stovetop before liquid is added, and then it’s cooked either on the stovetop or in the oven for a relatively long period of time to break down the meat fibers. Most braising recipes call for a Dutch oven that’s large enough to accommodate the food, but a braiser—a round pan that is shallower than a Dutch oven, with sloped sides to contain liquid and a wide cooking surface for browning—can also be used for braising all types of foods. However, the shallowness of this pan does limit what you can braise—large roasts, such as the bottom rounds or chuck-eye roasts called for in pot roast recipes, won’t fit.
Like a Dutch oven, a braiser has two handles for easy transport and a lid to retain moisture and is usually made from enameled cast iron, which is great for heat retention. Its sloped sides allow for the easy maneuvering of food when browning. It can also function as a roasting pan, since it is large enough to hold a 5-pound chicken. A bonus: Most braisers are attractive enough to go from the stovetop to the table as serving dishes.
To find out which braiser is best, we selected five models, priced from about $59 to about $330. While one of the models was ceramic, the rest were made of enameled cast iron (we didn’t find any models that were traditional cast iron). We focused on braisers that were about 3.5 quarts, as this size accommodates enough food to serve four. While there were some stainless-steel braisers on the market, we focused on ceramic and cast-iron braisers since these are the same materials we reviewed when we tested large Dutch ovens. We used each to make One-Pan Lemon-Braised Chicken Thighs with Chickpeas and Fennel; meatballs in tomato sauce; Mediterranean Braised Green Beans with Mint and Feta Cheese; Weeknight Roast Chicken; and Pork, Fennel, and Lemon Ragu with Pappardelle.
Cooking in a Braiser
While all the braisers produced well-cooked chicken thighs, meatballs, green beans, roast chicken, and ragu, we did find that pans made from enameled cast iron browned food better than the ceramic braiser.
The manufacturer of the ceramic braiser boasted that it was 30 percent lighter than the enameled cast-iron models, which weighed b...
Everything We Tested
Highly Recommended
- Cleanup: 3 stars out of 3.
- Cooking : 3 stars out of 3.
- Durability : 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 3 stars out of 3.
Our top-ranked braiser had several features that contributed to a solid performance in test after test: a light interior that made it easy to monitor browning; a moderately thick bottom that helped ensure good heat retention and even browning; a generous cooking surface that fit every recipe from whole chicken to meatballs to pork ragu without crowding; and large, comfortable looped handles and a stainless-steel lid knob that gave us a secure grip, especially important when the pan was heavy and full of hot food. While pricey, this versatile braiser made great food, was easy to use, and looked good enough to double as a serving dish.
Recommended
- Cleanup: 3 stars out of 3.
- Cooking : 3 stars out of 3.
- Durability : 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 2 stars out of 3.
We really liked this enameled cast-iron braiser, which cooked food evenly and browned it thoroughly. It had large handles that were angled upward, which helped distribute weight and made the pan feel lighter to carry—even when loaded with a roast chicken or pork ragu. This braiser was also easy to clean and didn’t retain many stains. However, it did have two downsides: a dark interior that made it hard to monitor browning and a lid with a rather small stainless-steel knob, which wasn’t as easy to grasp as the knob of our winner.
- Cleanup: 3 stars out of 3.
- Cooking : 3 stars out of 3.
- Durability : 3 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1.5 stars out of 3.
This pan performed just as well as our favorite braiser but had smaller handles that were tough to grasp. Because of its thicker cooking surface, it took a bit longer to heat up and to brown chicken thighs. This braiser had the largest cooking surface area, which ensured proper liquid reduction and a rich, flavorful ragu. It was easy to clean and withstood being whacked with a spoon and having its lid slammed down repeatedly. This pan delivered excellent results at a bargain price.
Recommended with reservations
- Cleanup: 3 stars out of 3.
- Cooking : 2.5 stars out of 3.
- Durability : 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1.5 stars out of 3.
This pan cooked decent food, but it had smaller handles that were tough to grasp. Its enameled coating chipped when we whacked it with a metal spoon. And because this pan had the thickest cooking surface (0.58 inches), it took the longest to brown chicken thighs. However, it did cook ragu and green beans and sear meatballs well. As with all the braisers, it was easy to clean and resisted staining.
Not Recommended
- Cleanup: 2 stars out of 3.
- Cooking : 1.5 stars out of 3.
- Durability : 2 stars out of 3.
- Ease of Use: 1 stars out of 3.
This ceramic pan didn’t retain heat as well as the cast-iron pans, so we saw distinct differences in the food it produced. Because of its material, it browned chicken thighs and fennel unevenly, burned some of the meatballs, and took longer to soften onions. It also had a smaller surface area. This meant that it produced a roast chicken that was less golden all over than we would have liked, as the pan was crowded and there was less of the chicken exposed to the hot oven. In addition, it didn’t evaporate liquid as efficiently, so the green beans and pork ragu turned out fairly soupy. Its short, stumpy handles were very difficult to grasp securely and the ceramic handle on its lid was slippery enough that we almost dropped it a few times.
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The mission of America’s Test Kitchen Reviews is to find the best equipment and ingredients for the home cook through rigorous, hands-on testing.
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