We love our 8 quart oval shaped Le Creuset.  We have a smaller round one but find that we use the larger one more often.  @Thatgrimguy above is a serious cook so I would look into what he suggests as well. One thing about the light colored interior of our Le Creuset is that it stains.  And you really don't have to worry about a large one fitting on the burner because the thickness of the metal really spreads the heat nicely. 

I've heard a joke about divorce cases where the biggest fight is over the Le Creusets.

Here's a photo of my 8 Qt on the stove with can of soda for size/scale.

We've never used our Le Creuset in the egg.   I am reminded of what happened when I used my wife's favorite pyrex to cook a brisket in the egg back in July 2014. While it was a cooking success, Here is my comment from the post..."Update: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT try this at home using your wife's best Pyrex. (out of disposable aluminum pans) Took me 15 minutes off steel wooling to restore it to its pristine condition. Whew, thought I was gonna be banished to Lackonookie Island for a week."

I find I use my 5 more than my 7 but nice to know I have the 7 when I need it.
Thatgrimguy said, I also have a Staub and it's my favorite.

JacksDad said:

What does everyone think about enameled vs bare cast iron DO for things like chili... I keep reading comments that you shouldn't simmer acidic foods in bare cast iron, which would be the argument for getting enameled. But I've made chili several times in my large egg in my bare cast iron lodge DO and didn't notice any metallic flavor, and it seemed to clean and reseason after I was done cooking in it just fine...

Plus, with my new egg obsession, the wife will kill me if I keep buying cookware without a good place to store it! 

i get a severe metallic taste and a painful twinge from tomatoes cooked over a long period in cast iron. but then again no problems with chili, theres no tomatoes in chili

Still kicking myself over this one. I saw a CL add a couple of weeks ago for two Le Creuset DOs, a 3 or 4 qt and a 7. $125 for both! Pics looked great. About 90 minutes away and I just didn't want 'em that bad. Wish I had now. They even matched the LC stuff I already have...from the days before CL, saw an ad in the paper for 11 pieces for $50. All CI except a ceramic pie plate. I don't use most of it, but the 3 qt DO is awesome!

Eggcelsior said:

I use my LC on my egg with impunity. Just rub some dish soap on the outside before cooking and the creosote rinses right off.

This doesn't impart a soapy taste on the food if the lids off the pot?

One word of caution. When you say standard cooktop, is it gas or electric? If it's gas, you're good to go. If it's electric, you really need to not exceed the diameter of your eye. I have a lot of CI, both enameled and non-enameled. I have a Lodge 9 qt. that I use on the propane Expedition, the indoor oven, or the egg, but not inside on a burner. If in doubt, use your IR gun and you will see that any part of the DO or skillet that overshoots the diameter of you electric eye will be at least 10 degrees cooler than the part over the eye. That may not be important, depending on what you are cooking though.

I have 7.25 qt. LC that I use for chili.  That is a good size for me for that purpose.  I have not had any problem getting the inside clean.  I do have to do a lot of scrubbing to get the outside clean.  I cooked this yesterday.  I put foil around it.  I don't think it helped about the cleaning very much.  Here are four photos.

I have had a 9qt round for about 10 yrs now.  Use it all the time.  The enamel on the bottom is getting worn, will have to replace some day.  It fits perfectly in the Large.  I just wrap some foil over it for easy clean up.

We have an outlet store here in STL:.....lots of good deals on them.

I've got a 2 #12 Lodges with legs.
6qt Lodge enamel, bargain cave
6qt Lecreuset enamel(mom's), vintage 2.75qt saucepan and 2 qt DO.

The Lodge enamel is a two-tone brown, the creosote blends in. 

Le Creuset has been cranking out top notch products since 1925, Griswold quality in France.  They win, hands down.

Bang for your buck, Lodge enamel.

7 qt is the ideal size IMO.  Beyond that, get a good quality stock pot.

I have a Cuisinart I got for a gift. I think it's a 7 qt. . You can pick them up for round 65 bucks at Home Goods . 

Raymont said:

Dredger said:

One word of caution. When you say standard cooktop, is it gas or electric? If it's gas, you're good to go. If it's electric, you really need to not exceed the diameter of your eye. I have a lot of CI, both enameled and non-enameled. I have a Lodge 9 qt. that I use on the propane Expedition, the indoor oven, or the egg, but not inside on a burner. If in doubt, use your IR gun and you will see that any part of the DO or skillet that overshoots the diameter of you electric eye will be at least 10 degrees cooler than the part over the eye. That may not be important, depending on what you are cooking though.

Yeah, I currently have a electric cooktop . I'll need to measure. That is part of my dilemma on the 7.25 qt or 9 qt... and also why I was looking at round vs. oval. 

I have an 11qt le Creuset dutch oven. It fit fine on my large electric coil top burner. I've never seen any pot on any burner that is going to always have a 0° gradient across its entire surface anyway.

I don't know where the cutoff point is but once their pots get to a certain size the diameter does not keep increasing - the pots just get taller/deeper.

Thatgrimguy said:

I would research Staub. It's just a hair better IMO and typically just a hair below in cost. I prefer my Staub to my Le Creuset because of the matt black interior finish. This finish seems to work much more like typical cast iron than the shiny finish of my Le Creuset.

^^^^^^ Staub.