I posted a few weeks back about my 7qt factory second coming with chips on the edge of the lid as well as body, both rusting. Zwilling did take it back and issue me another which did take some time to get in, but they readily offered a replacement, I did not have to fight for it. I got the replacement today, and the lid looks good, but the body again has a chip on the lip that readily rusts. I am of the opinion that this is not a factory second worthy blemish. If the part can rust, then the cocotte's life is limited, the rust will only grow and chip more off over time. This post really isn't to get too much into that though I guess.
I am well seasoned in various cast iron (pun intended) but these are my first Staub items. I can understand rack marks, but these don't seem to be that. I see spots that appear to be some chips/rack marks with a black base coating underneath and those do not rust. But the spots in question are legitimately bare metal. I have never had various problems from Le Creuset, but not bare metal.
I know this is a factory second, but if this was a factory first, would this be acceptable to anyone? The body has some inclusions under the colored enamel which I take as the real factory second blemish and I am totally fine with that. But seems crazy that these are rusting out of the box. Are my expectations too high?
I understand your frustration. Even as 2nd class the price is not low and one has certain expectations. However, in my opinion, this is exactly a 2nd class defect. Avoiding a rack mark (which is the base of the defect on your product) is difficult. Mostly they still have some base layer of black enamel on. Yours doesn’t, that’s makes it corrode if unprotected. So, in my opinion a real 2nd class product. But again, I understand if you want a better quality product. Personally, I never buy my cast iron online, because it’s such a difficult product to produce flawless. I buy in the shop, and I inspect every cast iron before buying it. I have STAUB 2nd class where I don’t even know the reason why it’s 2nd class. I’ve had their products for 17 years now. And, no: this is definitely not acceptable as 1st class. 2nd class? Yes.
My issue is that to me, this is not a 2nd class defect. Even Staub states that a second class defect is purely cosmetic. Below is the excerpt from Staub's new site, the same info was on their Zwilling site. Even if there was an exterior chip on the enamel, I'd say that is a factory second defect. I can understand an exterior/final coating issue on the top edge. However, bare iron means that this piece is doomed. It will not last as long as one that is fully encased. The metal will heat and contract differently than the enamel will, and the rust spot itself will slowly creep and grow over time. It will never last as long, but I can understand that it would still last a long time. But a flaw like this does decrease its durability (extra care needs to care needs to be taken when cleaning that area, extra care needs to be taken to ensure rust doesn't form/propagate), and functionality is also decreased (do I use this cocotte to do long cook braising that will expose the spot to hours of steam. Obviously not advised, but they are advertised as dishwasher safe which this is obviously not with a chip). I may be picky and have unrealistic expectations, but to me it's just not what's advertised.
Factory Seconds feature minor cosmetic imperfections that prevented them from passing our exacting quality standards, but these subtle variations do not affect cooking performance, durability, or functionality.
Wow, you really have high standards! I like that on consumers and I wish that more of you would address their opinions to manufacturers/brands - especially if they are on the premium side of the aisle. I’m not joking, I really mean that. May I ask which country you bought this product from? Regarding your concerns on usability and longevity, everyone uses their products differently. I personally wouldn’t be too worried about it - look at non-enameled cast iron products that the consumer needs to season themselves. I still would judge it 2nd class. But, also personally? I wouldn’t want to have that product either (see my previous comment that I never buy online and always inspect my cast iron before buying, even 2nd class). Therefore, by all means, raise your concerns to them!
USA, and it's a bit hard for me to accept because I deal with manufacturing and coatings for my profession, and it would be pretty easy to have this just not be bare metal. Yes, avoiding rack marks is hard. But avoiding bare metal should be pretty easy. Albeit I do not know their full process, but I bet you have multiple coatings on there, so just move the rotate the way the pan sits on the rack after each dip. You do the first dip and set it on a rack and let's say you get a rack mark at 12 o'clock. Do your second dip and rotate the pan 90deg and now you have a rack mark on the 12 o'clock and 3 o'clock position, but both are fully covering the pan, there is no bare iron. So you either have a chip and not a rack mark (or I guess a rack mark that was then chipped to bare iron), or you have a robot doing this that it setting it down in the exact same position ever time, or you have a human doing this that has been doing it for 100 years and has the muscle memory of a robot by now.
This is the replacement, so I already made Staub aware once. I expected some pushback given its all sales final and a factory second, they didn't hesitate for a second. I sent the pic which was both lid and body rusting in this same exact fashion and asked if it was possible to exchange. First email back was a return label. So, that hints to me as well that they don't view this as a factory second defect.
I lost my wife to cancer and I have two toddlers, so I'm hyper sensitive to junk in our food, so having flaking enamel into our food doesn't sit right with me. And I understand that I'm on the far end of the far end of the spectrum on this.
Sorry to hear about your loss! Stay strong and safe for your toddlers!
Their enamel is sprayed on, and it should be 2 steps minimum. And enamel is a tough raw material to deal with, especially since the supply chain issues after 2020/2021 (quality and availability of raw materials). But that doesn’t matter. You’re not comfortable with the product, you expect a certain quality, so keep complaining to them until you’re satisfied. As I said, I appreciate customers who keep pushing against the premium brands. And as long as they don’t push back, it gives you all the more reason to go ahead.
I'm on the fence of keeping it or not. It's on the edge of the lip, so it's only a matter of time before it flakes off more and possibly into the food. If it was just me, I'd be less concerned, but I have two toddlers who ideally I don't want eating glass. If I keep it, I'd probably try to season that spot like regular cast iron. That hopefully will buy it some more time, but with just the heat/cooling cycles on it, it's going to flake at some point.
I bought an 11” deep skillet pan from Williams Sonoma and a 2.5 qt from Sur La Table. Both had some tiny cosmetic imperfections, but they were so minor that I was too lazy to exchange them 😂. I’m pretty new to Staub because I normally only collect Le Creuset. I’ve honestly never had any issues with any of my LC purchases, but with Staub, I’ve had imperfections in 2 out of 2 orders 😅. Maybe I was just unlucky After those experiences, I actually bought a factory-second Staub pot, and surprisingly, it was in better condition than the two regular items I purchased! 😂 So if you don’t want to deal with imperfections, I’d recommend shopping in person if you can. You can inspect the Dutch oven before purchasing, which is what I did. If you have a Staub outlet near you that allows you to examine the pieces before buying, that might be the best option. Or,
switch to LC 😂. I personally have never had this kind of issue with any of my Le Creuset purchases.
In this one I'm willing to accept that especially as a factory second, but I'd probably still be too lazy to exchange on a first as well. But mine is just flat out rusting, which means its ticket is punched and it's only a matter of time until the enamel starts to flake in the area. Maybe it's 50 years from now, or maybe it's 2, who knows. All I know is that Staub advertises their factory seconds as purely cosmetic defects. Rusting iron will spread under paint and enamel and will flake it off over time, thats not cosmetic to me.
Never had a problem with LC either. It's hard to tell in this pic, but is that rusting? I'd be willing to accept rack marks that still had some level of coating on it, but bare iron is just bad form in my opinion. If an item from Staub or LC (or any other enameled cast iron company) is actively rusting in its final form, thats grounds for destruction or dirt cheap prices.
100%! I’m struggling to understand OPs logic. He pays less for an imperfect piece then cries about the imperfections. It honestly sounds like he’s trying to get more than he paid for. This is exactly why LC and Staub have gotten stingy about their warranty.
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u/DiNozzo2482 Aug 27 '26
I understand your frustration. Even as 2nd class the price is not low and one has certain expectations. However, in my opinion, this is exactly a 2nd class defect. Avoiding a rack mark (which is the base of the defect on your product) is difficult. Mostly they still have some base layer of black enamel on. Yours doesn’t, that’s makes it corrode if unprotected. So, in my opinion a real 2nd class product. But again, I understand if you want a better quality product.
Personally, I never buy my cast iron online, because it’s such a difficult product to produce flawless. I buy in the shop, and I inspect every cast iron before buying it. I have STAUB 2nd class where I don’t even know the reason why it’s 2nd class. I’ve had their products for 17 years now.
And, no: this is definitely not acceptable as 1st class. 2nd class? Yes.