Le Creuset

[Pumpkittenspice]

Is Le Creuset cookware worth the price tag?

I’ve got the Le Creuset salt and pepper mills and a utensil jar (in the shell pink colourway, if anyone was wondering) which I love. I’d love to have a casserole dish and a baking dish too!

I've got a round cast iron casserole dish with lid in ocean blue I think the colour was called. I do use it a lot but I didn't buy it, I won it in a competition. They are far too expensive for my budget so even though I like it a lot I couldn't ever buy any more

Had a Le Creuset iron griddle and was very unimpressed, sent it back. Have a Staub casserole (cocotte) and love it. I remember researching when I bought it and the consensus then seemed to be that Staub was better quality.

I've had quite a lot of Le Creuset pans over the years because I wanted to belong to the pretentious wanker demographic. I didn't think they were anything special and they were tricky to get to the right temperature for sautéing without scorching on a gas hob. Mine weren't pampered, they were used by all the family, and the wooden handles end up getting charred, some of the pan lids broke, and the insides quickly became scratched and discoloured. DD1 took the last surviving ones when she moved out, apart from the marmitout, which I like for cooking an egg or a couple of sausages in the tiny frying pan lid.

I have them but I hate everything sticks to them.

They're also very heavy.

Cost per use yes, worth it.
Can I lift them when full, no, so useless to me.
I've bought some nice stuff off Amazon, ok it wont last 30 years, but I'm unlikely to last another 30 years and at least I can carry it full of food. Also non stick.

I've a massive lasagna dish but would never have bought one. Was given to me second hand and gets used for roast potatoes at Christmas. It is heavy but not that bad.

I’ve got a Sainsbury’s pretendy one. It’s so “substantial” I can’t see what would stop it surviving a nuclear winter so I don’t see how a real one would be better

I've bought most of mine from charity shops.

Casserole, saucepans, pie dishes etc.

They go in the dishwasher OK.

Wedding gift over 30 years ago - the set a PP mentioned.

The three saucepans - enamel is like new, so easy to clean, a low heat cooks everything. Heavy but real workhorses.

The casserole is my most used pot, I cook with it all the while. Absolutely love it.

The frying pan was rubbish and lost its non-stick relatively quickly.

DH doesn’t like them because they are heavy. His stupid lightweight saucepans need replacing so often in comparison with my lovely big bruisers.

Also I could kill a burglar with one swing of the saucepan 😉

I desperately wanted a set, everyone told me they were heavy but I still bought them. Sold them again a year later. I now have light ikea ones that are great.

I have a gas top kettle that my parents had in their caravan for years and years - it's bright orange and sits on my stove top. Too heavy to lift but looks great!

Does anyone recommend a foolproof way to clean the outside?? I have light grey cast iron griddle, and the outside of it gets horrifically mucky somehow, with brown and black splatters after cooking. I’ve never put it in the dishwasher as I always thought you couldn’t. No issues cleaning the inside, but it just takes so much effort to keep the outside looking good. Any top tips? What am I missing?!

Bought saucepans and big casserole dish nearly 40 years ago (no idea how we afforded them - can only assume they weren't as overpriced back then) and all still going strong. V. heavy but fortunately DH does most of the cooking. 😁

We were bought some for wedding presents and have added to the collection over the years. I absolutely love them and always put them in the dishwasher. My favourite is my limited edition Millenium Falcon trivet from the Star Wars collection!

I've had mine for years - saucepans, casserole dishes, lasagne dish and teeny individual pots with lids. I used everything other than the griddle pan which is freakishly heavy and a total pain in the arse to use, move, store and clean.

Try barkeepers friend.

I'm like @Frith2013. I have a full set of saucepans plus the shelf unit which I have bought second hand over a number of years.
I love them.

The cast iron stuff is heavy but cooks casseroles nicely.

Their 3ply stainless saucepans are the bees knees.

I have the big cast iron enamel dish and I use it all the time. Probably 2-3 times a week.

I had 2 ‘cheaper’ cast iron enamel dishes over the years that I used all the time and in both the enamel chipped away. The first was really cheap, second slightly more. After the second I just paid the money for the le cruset. Still looks brand new

@AllProperTeaIsTheft they have a lifetime guarantee so you could have got it replaced! They replaced mine recently after about 20 years. No receipt as a wedding present.

Someone gave us a medium-sized casserole dish as a wedding present over 25 years ago, and it is still in regular use. I wouldn't want to drop it on my toe though, it's really heavy.

HNRTFT but I personally think all pans are too heavy,food sticks and a PITA to clean .Over priced and expensive.

In a nutshell, yes.

The majority of our kitchen items are le creuset. The crockery is heavy but so nice when the table is set. I would maybe say the glasses aren’t worth it, but the cookware is 100%, especially with the guarantee. I love the cast iron frying pans, they probably get the most use.

Oven trays i would rate 7/10, my favourite one is from a supermarket.

I just need the kettle to complete the kitchen, however I don’t have the patience to wait 7 minutes for a cup of tea 😂.

the marshmallow is lovely, all of ours is the standard / common volcanic. I am well aware it’s seen as “pretentious” but as a very poor kid who did an exchange trip to France and fell in love with the host’s kitchen and bright orange le creuset items, I promised myself that one day I would have it too and now I smile every day walking into my kitchen.

I have 3 cast iron pots in kiwi. Had them around 20 years. Love them. I'm 55 with a low level oven, and there are no issues with weight.