Omg La Cruset casserole dishes are now £170!!

[IvyBean]

I last bought one in a French supermarket for £40 and it needs replacing

£170 on JL!!!

I can't believe anybody would pay that.

You can get a new oven for less.

My MIL gifted me her set - all in very fetching 60's brown. I bought my own one in the 80's (pocket money....how sad) for 14.

My kitchen pride though goes to my saucepans & saute pans.... smallest one was 50 when it was bought in the 1990. The largest pan 175 at the same time. They are beautiful stainless steel ones... best bit is they can go in the dishwasher.

I bought a John Lewis cast iron pot a few years back and that was £80.
I thought it was proper grown up spending that much on a pot. I do love the pretty colours but would never have them on display so for now my bog standard black one will be fine.

We got a free one in John Lewis a few years back when we bought our microwave and I wanted to add to the collection before I knew the cost of them. It's shocking!!

We were given a set as a wedding present 15 years ago - some saucepans, a frying pan and a couple of different sized casserole dishes.

They've been in the loft for at least 10 of those years as they're just too heavy for me.

At those prices I might stick them on eBay

Greythorne, I'm informed they're much better with a solid fuel range, which is why I'm digging mine out of the cupboard to use on the Rayburn when we get it working. I'll find out if it is true...

They have a lifetime guarantee so you shouldn't have to replace them. We got a whole new set from them to replace our v old and damaged ones, all for free

Casseroles are 120 pounds from www.ecookshop.co.uk/ecookshop/le-creuset-casseroles.asp

I got a big, oval orange one on Freecycle as it didn't match the persons new kitchen colour scheme.

Really. Free.

Yikes, that's a ridiculous price. I'm so glad I bought mine when I did - a piece at a time, in sales, over several years. Discontinued colours, so big discounts, but none of it matches. My favourite piece is the non-stick "marmite" which has a saucepan with a frying pan for a lid and can be used on the hob or in the oven. I have three sizes but the large one is very, very heavy.

My mistake, it's called a marmitout.

My mum gave me her set about 10 years ago when she decided that they were too heavy for her to use. My DSis didn't want them! Mum must have bought them in the late 80s, as I certainly remember my folks getting them in a Hypermarket on the way back from a holiday in France when I was a kid. I love them and will certainly get them re-enamelled when they finally wear out. Mine have the wooden handles, which reminds me I must oil them this weekend.

I have 5 brown pans, and a red casserole dish.

For cleaning, I've always used bleach. Simmer the bleach (and water) in the biggest pan for about 10 minutes then transfer it to the next smaller and so on. Gets pretty much any stain out.

I can't justify getting new Le Creuset pans now, when I needed an omelet pan and a griddle pan, I got the Denby ones which are almost as good.

I would love a set of Le Creuset pans but as I've got older I've obviously become feeble and can barely lift a saucepan, let alone one filled with water and vegetables. So sadly (or luckily in view of the price) I can't use Le Creuset.

they appear in French charity shops for almost nothing all the time! (you just have to make sure it'll fit in your luggage allowance for the flight home!)

I got a big round orange casserole dish at our tip for £1! Bargin!!!

I lifted my sil's years ago. The weight of it empty put me off buying them.

I have three, plus two saucepans. I found them all in various charity shops over the years. The most I paid was a tenner.

I also have an aldi one. It's just as good IMO. I would never pay £170 for a pan, nice as they are.

IKEA do nice cast iron stuff, or did. Still bloody heavy. We have a 12" Le Creuset frying pan which DW can't use because of the weight.

I'm so sad, I've always dreamt of owning a Le Creuset pan, I caress and stroke them whenever I go into John Lewis

One year on my birthday my sister told me that my husband had bought me something from Le Creuset as a surprise. I was so excited the next day when he presented me with a big box only to open it and find two tiny espresso cups

I don't think I'll ever actually feel like a grown up until I eventually own a Le Creuset pan

I'd always coveted my MIL's set, she built it up of various bargains over the years, so it was rainbow coloured. I bought one in Asda and the coating and enamel just chipped off. Same with sainsburys version.

In Debenhams sale last Christmas they had a beautiful set off the black ones (my favourite colour), boxed, obviously intended as a Christmas present. It contained the huge oval casserole dish, a big round one, a small round one, all with lids, the griddle (which cooks the best steaks ive ever cooked myself) and a small non stick omelette pan. All for £220. You can get good deals in the boxed sets.

Oh, and if the handle comes off, Le Creuset will replace free. Lot of bitchiness over a set of pans- I love cooking, and use them daily, and they're the best pans ive ever had or will have. Do people with non Le Creuset pans have a shelf display for their pans? No? Then why would I? I also have a slow cooker, they're used for completely different things. I wouldn't leave a pan on a stove for six hours and go out whereas a slow cooker is designed for that.

They're was a thread on here recently about someone paying over £200 for a KNIFE- now in my opinion, THATS arsey.

I love my little ceramic dish bought for around £5.99 in TK Maxx. Was in JL the other day and the same size was something like £19. I second a trip to TK Maxx!

I have a red heart-shaped LC casserole. As it's only been used twice it's outlasted my marriage & will probably outlast me. Maybe I should mention it as a valuable asset in my will!

I always thought Le Creuset were supposed to last a lifetime so over 60 years or so £170 is not so bad. If you have to replace something though
I'm slowly building a collection of Le Creuset mugs. My BIL gets me a different colour one each year for my birthday and Christmas

I don't have any LC but I have seen some here in the more posh upmarket stores. Am in SA so you can imagine the price of them as shipping and whatnot has been included in the price.

Can you use them on the hob or in the oven?

I doubt I will ever own any, but do they make the stew/soup etc taste any different from any other casserole dish?

murphys The casseroles are good for both hob and oven cooking. The sort of recipe which tells you to brown the meat or sweat the onions first, then transfer to a casserole dish - you don't need to transfer, you just use it on the hob first then add the liquid and put it in the oven.