To ask if it is worth buying a La Creuser casserole dish

[Mammylamb]

They are very expensive; but I love cooking and would use it all the time! Does anyone else have one? Was it worth its cost? X

I love all my Le creuset stuff. I use the casserole dish every other day. I will one day buy another in a different size. I am sure you can get cheaper ones that do the job and look good but for me there is something wonderful my Le creuset. They are heavy though.

36plus - I also have a vintage Denby one and agree just as solid and I bloody love that one too. crockery weirdo

Mine are over 20 years old and still look like new. The casserole dishes are worth every penny. It's a shame they discontinued the wooden handled pots, loved those and still have a few. The only item I would never purchase again is the large iron frying pan, that was extremely heavy and wasn't any better than any other frying pan.

I have some of my granny's from before time began and they're still going strong. I've only ever bought my own from the outlet shop in Swindon. They aren't that expensive there.

Yes, totally worth it.

I have one and its great. Gets used every week. The knob on the lid got wobbly after several years and my husband wrote to let creuset asking if he could buy a new knob (lol) and they sent one for free.
Also inherited a smaller le creuset from MIL which was over 50 years old and still going great.
The big one is heavy, especially when full! I couldn't lift it at first but I've got stronger over the years.

I've had two from Tesco and they're great! Le Creuset are just too heavy for me. I was tempted to buy the pots years ago, but they were so heavy and I could just imagine how much heavier they would be with potatoes in them for example

I have several, bought over the past 30th years. They are brilliant, I wouldn't be without them. I've always bought them in sales and on holiday in France.
Worth the investment.

Ours are well in excess of 30 years old and still going. Well worth it.

The Sainsbury's own ones are brilliant, almost identical and a fraction of the price.

^^This

Back in the '80s when Delia was still a young thing she always used Le Creuset and I coveted them and promised myself one day when I could afford it I would have them myself.

Well that day eventually came and we bought all the pans, a big frying pan and a big casserole.

Now, don't get me wrong, they are good and lasted many years. However, as time went on I found them just to heavy to cope with and replaced the pans with some brilliant galvanised steel ones that have been going strong for years and the frying pan with another heavy duty non-stick one. I still have the casserole but the inside surface is stained now.

A few years back I bought a looky-likey from Sainsbury's for about £25 and it is still in fantastic condition.

Should say the looky-likey was an oval casserole. Perfect for chicken in a pot.

I bought the whole lot about 25 years ago and though I have recently sold pans and stand I still have the casserole dishes. They are brilliant, indestructable and still look great. I sold the pans for a pretty good price even after all this time as I had received whole set of steel ones with the new induction hob. Having said that Le Creuset do work on induction but I'm quite enjoying having lighter pans

They look ace, and my MIL swears by them, and she's an ace cook - also very thrifty, I think she found most of them in charity shops over the years.

But I can't lift them. I'm not a total weakling but I'm not exactly strapping either, and I find them dangerously heavy. So I have an alumninum/steel combo one from Lakeland which I love very much. I think LC now do similar as well if you really want the brand but the Lakeland one was £45 which probably means that Sainsbury's et al do a much cheaper version.

I have 8 of varying sizes, they are great... but be warned they discontinue colours a lot & without notice, so choose wisely. I started with white (stopped after a year) then bought grey (changed shade twice) so now have a miss-match. Stick with the orange.

The pans are pretty crap, imho, but the cast iron stuff is great (but v heavy). We cook everything from spag bol to risotto to casserole to roast chicken in ours, and they clean up easily.

Yes to the enamelled cast iron casserole pots - great for batch cooking or cooking for lots of people. But look for them in sales/tk maxx as mentioned. Wouldn't bother with their other stuff, except maybe the small enamelled saucepan if they still do it. Earthenware stuff is no better than others.

I've inherited mine from my mother in law. She didn't like to cook using Le Creuset, but I love those pots and pans.

The set must be about 30 years old. They don't look pretty anymore, but are ace to cook with.

Staub are better IMO

I have a large orange Le Creuset pot that my Mum bought in the late 1960s! Still going strong

My aunt was given my smallest and most regularly used le creuset casserole as a wedding present in 1974.
She gave it to me in 1997 as she found it too big for her & my uncle. I have used it pretty regularly over the last 20yrs and it still looks great.
I have since grown my collection and am currently eyeing up a sauté pan.

I always thought I would buy them, when I could afford it. and when that time came, two things put me off: PIL broke their very expensive le crueset casserole dish by dropping it into the kitchen floor (quarry tiles) and I realised how heavy they were, especially the large ones and especially when full.

Pyrex is a fraction of the price and half the weight.

I have a lot of le creuset, some of it new, some second or third hand it is second to none.
It is literally indestructable!

We inherited some from MIL that she had had since the dawn of time. Still going strong!