Le Creuset - middle class nirvana or unnecessarily heavy con?

[PersonaNonGarter]

The Le Creuset from my wedding list (10yrs) is coming to it’s life end and tbh it hasn’t been a great ride. Each one is stained, with chipped handles, horrible to clean etc.

Do I repurchase at £££ or is there something better out there?

Mine are over 30 years old and still going strong. I like cast iron, I'm sure it does me good, power lifting all these pans 😉

I have a couple of LC from around 25 years ago - still going strong, but my God, I need both hands to drain boiling water etc from them.
I have a fake LC from Ikea and really love it.

They’ve got a lifetime guarantee, don’t they?

LeC just replaced a bunch of my 10yr old ones anyway 🤷🏽‍♀️

We have the Sainsbury’s copies and my mother in law who has the real thing says ours are just as good. She’s had her Le Creuset for a long time.

Sadly I always found then far too heavy. Let alone when they have food in...
I think my wrists need building up!!!

@anotherBadAvatar

They’ve got a lifetime guarantee, don’t they?

LeC just replaced a bunch of my 10yr old ones anyway 🤷🏽‍♀️

From my own experience with them, their lifetime guarantee is actually only 25 years.

I got a set for a wedding present 37 years ago. They are still going strong unlike the marriage...

10 years and it’s coming to the end? Blimey! Mines been in our family for 40 years and gets used nearly every week in the winter months. Will probably be getting passed on to my daughter as it was passed on to me. If it got accidentally smashed I was buy another in a heartbeat.

My mother in law gifted me a set she got from John Lewis about 15 years ago. I have the 2 medium size casserole dishes and the massive one! Also have a lasagne dish type of one and the frying pans to match. Couldnt live without them now

Unecessary Heavy Con!

DSis has/had Le Creuset. I usually buy black aluminium pots and pans with those white, blue rimmed tin/enamel plates, bowls and dishes.

I cook a lot more than DSis and can't get my head, or biceps, around her Le Creuset!

I use the black pans for slow roasting in oven or hob. I have 3 favourites, a stock pot, a casserole and a sauteuse - the sauteuse was a bit of a revalation to be honest, I'd recommend anyone who cooks a lot gets one!

I do wonder if the quality has changed. Am still using the pans/casserole from my 1990 wedding list most days and still going strong.

@mrsbyers

I’ve got a kitchen full , love seeing it and using it

Glad I'm not the only 'weirdo' (as DD called me) as occasionally I like to just look at my LC & just hold it. 😂

The lid on it's own comes in pretty useful. I turn the id upside down & put my phone on it when I'm listening to music (in the kitchen) as increases the sound volume.
Really useful when DD has nicked the speaker (must get round to buying my own)

I haven't read the full thread so apologies if anyone has said this, but they have a lifetime guarantee. Give them a call and then email Iver some photos and they'll post you some new ones free of charge!

I'm in awe that yours are in a bad state op after only ten years.
I'm a caterer so have given mine a bloody good use over the last 12 years and they're fine still. They're a bit stained but that's just patina. They work beautifully.
In that time I have destroyed two induction hobs and three ovens but the LC keeps soldiering on. They are bloody wonderful.

Also please, please don't put LC, good knives or non stick saucepans in the dishwasher. It will ruin them.
It's like putting cashmere in the washing machine... (cue 2 people shrieking about washing cashmere )

It’s interesting that a poster upthread said her Sainsburys versions of LC don’t fit properly. I would also be tempted to try it but I don’t want them taking space in my small kitchen if they really no good!

@Orangesarenottheonlyfruit

Also please, please don't put LC, good knives or non stick saucepans in the dishwasher. It will ruin them. It's like putting cashmere in the washing machine... (cue 2 people shrieking about washing cashmere )

I was in John Lewis the other day holding a wok (circulon or some such) and was accosted by a posh man saying please don’t put them in the dishwasher as they will be ruined. I told him I don’t have a dishwasher!

I’m another one that prefers the Sainsbury’s version, it’s really worth the price. I do have some le creuset mugs that I do really like and salt and pepper grinders.

Another vote for Sainsbury's here. Got a Le Creuset for a wedding gift but outgrew it when we had children. Couldn't justify the price of a new one so picked up a huge Sainsbury's version half price for £22. I actually prefer it. It's a gorgeous dark green and is so much easier to clean than the Le Creuset.

I've got 2 LC and 2 Sainsbury's knock-offs, all way more than 10 years old and they get loads of use. They're in good condition. The LC are looking better than the Sainsbury's ones despite being older, and they're the ones I can see lasting for another 20 years and more. What on earth have you been doing to yours OP? Taking part in pot-slinging competitions?

However I've recently had my head turned by this casserole from Netherton Foundry. They make the most beautiful spun-iron bakeware. Just don't stick it in the dishwasher!

I also can't figure out how you've managed to kill a LC in ten years. I'm still using one, at least once a week, which my mother got in the 70s and it's in fantastic condition still. Others I've had for a decade look nearly new. We haven't put them in the dishwasher, because usually the food is cooked on and needs scrubbing, but I didn't know that would affect them so badly.

We also don't put nonstick or good knives in the dishwasher. Lucky for me DH does all the dishes.

Another of the "WTF did you DO to it, OP?" team here.

Mine will be 26 years old this Christmas . They've been brilliant, always come clean no matter what disaster occurred in my Learning To Cook years.

Eventually they will get to heavy for my arthritic self, at which point my adult children will have them.

According to the Le Creuset website:

Although interior discolouration is very normal over the course of a casseroles lifespan and will not affect the cooking performance, to lighten these stains, boil up vinegar or lemon juice in your Le Creuset casserole or soak overnight with a dishwashing tablet dissolved in water.

My most heavily used pans are discoloured inside, but they are also the best part of 30 years old.

I used to have these but eventually got rid.

In my younger days it was my idea of Nirvana - probably because of seeing "Delia" use them from 1980s onwards. When we could afford it we bought the set of sauce, big round casserole and frying pan.

They did all become discoloured and the handles came loose. The main objection though was the sheer weight. In time I replaced the saucepans with really good quality, heavy bottomed stainless steel and they have been brilliant. I hung on to the casserole for longest but eventually replaced that with the Sainsbury's copies which really are very good.

Nirvana but what are you doing to them! Mine are 20 years old and look like new.