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?

Worth every penny, had to replace one after 30 years of use!

We've got a full set that we bought when we bought our first house, so we've had them nigh on 20 years. There're good, but they're so bloody heavy!!!!
Still in good condition though!

I absolutely hate it but it came with the boyfriend (now husband of 17 years). Horrible heavy, unwieldy things that you can't cook sauces or pasta in because they aren't non-stick

@HeronLanyon

That's a genuine LTB situation.

I like mine but I actually use my M&S cast iron pot (£25 in the sale) 7x more.

I loved mine but all my Le Creuset got too heavy so I passed them to my son. Le Creuset now do a lighter, stainless steel range which is brilliant; expensive but worth every penny.
I wouldn’t go back to my old, heavy orange Le Creuset now.

Le C is not what it was - quality has decreased. I have some of my mums old le C and was disappointed with new ones I got. There are better options out there.

I have a le creuset casserole pot, inherited from my dad. It must be at least 40 years old. And still going strong. Heavy as heck when full. But it’s a brilliant pot.

The Le Creuset casserole equivalent to mine from John Lewis says it's dishwasher safe, mine are fine after 34 years so I don't understand some of the above comments.

My mum has two le crueset pans that she got as a wedding present over 50 years ago. Both still going strong.
I'm surprised it at the end of life after 10 years. Maybe they don't make it like they used to. I love them as you can cook on the hob then put them in the oven.

I've got a fine collection of second hand Le Creuset and I love it. It's a pleasure to cook with, uses less gas, spreads the heat evenly, gives your arms a bit of a workout too. I had to stop using my stainless steel pans because I have a nickel allergy. I wish I'd done it years ago.

Ok, so inspired by this thread I decided to tackle the hanging hooks on my pans as they were looking a bit manky.
I had a go at them with my nail drill first (plastic cylinder, then felt cone) and then finished them off with a bit of pink stuff.
My smallest one doesn't need doing, but I've shown the last but smallest in the original state for comparison.

Ours was a wedding present 27 years ago and other than the frying pan which was teflon coated and only lasted a few years, the rest are still going strong. I love it and wish I could afford more.

I prefer to buy British because the companies can usually be convinced to help fix any damage later down the line. But because of this many British brands are far more expensive. John Lewis have a decent offering if you’re on a budget.

Interested that people have been offered replacements by LC. I asked in LC store about repairs to mine and they said that it was expensive and simpler and probably cheaper to just buy myself a new one.. (I haven’t!)

Far too heavy for me although lovely bright colours. If it's to use as saucepans, I would recommend Circulon non-stick versions.

Brilliant. I have casseroles and saucepans and frying pans and it's great to know I will never need to buy them again.

I love the look of my le creuset cafetière, but tbh it is not the best for making coffee that I’ve had. Filter doesn’t fit tightly enough, so grounds leak through.

Have used pots and casseroles, etc at work. Again they look nice but I prefer my own stainless steel and mason cash ones for ease of use and cleaning.

Ive just handed over to my daughter a big orange/red one that’s older than me, shes well chuffed

Wondering when they'll invent super light cookware. All of it's too heavy.

It never occurrred to me you cannot put them in the dishwasher!

All mine go trhough without any issues.... but they are all really old. Maybe the newer ones are different?

My relatively new (5 years) mugs are all chipped though come to think of it- and they go thru the dishwasher.

@Zyzxyz

Wondering when they'll invent super light cookware. All of it's too heavy.

Look at Scoville in Asda or Argos.

Light, cheap, non stick, reasonably dishwasher safe as in if you put it in the dishwasher it will only last years instead of decades, but I can live with that.

Absolutely brilliant.

I chose to buy the AGA equivalent of le creuset when I decided it was time to get a big casserole dish of my own - they’re British, really well made and have lovely colours. Best of all, they don’t have a handle to the top - the lid and the dish both have integrated handles at each end (it’s an oval dish) so when you take the lid off and you want to put it down you can just put it on its back, east, no mess or bother. I used to house share with someone who had a le crueset and it was always such a pain - you’d take the lid off by the handle at the top, and then you either had to hold it or if you put it down the handle would be up meaning the inside of le lid would be down on the counter so you’d need to make sure it was clean to start with and then you’d need to clean it again when you picked it up as the condensation and steam and splashes would have deipped onto the surface.

I’ve had my aga pot for at least 25 years and it still looks good. It also has a grey interior so doesn’t have quite the same problem for looking bad as the cream ones that go greyer as grey still looks right even if it goes a bit greyer.

My mum has a similar one that must be nearly 60 years old - she hasn’t used it as much in the last few years as she is usually cooking for herself but she still uses it if she’s cooking for guests and it’s still a beautiful vibrant red colour - you can see it’s not brand new but you couldn’t tell if it’s 6 years or 60 years old; it’s still great to use and has many years in it.

We’ve had ours 15 years. It gets used daily and I do put it in the dishwasher (it said it was dishwasher safe though). They are perfectly usable but this is the state of them (hopefully pics have attached) when the silver came off it was sharp and scratched my hand. Also just noticed the crack in the smaller handle. I don’t think I’d buy them again for the price that they are now.

Overpriced