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?

I remember my dm saying that I’d regret buying it when I got older. I scoffed, but I was pleased to get rid of mine. I have kept 2 casseroles a skillet and a grill pan, I picked up a villeroy and Bosch casserole last year and I like it more.

The cast iron pans are great. The ceramic, nope from me. We were suoe carful with ours and it still chipped. So if you need to be even more careful than we're were to keep it in good condition I can't be arsed with that in everyday life. We also have a griddle thing. Which is good. But I'm not sure if it's any better than any other of the cast iron griddles. They were a bloody fortune. I actually bought them with some unexpected mine in my early 20s!

I requested a LeC pot after growing up with DMs one and she bought me a knock off! It's going strong atm but I doubt it'll last as well as her LeC one. The pots are worth it, the pans are flipping heavy- I inherited DMs ones and don't really use them, tbh. She abandonned them because they're heavy.

I quite like the stone ware, too. Especially if I can pick it up in TK Maxx. I've got two butter dishes (black for salted & lilacy blue for unsalted), a rich blue oven proof dish, a beautiful french blue salt and pepper set and a lovely baby blue tea pot from Le C via TK Maxx, all really good in shades of , and a huge golden yellow bowl I use for serving up. Ok they were bought on the cheap but worth the money and a bit more! All get used a lot.

Nirvana. But v v selectively . Bought a marmitout about 20 years ago, it’s a small ish pot with a non stick small rounded fry pan which you whack on top as it’s lid for ovening. The handles nestle together very pleasingly. Love it 💕

They're too heavy for me now but for over 25 years I used my saucepans (blue all in a LC hanging rack). I sold them still in great nick but kept the 2 casseroles. I imagine others are as good but they are brilliant items which I use now only when others are around to lift them. 34 years and counting, still looking fine, not pristine but pretty good.

Money

End of life? I've got a set of saucepans which are 30 years old!

Nirvana

The real cast iron stuff is good & I don't know how on earth you have managed to chip it.

There are some basic ceramic LC ranges sold in TK Maxx & the like, if you have one of those they are like any other ceramic stuff.

Echoing hat PPs have said, Him Indoors has one that was inherited from his mother that's got to be knocking on 40 years old and we joke we're going to leave it to our kids when we go...
Size of a baby bath and 1970s as all get out but amazing for pot roasting chickens.

Mine are still going strong after almost 30 years - they look a little worn but work as well now as they did when we first got them. I’m not sure I could afford to replace them now though!

I've got a couple of the Aldi ones, I have replaced the knobs with Le Crueset ones, just rang the company & asked for replacement ones.

I covet one but they are too heavy for me to lift

Not for me. Extremely heavy. Decent casserole dish is a must - but otherwise there are much better pans out there. I suppose it all depends on what you cook. I much prefer high quality stainless steel saucepans

@MissMudskipper

They sell them in TK Maxx at a heavily discounted price! Happy shopping!!

I’ve seen le creuset mugs and ovenware but not the casserole dishes 😞

@Onthetrain75

Hmm. Have you put it in a dishwasher?Or accidentally left it on the heat with nothing in? That will shorten its life in my experience!

Mmmm, ok so I may have done this^. But honestly if you can’t dishwash a cooking utensil then how much utility does it have?

I promise, all mine (cast iron, 3 x lidded casseroles, 2 roasting trays) are really pretty f**d. I do work them quite hard, lots of casseroles etc, but I just expected more.

Get some decent hard anodised pans - your wrists will thank you!

I adore my Le Creuset casserole dish.
I've had mine for 15 years & was a gift.
Gets washed in the dishwasher.
I dropped the lid once on my kitchen quarry tile stone floor. The lid bounced with no damage but a tile cracked.
Touch wood my LC will last forever.

Mine always get put in the DW, as I said 34 years and not damaged by that at all.

Le Creuset all the way for me. Sadly I had to get rid of mine because arthritis means I can no longer lift them even when empty let alone with food in them.

We had two casserole dishes as a wedding present 23 years ago
Still going strong, I think they were £50 then each, shocked at how much they are now!
We're well old

If you have used them appropriately, approach Le Creuset - they replaced my two 20 year old casseroles. I have second hand LC saucepans and the two casseroles. Pretty much all I use apart from a wok/frying pan. I also have a cast iron lasagne dish that has a rice pudding in now - use it for crumbles, pies, traybakes and sometimes a lasagne.

Love it all and insist on it being hand washed. Most days, washing them up is easy - I do fill with hot soapy water if i'm not going to wash them straight away.

I adore mine.
Inherited from MIL and based on the orange hue it is pretty old...shrieks 1970...

I use mine pretty much every day-and would def re-invest if they gave up the ghost.

You can def get the casseroles in TKMaxx-got some for DC for Uni/life.

Try TK Maxx if you are near one. I got a cast iron casserole dish for about £25.

I have a couple of casseroles and roasting dishes - I use them all the time and put them through the dishwasher and they still look good after 25 years. I also have a supermarket dupe which is just as good.

If they don’t suit your needs though I’d spend your money elsewhere. Tbh I’d go back to the company if they were done after 10 years, they really should last a lifetime (or two)

I have some cast iron and love it for a casserole, but have put it in the dishwasher so it stains now. However I love the stainless steel. I have a full set of saucepans and two shallow round casseroles. The are gorgeous and brilliant and perfect even after 15 years (I think) of daily use. They came "free" when we did the kitchen and have lasted better than the kitchen.