Casserole-type dishes - can I put them on the hob too?

[Flubba]

Sorry, pathetic question here, but I can't find an answer on t'internet. I have two casserole dishes, one is ceramic-looking with a pyrex glass lid, and the other is an M&S casserole dish that feels damned heavy, but I don't know if I can put either of them on the gas hob. Short of trying (and crying if they crack!), is there any way of telling whether or not they are hobbable? :o

I would have thought so. I always put my ceramic one on the hob.

I had a ceramic one from tesco that cracked after I used it on the hob so personally I wouldn't, but it was only a cheapy one!

Oh you two ~ that's not helpful! :o :o

I chickened out in the end and did the hob bit in a saucepan and then transferred it. Still unsure...

you can get enamelled iron pans that are not by a Le Creuset at very reasonable prices, and will go on hob or oven.

Cast Iron has been made for a few hundred years so I see no reason why putting a French name on it makes it any better.

Debenhams are not expensive, Aldi are stunningly not expensive.

No there isn't, short of trial and error disaster. Sorry.

I reckon the darned heavy one is likely to be hob proof but I'm not sure I fancy putting my theory to the test.

I won't put the first one on .

The m&s one, does it have and symbols on the bottom? Failing that call m&s with the range it's from?

No, no range name, no symbols. Nada, hence the confusion. It is blinkin' heavy though, which makes me think it's a cast-iron one, and therefore should be good on the hob, no?

can any of these help?

Thanks Fanjo - none are definitive but I appreciate the effort.

If it is very heavy chances are that it is a cast iron one. It will be oven and hob proof.

try it with a magnet.

If the first is just normal Pyrex you can't use it on the hob. If it's Pyroflam you can.

Whatever you use, keep the flame very low and stir frequently to check it's not getting burnt and sticking to the bottom. I ignore my own advice and this happens every time

This will not beat me, ok I have a crazy idea, take some phones of tge dish and tweet m&s customer services to ask them. Or Fb. Honestly the Fb and tweet staff always love stuff like this.

Thanks Roxy. Fairly sure the pyrex one is oven only and not hob, but I'm tempted by the M&S one on the hob.

Fanjo :o I may well do that. All I need to do is get with the 21st century and start to use twitter or FB

Will try the magnet thing too.

I bought a cast iron emamelled pan from Aldi during the week. I put it on my electric hob with water in it and it cracked within 2 minutes. I know this was a cheap version of a "Le Creuset" style pan, but I was under the impression that they could be used for both hob and oven. Does this happen to all cast iron/enamelled pans?

Thanks

I came here to see if I could use my Le Creusot casserole dish given to me last century but rarely used. Now that I have an induction hob I want to use it again on the new hob. Wait for the explosion!

No explosion, and the casserole cooked far better than in a saucepan.