Le Creuset - Worth it?

[Hippopotas]

Just wondering if it is worth investing in some Le Creuset items or if they aren’t worth it.

I’ve hankered after a Le Creuset casserole dish for years and recently watching more cooking shows and they all seem to use Le Creuset.

If mine start to look slightly off colour inside, I put a teaspoon of washing powder and a couple of litres of water in mine and simmer on the hob for 10 minutes. Any stains vanish.

Too heavy, I think - bad on the wrists, and the toes if you drop them, and the bases flake off inside if you mistime something. I sold mine on Ebay and use vintage Pyrex instead.

My DM gave me her Le Creuset large cast iron casserole dish because it became too heavy for her. I had no idea she owned one and no idea how expensive it was at the time.

I absolutely love it and it somehow does cook dishes a lot better and tastier either on the hob or in the oven. Seems to give dishes more depth of flavour.

I also like that it goes in the dishwasher. I use it a lot.

I think their pans are excellent and are very much a lifetime purchase. Was not convinced about spending 120 quid on a roasting tray though. Found a heavy duty stainless steel one identical to Le Cruset at TK Max for £15! Win.

(Pyrex for casseroles in the oven, Stellar pans on the hob)

I got given two Le Creuset casserole dishes as a Wedding present, the giver went to France to get them! I have been married for over 30 years, used both dishes extensively throughout the years and they are still going strong. They are heavy and but perfectly manageable and I'm a lightweight muscle wise.

Whatever they cost the giver I have had more than the money's worth out of them.

I wanted a le creuset casserole but couldn’t justify the price at the time but had enough tesco points so got a Denby one which is fab love it. Also have a cast iron pan now that is heavy!!

Definitely, I have four and use them at least once a day.

I’ve had saucepan set, large and small casseroles dishes and shallow dis for over 30 years. The shallow dish went to my daughter and she loves it so much she keeps asking when she can have the rest of the them. We are going to swap pans when they get too heavy for me.
They do give your arms a good work out.

I have the large le creuset shallow casserole dish in white. They've doubled in price since the last time I looked. I've probably had mine around 20 years now. It's black on the inside not shiny enamel like the outside.

I love ours, we use it almost daily. Would highly recommend it. We’re planning to get another bigger casserole dish as well.

The weight isn’t a problem for me - the one we use daily just sits on the hob where it looks great. The bigger one will be stored on a low shelf so that I can easily get it out.

I love all my Le Creuset bits from oven dishes to egg cups.

Worth looking in their outlet shops I get bits in Bicester or Ashford.

What do you cook in them apart from stew?

I have the egg cups too, in a set of coordinating colours. Love them. And a morning jug, butter dish and garlic keeper.

Oh and we have a flan/pie/quiche dish which is great too.

@SpottyBumPony we use ours to make chilli, pasta sauce, curries, tagines, stews and casseroles, for cooking brisket and other cuts, plus pork chops/pork belly, and as a general roasting dish. I also use it for general frying like steak, bacon, chops, meat balls, burgers, cabbage, stir fries, so almost anything really.

@SpottyBumPony

What do you cook in them apart from stew?

I've never cooked stew in them as family are not fans of stew but a few items from a very long list:

Shepherd's Pie
Hot Pot
Fish Pie
Potatoes Dauphoinoise
Various other types of potato dishes cooked in the oven
Pasta Bake
A special rice dish
Fish and meat baked in the oven in various ways
Roasted vegetables
Crumbles
Eve's Pudding
Various other oven baked puddings

Is that enough to be going on with?

Oh yes and cottage pie etc.

Ours is the shallow casserole pan. It lends itself very well to all sorts of cooking.

I've had my Le Creuset casseroles for over 25 years. My parents have had some of theirs over 40 years. The inside surface is now quite blackened but they are still used several times a week.
However I also have a look-alike casserole from Sainsburys, bought 4(?) years ago for £30, which so far appears just as robust as the real thing.

I also have an oval le creuset cast iron enamel roaster which I've just used to make fish pie. That's enamelled inside and out orange / white

@Ninkanink

Oh yes and cottage pie etc.

Ours is the shallow casserole pan. It lends itself very well to all sorts of cooking.

I've got the big deep one and a shallow one, and have used them more than any other cooking dish. I find them very versatile.

I had a few Le Crueset bits when I lived in France and I loved them. Sold them instead of bringing them back with me because they were so heavy. I now have a deep casserole dish from Aldi and a shallow wide casserole dish from Sainsbury's. Both have been regularly used for 4-5 years and are showing no signs of wear. I can't tell the difference in quality if I'm honest.

I love them, though DD has knock offs from Aldi and they seem just as good.

I have a Le Creuset enamelled cast iron gratin dish from about thirty five years ago and it makes the best roasties ever. They stopped doing them but I notice they are making them again, but round rather than oval.

I did drop a saucepan on a tiled floor in about 1993 and it cracked. Broke in two.

So I think heavy enamelled cast iron is fantastic, love Le Creuset, but the cheaper versions are a lot cheaper and it's hard to tell the difference.

We have a set of pans and a pot and I sure as hell wouldn’t have chosen them. I hate how heavy they are.

I’ve got loads (my mum keeps buying it for me) and the cast iron stuff is fab. The crockery is less robust - I managed to chip the lid of the coffee pot by dropping something on it - although they have a really good replacement policy.

However, we have some Sainsbury's cast iron stuff too and that is just as good!

Bought same from Pro Cook. Very heavy. Check out their website.😀