I’ve never cooked with Le Creuset before and was wondering what people’s experience has been with it.
I have to choose an anniversary gift from my company and one of the options is a Le Creuset 6-Piece Enameled Cast Iron Cookware set. Worth it?
I’m deciding between that, some luggage (it wears out eventually after all) and a Kitchenaid pro mixer. Thanks!
Go with the creuset set, that is easily worth $500+. The Kitchenaid pro mixer can usually be found at costco for under $300.
I’m really more interested in hearing what it’s like to cook with, clean, etc. Given that it would take up a lot of storage space in my kitchen what distinguishes it from all the pots, pans, etc. that currently occupy that space? Some of them I use constantly and some of them I never touch - if the Le Creuset would fall in the latter category then I’d just as soon not have it taking up space.
We use Le Creuset all the time. Have two saute pan, soup pot, oval baker, and two more for braising. Use them all the time. Being cast iron, they are great for the kitchen.
Cheers,
Curt
Thanks Curt! How is that for cleaning? I have a cast iron griddle with some rust marks I’ve never been able to get off.
They’re great IF you need enameled cast iron. I have a 2.5 qt oval dutch oven and use it all the time for braises, etc. Have had it for 20 years… Cleaning enameled cast iron is easy - you can soap it since, well, it’s enameled.
But, you can’t use cast iron for everything. Being cast iron, they take some time to heat up and they don’t react quickly to temp changes so for sauteés etc where you need to have a pan that can react quickly to a change from, say, a mid-high sear to a simmer, cast iron isn’t the pan material you want.
Conversely, since they have more thermal mass than the equivalent regular pan, they’re great for doing, say, a steak or something were you want the pan to come to temp and not vary its temp when you plop a hunk of meat in it. The question then is whether the enameling is important or not. Regular cast iron isn’t the thing to use for acidic foods - it will pit and discolor and react poorly to things like tomato based sauces, lemon being added to something, etc.
I have an ancient set of regular cast iron pans that I use and stainless pans that I use when the cast iron isn’t appropriate so for me, the LC set would be a waste. For you? Depends on what other pans you have and what you tend to cook.
They are great! There is another thread you can search for that I think Pobega started. Also there is an outlet in Flemington with some great deals. I was just down there a couple weeks ago and got a bunch of stuff at 35-40% off.
Le Creuset was discussed at length in this thread: https://wineimport.discoursehosting.net/t/why-did-i-wait-so-long-le-creuset-french-oven/11613/1
Personally, if I wanted enameled cast iron cookware, I would buy Lodge (for 1/3 or less the cost of Le Creuset) and take the luggage or the mixer.
Thanks Paul. There’s an outlet at Woodbury Common too but in this case it’s an option for my (I don’t believe it) 15 year anniversary present at work. Trying to figure out if it’s worth the storage space rather than the cost.
Thanks, I’ve reviewing that thread now. Very useful.
If it makes a difference I’d be getting - Set includes 5.5-qt Round French Oven with Lid, 2.25-qt Saucier Pan with Lid, 10.25" Square Skillet Grill, and 8" x 11.75 Roaster.
What’s the difference between a French Oven and a Dutch Oven?
Round vs oval I believe. (respectively…)
We have 2 Le Creuset Dutch ovens. They work fantastic for stews and such. Nice even heat. Le Creuset is bulletproof. It will last longer than you if you take care of it. Cleaning is simple. Dish washing soap and elbow grease. We don’t have the skillets or sauté pans, we use All-Clad for that stuff. We also use Lodge cast iron non-enameled skillet. The lodge is the best bang for the buck.
Cuisinart is now marketing enameled cast iron for a lot less than what you’d pay for Le Creuset. It’s cast iron. It’s enamel. I don’t much see the point in paying the premium, especially when the Cuisinart stuff is available at a discount from Home Goods, which is where I bought my last piece - a 7-quart Dutch Oven for $80.
Joe’s right about the Lodge skillets. Cheap as hell and bullet-proof.
I picked up Lodge 6 qt enameled Dutch oven on sale for 39.99.
Ah, couldn’t tell that from the picture. Thanks!
The only cleaning issue is the larger quart sizes can be a bit heavy for cleaning, but in terms of ease to clean off food, it couldn’t be easier. There is one use we discovered for our dutch ovens that we hadn’t anticipated when we purchased. We bake bread using a variation of the Lehey No-Knead. There are plenty of youtube examples, but we now find this to be the number one use for our Creusets.
Still “pricey”. Cuisinart 7 quarts typically run 130+ at retail.
That’s because it’s wrong.
French oven, Dutch oven, they’re the same. A rose by any other name…
It’s all marketing. Couldn’t have a French company selling a ‘Dutch’ oven, could you?
One thing to note is that Le Creuset is a lot lighter than my vintage Griswold, Lodge, and Emeril cast iron. I appreciate that everytime I’m flinging them around.
I picked up this Cuisinart 5 1/2 quart oval Dutch oven for ~$70 when Amazon had a housewares sale a few months back. The quality is good, and 5 1/2 quarts has been big enough for the dinners we’ve thrown at it (well, in it).