Le Creuset vs. Other enamelled cast iron?
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Le Creuset came up in the cookware thread and I have been considering getting one of their braisers. I have two off brand enamelled cast iron Dutch ovens. I’ve had them both for at least a decade, and since I got each of them for less than $50, they really owe me nothing. However, some of the enamel is starting to chip. Mostly on the outside, though there are also worn spots on a textured section of one of the lids.
Has anyone had experience with some of the off brand stuff compared to Le Creuset? I do have a Le Creuset wok, but I don’t use it terribly frequently so it’s hard to compare.
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I finally got one of their dutch ovens. It's a real splurge, but I cook every day.
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We have the Le Creuset Dutch oven and the two handled sauté pan that apparently isn’t a sauté pan. We use one or the other nearly every day.
So far they’re bulletproof - stovetop and oven. When the interiors stain I soak them in water with a few glugs of laundry bleach overnight. They come out looking like brand new.
With how cheap they sell for at Home Goods there no reason to settle for less.
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Le Creuset is beautiful. We have only one or two pieces. I cleaned the table on the porch today. I know I picked up a piece of Le Creuset because I read it. We've been using the grill a lot because the days have turned to highs up to 80 F almost as if by magic.
It was sitting on and kind of stuck to rancid chicken grease! My friend can cook and he can also make a real mess!
I moved everything that had to be inside. Then I hung up clean clothes. Then I covered the table, the LeCreuset (kind of an oval pan with deep ridges you set on the stovetop or grill; it beats me what you'd call it), the metal rocking chairs, the plastic chairs, the closed grill and its adjacent metal shelves, and the porch with Dawn and
sprayed everything down with my hose until the entire porch including the pan was sparkling clean.Thanks be to the universe that I am not a hoarder and that I have been able to organize and clean since I turned five years old.
I've probably told this story already but I had a five hour routine for cleaning my room when I was five years old. I almost never timed it but it took five hours like clockwork and ended with brushing the fringe of my wool rug on both sides.
I've learned how to ignore things that need to be cleaned and to rotate the chores that need to be done. This wasn't easy for me but it became necessary because the chores that need to be done are seemingly endless.
I won't clean if I can't use my time to clean very efficiently and to clean to my own standard. I either do it this way or wait until I can do it.
I have a pile of clean clothes I haven't put away. I have a pile of clothes waiting to be washed. I have lawn bags full of garbage waiting to be hauled to the dumpsters. I still haven't figured out exactly how to organize my room accounting for this huge new piece of furniture I put in my room. I'm trying (and succeeding) at being more philosophical about cleaning and maintenance.
My friend has vowed to try harder, to organize his clothes living on our living room floor, and to help me haul garbage. This makes me glad.
But, yes. Le Creuset is fantastic. We undoubtedly don't need it but in a perfect world would own a lot more of it.
I'm sorry I went off on a tangent about cleaning but I'm so glad I'm not a hoarder (not a judgment), so glad I have organizational and cleaning skills (because somebody's got to have them), and just today cleaned the porch with the LeCreuset pan being the nicest thing I cleaned at least to my mind.
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We gave some off-brand enameled ironware that we got from Costco--a large- and a medium-sized dutch oven. I've had a couple of pieces of Le Creuset in the past, and I can't tell that these cook any differently. We've only had them for a few months, but I have no complaints. They're a beautiful blue that's as pretty as the Le Creuset colors, and the price difference was breathtaking.
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Are they these Tramontina pots?
I saw them in the store and they looked pretty nice. And the price was unbelievable.
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@Mary-Anna said in Le Creuset vs. Other enamelled cast iron?:
We gave some off-brand enameled ironware that we got from Costco--a large- and a medium-sized dutch oven. I've had a couple of pieces of Le Creuset in the past, and I can't tell that these cook any differently. We've only had them for a few months, but I have no complaints. They're a beautiful blue that's as pretty as the Le Creuset colors, and the price difference was breathtaking.
This is my wondering! My off brand ones were from Canadian Tire and other than a few small external chips I really have no complaints.
I will definitely check at Homesense though and see if I can find some LC for a more reasonable price. Unfortunately the braiser that I want doesn’t seem to be a popular piece (the 4.7… it’s only available in the few most popular colours). So I don’t know if I’ll be able to find it at much of a bargain.
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@dolmansaxlil Costco carries a bunch of cast iron. Don’t know if you’re a member.
https://www.costco.ca/s?langId=-24&keyword=cast iron
Have you considered Staub?
https://www.foodandwine.com/staub-vs-le-creuset-comparison-8705472
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I have a LC large casserole that was my grandmother's, so it's been used hard for many decades. She used to make frankfurter goulash in it (she was Hungarian). It is definitely a bit worse for wear--the finish does lose its integrity over time. I haven't tried any of the knockoffs. Nice cookware is pretty far down on our priorities list. We don't do a lot of cooking.
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We do enjoy using cast iron cookware and have several very durable pieces, but they aren't enameled. We usually buy them in thrift stores or junk shops. On the whole, even though the enamel is very pretty, I think the unenameled cast iron is a lot easier to keep looking nice.
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@dolmansaxlil I've had a Le Creuset casserole chip, too. They may--or may not, I don't know--use a heavier or more durable enamel, but it has its limits.
Muffin's Sister went to a Le Creuset event in Phoenix that apparently travels from city to city. It was held in a warehouse in a part of town where she was a little nervous to go, but she and a friend went together for solidarity and personal protection. When they got there, they found tons of bougie people like themselves.
They both got mystery boxes. (I'm not sure if they also offered regular sales where you got to pick what you were buying.) She said the boxes were curated pretty well, with each one including some staples like frying pans or dutch ovens, plus some more unusual pieces. Everything in each box wasn't the same color, but the colors were chosen to coordinate. She said there was a bustling black market in the parking lot where people were trading what they got in the mystery boxes for the pieces and colors they wanted, which sounds like a whole lot of fun. We have more kitchen gear than two humans could possibly need, and that makes me a little sad, because I would totally enjoy the Le Creuset black market.
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When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden - Minnie Aumônier
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We have recently switched to a lot of cast iron cooking - mostly switching out the non-stick frying pans for the desirable vintage ones you find at antique stores - but also using the Dutch ovens on the stovetop more. I was worried because we have a glass cooktop, but it’s been fine. Steve is the breakfast maker and he keeps the un-enameled cast iron skillets seasoned to perfection, they really are nice to cook in. I need a different kitchen where I can start hanging all these skillets on the wall…
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When I've got one of those dutch ovens loaded up with food and I have to get it into the oven, I really struggle. I have to drop into a wide-based squat to manage it. I'm sure it's good for my glutes.
I'm of two minds about cookware. Expensive stuff that's heavy and pretty attracts me like a magpie, but it's very hard on my arthritic hands. Quirt had so much cookware that I haven't bought any in years, but when I did, I avoided the heavy stuff.
