Few brands of saucepans can boast icon status, but Le Creuset is up there, loved and honoured through the generations, a symbol of French cuisine and style.
My first le Creuset oven casserole dish was a wedding gift, and all these years later it is still going strong. I can't even begin to count how many stews, how many braised guinea fowl, how much compote or soups have been served from it.
The Le Creuset pans, skillets and other cooking tools are made of enameled cast iron. Heavy? yes, very, but also practically indestructible. Because they are made of iron, they heat slowly but very evenly, and are ideal for long slow cooking.
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Why do I love them so much? Because they go from oven to table with no trouble at all, especially with the huge range of colours available.
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I love them because my husband once refused to buy me a leather handbag, but happily forked out for a heavy, cast iron Le Creuset and carried it all the way round the shopping centre! It was red, of course.
ReplyDeleteI have assembled a nice collection of Le Creuset pans and pots over the years. They are my favorite and well worth the money. I use them all the time. My Le Creuset color is red.
ReplyDeleteI love them Sharon! They are very strong pans and they serve the home for many years and I love their colours.
ReplyDeleteBonjour Sharon. This post made me smile. Like most French women, I received my first le Creuset pan as a wedding gift, but have steadily added to my modest collection over the years. My latest is a HUGE (9.5 quart I believe) dutch oven - perfect to make coq au vin or boeuf bourguignon for large crowds - in that pretty fennel green color. It was not cheap, but well worth the investment, and I try to use it at least once a week. It is so pretty in fact, that it sits permanently on the stove in the middle of my [American] kitchen island. Best part about owning a le Creuset pan: the clean up! An amazing product. Veronique (French Girl in Seattle)
ReplyDeleteI love Le Crueset. My first is one my Mom gave me...did you know they are designed to be passed down and are guaranteed for 100 years?? (with proper care of course)
ReplyDeleteSince, I have collected several pieces and have given some to my girls. Around here I have found them at church sales (the ladies priced them very, very low because they are heavy)....
Thanks for the post.
Nancy
http://wildoakdesigns.blogspot.com
Ah yes, love it when I can find them at discounted prices at TJ Maxx! :D
ReplyDeleteYes! I didn't own any until I retired and finally gave myself the pots I wanted for so many years. I purchase them as gifts for newlyweds, knowing how these pots will last them a lifetime.
ReplyDeleteI love my Le Creuset pans, too! One of them is always in use. (Mine are red!)
ReplyDeleteI had the blue set when I got married... still have them! xv
ReplyDeleteI love my Le Creuset pots the best, Staub is a close second!
ReplyDeletexo
My husband gave me several pieces for my birthday a few years ago. I am so happy with each one, it was a very thoughtful gift that makes everyone happy! :)
ReplyDeleteXO,
Jane
I found my first blue Le Creuset pot at a favorite thrift store and have scored several more along the way. I love them too and will always be on the hunt for more.
ReplyDeleteThat is all Bobonne used and what delectable dishes she produced! I agree with you though, it is heavy...
ReplyDeleteThe most popular colour for Le Creuset certainly is red, I too have a large red oval casserole which even for just the two of us now, I still use, I love it.
ReplyDeleteI received my first POT two Christmas's ago!LOVE them!Have three now.............the meal always tastes better when done in one of these!My only wish is I got three different colors.......should I have stayed with one color?I'm still wondering about that!I think all one color would look better on a shelf!
ReplyDeleteI own red have had them about 15 years and they are showing their ware.I now need new one's love all the colors.Fabulous!
ReplyDeleteI don't have any but I drool over them every time I go to my local design store! It is definitely something I will get one day soon :)
ReplyDeleteSuch beautiful casseroles. I especially like that green one!
ReplyDeleteI bought my first one seven years ago and now have a slew of them. Adoration for their beauty and service are beyond measure. Love!
ReplyDeleteI have a big red casserole that I love and tend to use in winter (possibly because ou summers are so hot) but I use my griddle for cooking the most perfect steaks, chops all year round
ReplyDeleteI was gifted with a large pot. I thought I was going to have heart failure. I refer to it as "The Pot", and everyone knows what I am talking about. I consider it an heirloom. Now I have my eye on the brasier. Mine is dune, but I am lusting after the new yellow.
ReplyDeleteJe suis son premier Le Creuset gagné dans un concours culinaire. Il était orange. Maintenant, j'ai une petite collection.
ReplyDeleteAsia
My first, also a wedding gift(!) was in the typical "burnt" orange of the late '70s, an oval piece which is still nurtured and loved, despite having been joined by others in a rainbow of colours and shapes...
ReplyDeleteThey cook so well, love mine! Your photos are lovely...
ReplyDeleteoh a set would be wonderful......smiles
ReplyDeleteOne year , as a house warming gift, a friend in NY gave me a complete set of Le Creuset in the orange color.
ReplyDeleteThey have traveled everywhere with me , from NY to Or to Argentina and soon, back to NY ..
I am very fortunate to have the red ones.Love them,wouldn't cook in anything else..xx
ReplyDeleteLike all the other lovely readers here, I absolutely love my Le Creuset pots. I have a small one perfect for a meal for two and a medium one perfect for a meal for four and mine are a beautiful Turquoise/light blue. I am always looking for recipes as an excuse to cook in them :)I can see these pots outliving my husband and I and hopefully being passed down to the next generation. I don't buy pots & pans very often but when I do, I buy the best quality I can afford.
ReplyDeletexx Michelle xx
Can't agree more with you on these pots...from stove to oven cooking has been my favorite and onto the table it goes too! They also make the food way more amazing right? I have the ocean teal colour you have put in your first photo...I love them!!!!
ReplyDeletexo Z
I have a blue skillet(grille) + a big blue pot. How I adore them-they remind me of the heavy cast iron pots that were handed down in southern homes(I have two sizes of these also. xxpeggybraswelldesign.com
ReplyDeleteMy son bought me my first piece (the 5.5 qt oven) for Christmas 2011. He chose red...we call it crimson at our house.
ReplyDeleteHe observed me admiring a collection of Le Creuset in a kitchen shop, when we were visiting a town in our Washington wine country the previous summer. When I wasn't looking... he went back and snapped a picture with his phone. He said that he could tell by the look on my face that the cookware was something special.
He bought me another piece, (a skillet) for Christmas 2012.
I plan to take the cookware on our winter vacation to Whistler, BC. in a couple weeks. It's now difficult to cook without it.
~Lynne
w/L.
Hi Lynn!!
DeleteHope you have a great time up at Whistler. They skiing has
been great this year.
Pam
Hi!!!
ReplyDeleteI know!!! Aren't they greatest!! I love the baby blue ones.
Living in Vancouver, BC, when we get rain the blues bring out
the sun for me.
Pam
Je me sert de ces coquottes depuis des années en fait je les ai toujours vu puisque ma maman et ma grand-mère cuisinaient avec, et c'est vrai qu'il n'y a pas mieux pour mijoter de bons petits plats
ReplyDeleteNell
Since Hungary was/is far away from the french products the households used the utensils made in the Monarchy, so we generally have our cast iron pots made in Pilsen and as you most of us got them as wedding present.(Sorry I did not get new pots but inherited all those 3 pots and 3 pans from my mother and mother in law) As hungarians are called a "nomad folk"we are used to cook on open fire especially the herdsmen being alone with the cattle or sheepherd all the summer time the most simple was to have one kettle and they cooked every meal in a single piece on open fire,or in wintertime they put it into the clay oven.
ReplyDeleteI have an oven in the guest cottage where I generally bake in iron pots (stuffed cabbage, pork or different cakes(sweet bread with yeast)These pots are the most helpful things both for simple and luxory cooking.love Dorka from the Great Hungarian Plain www.dorottyaudvar.co.hu
I have some but I find they are to heavy for my small hands and I changed to
ReplyDeleteceramic pots which are a lot easier to handle and you can put it in the oven too.
Slowly they come out also with different colors and you can set it on the table.
Les plats servis ou presentes de la sorte sont merveilleux d'abord pour les yeux.Mais je pense que la cuisson aussi devra faire de son mieux dans ces casseroles.Merci !
ReplyDeleteOlympia
I have two pieces of it: a 5.5 quart Dutch oven and a 2.75 quart oven. They are both invaluable and work hard from freezer to oven to table if necessary. I love them and am constantly thinking of maybe getting a couple more. Mine are in the discontinued Kiwi green colour, like the one in your mini cocotte photo. The ocean-coloured ones are lovely, but this year a Truffle colour came out, it is rich and luscious and I only wish I could get one!
ReplyDeleteI love mine also. I am very unhappy that they make very few pots in France anymore. I don't want to buy the pieces made in China so my collection is rather small!
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