Le Creuset

[etalanian]

I have some olderLC and I think the letters have something to do with the size of the pan or the model or something, not whether they are seconds.

Eileen

[Chufi]

A co-worker of mine recently bought a Le Creuset frying pan (enamel on the outside, black cast iron on the inside - the inside is not enameled like Snowangel's one upthread).

She's not a very experienced cook, but I think the purchase of this pan shows that she's willing to invest, to learn and to progress. Anyway, she's very disappointed with this pan, she says anything she cooks (fries) in it will stick to the bottom. She says she heats it before putting the food in, over medium heat for a couple of minutes.

She's ready to put the pan in the back of the cupboard and never use it again, and I feel bad for her that she's so disappointed.

I never had a pan like that so I can't really tell her what's going wrong.

Maybe somebody here can offer some advice?

Edited February 8, 2006 by Chufi (log)

[andiesenji]

Does anyone know the meaning of the letter stamped on the bottom of the Le Creuset pots?  I'm looking at buying a used one and have encountered the letters 'G', 'B', 'H' thus far.  Does it have anything to do with quality (ie. factory seconds).  My hunch was that it referred to a specific line, but when I went on their website, I couldn't figure out how those letters I had encountered fit into my hunch.  Any illumination on this matter would be most appreciated.

zhourunping@yahoo.com

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What colors were the pots?

[fifi]

A co-worker of mine recently bought a Le Creuset frying pan (enamel on the outside, black cast iron on the inside - the inside is not enameled like Snowangel's one upthread).

She's not a very experienced cook, but I think the purchase of this pan shows that she's willing to invest, to learn and to progress. Anyway, she's very disappointed with this pan, she says anything she cooks (fries) in it will stick to the bottom. She says she heats it before putting the food in, over medium heat for a couple of minutes.

She's ready to put the pan in the back of the cupboard and never use it again, and I feel bad for her that she's so disappointed.

I never had a pan like that so I can't really tell her what's going wrong.

Maybe somebody here can offer some advice?

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You say that the inside is black but not coated with anything? I haven't seen that version here in the US at all. A friend has a frying pan that has the black coating like my grill pan. This is what I see here with the "satin black enamel" on the inside. If it is bare cast iron, it would have to be seasoned before using it. If that is the case, I can't see the advantage of paying for LC. Even my well seasoned cast iron fry pan isn't used for cooking eggs, though. I use a non-stick for that. Here is what my seasoned pan looks like. (Picture from the Fried Chicken Cook-Off.)

[dougal]

A co-worker of mine recently bought a Le Creuset frying pan (enamel on the outside, black cast iron on the inside - the inside is not enameled like Snowangel's one upthread).

She's not a very experienced cook... she's very disappointed with this pan, she says anything she cooks (fries) in it will stick to the bottom. She says she heats it before putting the food in, over medium heat for a couple of minutes. ...

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I don't know about the Netherlands, but in the UK **all** true Le Creuset *frying* pans are actually non-stick coated.

http://www.lecreuset.co.uk/castiron/frying.asp

I have one of the non-stick 'omelette' pans with a similar coating. It works well, perhaps despite my using it for making Tarte Tatin-ish things in it.

A little bit of "loading" of the non-stick with oil, in the same sort of way as any other non-stick pan was/is the only treatment it has had.

The coating *looks* quite unlike, say, a Tefal pan, BUT, its nothing like the inside of my Le Creuset Grillit. Run your finger over both to feel the difference! The Grillit's black iron interior needs to be treated like a Wok and be cleaned very gently, to accumulate and maintain a 'patina' (of burnt-on grease actually) which will give much better release.

Is your friend trying to dry-fry in an unseasoned pan? Or turning the heat up too high after warming the pan?

Otherwise, its hard to guess what the problem might be. Have you seen it or tried it yourself?

Edited February 9, 2006 by dougal (log)

[fifi]

That is really interesting. Different products in different countries.

[fleurdesal]

Letters?  Mine just say Le Creuset and <town> France in a circle on the bottom.

Where are the letters in question stamped?

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At the bottom of the pot are the words "Le Creuset Made in France" which form a circle. The letter is in the middle of this circle.

[fleurdesal]

Does anyone know the meaning of the letter stamped on the bottom of the Le Creuset pots?  I'm looking at buying a used one and have encountered the letters 'G', 'B', 'H' thus far.  Does it have anything to do with quality (ie. factory seconds).  My hunch was that it referred to a specific line, but when I went on their website, I couldn't figure out how those letters I had encountered fit into my hunch.  Any illumination on this matter would be most appreciated.

zhourunping@yahoo.com

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What colors were the pots?

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The pots are of various colours (I've been trying to bid on a used one on eBay). I'm a decent student of French but it doesn't appear as if the letter pertains to the pot colour as the flame-coloured dutch oven had a "G" stamped on it.

[JAZ]

A co-worker of mine recently bought a Le Creuset frying pan (enamel on the outside, black cast iron on the inside - the inside is not enameled like Snowangel's one upthread).

She's not a very experienced cook, but I think the purchase of this pan shows that she's willing to invest, to learn and to progress. Anyway, she's very disappointed with this pan, she says anything she cooks (fries) in it will stick to the bottom.

Maybe somebody here can offer some advice?

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You say that the inside is black but not coated with anything? I haven't seen that version here in the US at all. A friend has a frying pan that has the black coating like my grill pan.

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I don't know about the Netherlands, but in the UK **all** true Le Creuset *frying* pans are actually non-stick coated.

http://www.lecreuset.co.uk/castiron/frying.asp

I have one of the non-stick 'omelette' pans with a similar coating. It works well, perhaps despite my using it for making Tarte Tatin-ish things in it.

Here's my experience with LC skillets/frying pans (this is in the US; other countries might be different):

They used to offer skillets with either the hard enamel or the matte black enamel on the inside. (To my knowledge, LC has never made anything with uncoated cast iron). Then they slowly discontinued using the hard enamel on the inside of skillets, and then they came out with nonstick coatings on some of their frying pans (they called them omelette pans). For a while, that was what I saw in most stores. Now, they seem to have gone back to the matte black enamel for most of their pans, although I think they still make the nonstick omelette pans.

The matte black enamel is harder to clean than the hard shiny enamel, that's for sure. But the advantage is that you can heat it to a higher temperature with less chance of damaging the enamel. It's much more porous than the hard enamel, and if you want, you can treat it like uncoated cast iron, seasoning it until it gets a patina, and then it's virtually indistinguishable from plain cast iron in terms of ease of cleaning.

I have a couple of these pans, as well as the grill pan that fifi mentions, and yes, stuff sticks to them (especially the grill pan) but I find it cleans up pretty well with a scrubber pad -- and the nice thing is because of the enamel coating, you can always soak it, unlike untreated cast iron.

[k43]

The current Cook's Illustrated (April 2006) pans the Le Creuset Doufeu, asking "Do You Really Need This?" and answering No -- because it's "too efficient" and doesn't leak around the cover like the good old LC Dutch Oven.

Bah, humbug. This baby is in a class by itself, and works on the stovetop rather than the oven. I put water on top rather than ice, use less liquid inside and cook it down at the end. The results are ambrosial.

[Safran]

The current Cook's Illustrated (April 2006) pans the Le Creuset Doufeu, asking "Do You Really Need This?" and answering No -- because it's "too efficient" and doesn't leak around the cover like the good old LC Dutch Oven.

Bah, humbug.  This baby is in a class by itself, and works on the stovetop rather than the oven.  I put water on top rather than ice, use less liquid inside and cook it down at the end.  The results are ambrosial.

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I have two that were handed down to me. I love them! And yes, I use ice.

[Blondelle]

LC once did make an uncoated grill pan called a meat grill. I had one, and no matter how much I seasoned it to shiny black, it wouldn't hold the seasoning and food would stick. I have a newer wok of theirs that has the high temp black enamel inside, and seasoning it makes it shiny and stick reistant. Holds the seasoning, and performs much better than the bare LC iron grill I seasoned!

(To my knowledge, LC has never made anything with uncoated cast iron). Then they slowly discontinued using the hard enamel on the inside of skillets, and then they came out with nonstick coatings on some of their frying pans (they called them omelette pans).

[natasha1270]

Attention all Le Creuset lovers: Sur la Table is listing an exclusive of new colors: Chestnut and Black Satin.

The black satin reminds me of an odd LC 3 1/2 qt buffet I picked up a few years ago at Marshalls (I think).

Here are some pics:

and a comparison:

The rough LC really looks like unenameled cast iron but there are a few nicks in the enamel that tell me otherwise. If I remember, it was $60-70 so it wasn't that bad a deal.

enjoy!

N.

[highchef]

I have just gotton off the phone with Le Crueset to get a return # for my chef's pan. I hate sending the thing off, but the enamel is popping off the bottom. I suspect my husband's washing it had something to do with it, but he's not admitting anything because I use that pan daily and LOVE it. The color of course, is discontinued, so they'll send me something 'neutral', probably the sand (dune) color Natasha has above. The letters underneth are the code to the color. They don't fix them, which is a shame. but even if they declare it to be my fault, I get a new pan for 75% off. which ain't a bad deal.

[KitchenQueen]

Okay guys and gals,

I've heard so much of this Le Creuset stuff from you all I finally had to get one. Just ordered the 7 1/2 quart round in blue from Amazon. $159.00 with free shipping.

Please tell me that's a reasonable price. I didn't spend any gasoline money to go get it!

[Smithy]

Okay guys and gals,

I've heard so much of this Le Creuset stuff from you all I finally had to get one. Just ordered the 7 1/2 quart round in blue from Amazon.  $159.00 with free shipping.

Please tell me that's a reasonable price. I didn't spend any gasoline money to go get it!

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It's a reasonable price, especially when you factor in the saved gasoline. Congratulations! I hope you love your LC as much as I do mine!

[KitchenQueen]

Mmm,What should I make first when it arrives?

Can I deep fry (not too deep) in this new thingie, or is that a no-no?

[Marlene]

Mmm,What should I make first when it arrives?

Can I deep fry (not too deep)  in this new thingie, or is that a no-no?

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You sure can! Le Crueset's are great for frying!

[KitchenQueen]

Well, I'd always heard Amazon profiles according to the area you log in from.Now I know it's true.

This same article I ordered from home at 159.00-free shipping is 229.99 -free shipping when I checked from my office. Seventy bucks difference.

[Smithy]

Well, I'd always heard Amazon profiles according to the area you log in from.Now I know it's true.

This same article I ordered from home at 159.00-free shipping is 229.99 -free shipping when I checked from my office.  Seventy bucks difference.

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Wow. Have you tried back and forth between the home and the office, to make sure of your findings? You may have happened to catch a limited-time offer at home, that had expired by the next day you went to work. If not - that's valuable information.

[Richard Kilgore]

Well, I'd always heard Amazon profiles according to the area you log in from.Now I know it's true.

This same article I ordered from home at 159.00-free shipping is 229.99 -free shipping when I checked from my office.  Seventy bucks difference.

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That could be...or it could be a price change. Amazon prices on LC change frequently, and sometimes there is one color choice that is drastically reduced. This is one good reason to always check each color choice, and to price check from time to time -- unless, of course, you are in a hurry and just have to have a specific color.

[KitchenQueen]

I checked right before I left for work, and as soon as I got here , within an hour. Some colors are higher, but in both places. Different prices were the only difference.

Let's do a test. 7 1/4qt. round color LC red or blue, right now. What price do you get? And is shipping free?

If you want to play, give your city too.

[CaliPoutine]

I checked right before I left for work, and as soon as I got here , within an hour. Some colors are  higher, but in both places. Different prices were the only difference.

Let's do a test.  7 1/4qt.  round color LC  red or blue, right now.  What price do you get?  And is shipping free?

If you want to play, give your city too.

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i get 229.99 plus free shipping. the kiwi color is 219.99.

Its funny, I have this same pot and I ONLY paid 129.99 minus 25 dollar coupon off housewares and it also came with a free skinny grill pan. I got a great bargain.

I'm in Canada, but my address is set to Michigan where I have my items shipped.

edit: I just noticed the 7 1/4 round blue pot with free skinny grill costs 199.99 but there IS a shipping charge as it ships from J&R music and computer world

Edited March 6, 2006 by CaliPoutine (log)

[KitchenQueen]

Wierd, on my screen the J&R price is 219.00-no free grill , no free shipping

[KitchenQueen]

I just had a friend about 30 minutes from this area. She's getting 219 at Amazon while my area still shows 229.00 I can't wait to get home and see if it's still 159.00