It's really nice looking stuff. I'm a super lazy cook so I could never justify buying any of it except for a Dutch oven. My neighbor gave me what's clearly a Le Creuset knockoff. I use it at least 4 times a week and it's perfectly fine. But I still found myself googling Le Creuset Dutch ovens anyway. The "sea salt" color looks nice to me...
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Ninja edit
I live in a place with a surprisingly high number of rich people. And - like most rich people - they sell great stuff at low prices if it has a tiny blemish or they just are bored with it. I'm going to see if I can make Le Creuset RSS-like searches at Craigslist (or wherever) that can be sent to my email inbox. It can't hurt to make such a search.
Yeah, a Le Creuset is actually legitimately nice, just kinda overpriced in the same way that a KitchenAid is, because they're mostly wedding gift type things. I think part of what fucks people up about them is that Le Creusets are basically always bought with a huge discount, received as a gift, or gotten secondhand. The MSRP is like $450, sure, so when you google it it seems like a massively expensive thing, but people usually pay like half of the MSRP and then a huge chunk people who actually have them either got them as a gift for a major life event, inherited it, or found it secondhand. And they last forever, I think my parents have one from the 1940s.
Don't pay $450, get one secondhand for like $50 or $60, it's awesome and is absolutely worth it.
Lodge's stuff is great too, way cheaper but basically the same in terms of quality. The one caveat is that if you're looking secondhand, they're almost the same price. Used Le Creuset stuff is usually like $60, and Lodge stuff is like $40ish, but it can be harder to find in my experience, especially if you're looking for a certain size or shape.
It's really nice looking stuff. I'm a super lazy cook so I could never justify buying any of it except for a Dutch oven. My neighbor gave me what's clearly a Le Creuset knockoff. I use it at least 4 times a week and it's perfectly fine. But I still found myself googling Le Creuset Dutch ovens anyway. The "sea salt" color looks nice to me...
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Ninja edit
I live in a place with a surprisingly high number of rich people. And - like most rich people - they sell great stuff at low prices if it has a tiny blemish or they just are bored with it. I'm going to see if I can make Le Creuset RSS-like searches at Craigslist (or wherever) that can be sent to my email inbox. It can't hurt to make such a search.
Yeah, a Le Creuset is actually legitimately nice, just kinda overpriced in the same way that a KitchenAid is, because they're mostly wedding gift type things. I think part of what fucks people up about them is that Le Creusets are basically always bought with a huge discount, received as a gift, or gotten secondhand. The MSRP is like $450, sure, so when you google it it seems like a massively expensive thing, but people usually pay like half of the MSRP and then a huge chunk people who actually have them either got them as a gift for a major life event, inherited it, or found it secondhand. And they last forever, I think my parents have one from the 1940s.
Don't pay $450, get one secondhand for like $50 or $60, it's awesome and is absolutely worth it.
the lodge enameled cast-iron cookware is perfectly good
Lodge's stuff is great too, way cheaper but basically the same in terms of quality. The one caveat is that if you're looking secondhand, they're almost the same price. Used Le Creuset stuff is usually like $60, and Lodge stuff is like $40ish, but it can be harder to find in my experience, especially if you're looking for a certain size or shape.
The enamel on Lodge's version is anecdotally a little bit less durable. But you can just avoid dropping it and it will be fine