oven & flameproof casserole dish

Raspberry_Swirl

we've started cooking a lot more stews/casseroles lately and have really been getting into it.
i have a pyrex casserole dish, but it's not quite big enough, and recently i bought a Le Creuset rip-off from Matalan for £7. i should've guessed from the price that it wasn't worth it, and it cracked on the hob the other day

does anyone know of a dish that doesn't cost the earth? i know Le Creuset is worth the money as it lasts a life time, but i can't spend that sort of money on a dish at the moment.

thanks!

astep70uk

I've also been looking for a casserole dish which I can use on the hob and in the oven. I know that with Pyrex you can't do this, and the only other ones I've seen are Le Creuset, which I know are expensive.
Makro currently have a deal where you can get a le Creuset set including frying pan, normal pan, round casserole dish and 3 different sized oven to table dishes. I think it's £99 for the set, which compared to the price of one casserole dish is really good, although I know it's still expensive.

katieowl_2

Also bear in mind that no matter how wonderful le Creuset is...It can break when you drop it! :eek: Cast Iron does crack! I have broken Le crueset by dropping it on the lino kitchen floor, ie not from a great height onto granite!

I can't help you out with a suitable substitute...as I am using a cast iron casserole I've had for about 30 years...(no enamel - thick and heavy) It was part of a set I bought in the 70's which included some fryingpans and saucepans too - they were very popular, and I have often seen them at boot sale and in charity shops...if they are not used regularly they go rusty and look pretty unhygenic, but clean up with wire wool and season with oil to restore. Suggest you look around, maybe on E-bay?

Regards

Kate

Thistle-down

I agree with the secondhand store or boot sale - I also have a large cast iron pot with a thick glass lid that I got for £1 in a junk shop. It was rusty and unloved looking but I scoured and oiled it, now it is fine! I usually stick it on top of our cast iron stove when it's lit to cook a stew, but it also is fine in the oven and on the hob. Plus it has lots of character, I often get nice comments on it!!

Raspberry_Swirl

thanks for the suggestions. will have to check out the local charity shops.
didn't think i was going to be able to find something like this brand new for cheap!

Thistle-down

Thats usually the case - I really value good quality things so almost always buy second-hand, you can get such good things for next to nothing or for nothing!! (another example, I wanted a really good sewing machine but couldn't afford one new, so I put the word out that I was looking and had a 1960's Jones sewing machine given to me for free - it had never been used!! It is fantastic.)

Raspberry_Swirl wrote:

thanks for the suggestions. will have to check out the local charity shops.
didn't think i was going to be able to find something like this brand new for cheap!

PONDSAVER_2

I had the same trouble a while ago but managed to find a new boxed one at a car boot sale - looks like tits from the 60s brown with broght orange flowers on it but Hey it does the job!!!

lofty_cherrytree

I had a Pyroflam dish which I think is made by Pyrex, but which you can use on the hob as well as the oven. Only trouble is my husband dropped it!! Bought it in Sainsbury's cookshop a few years ago, it's white ceramic/glass base with a clear lid.

newleaf

Raspberry_Swirl wrote:

recently i bought a Le Creuset rip-off from Matalan for £7. i should've guessed from the price that it wasn't worth it, and it cracked on the hob the other day

RS I'm not sure what they stock in Matalan, was this a Chasseur brand product? If so, it really shouldn't have cracked on the hob and I would definitely take it back for a refund, it sounds like it was faulty. Perhaps it had been dropped before you bought it? I know they sell Chasseur in TK Maxx sometimes, they are very similar to Le Creuset, a similar quality, but cheaper.

Raspberry_Swirl

newleaf wrote:

RS I'm not sure what they stock in Matalan, was this a Chasseur brand product? If so, it really shouldn't have cracked on the hob and I would definitely take it back for a refund, it sounds like it was faulty. Perhaps it had been dropped before you bought it? I know they sell Chasseur in TK Maxx sometimes, they are very similar to Le Creuset, a similar quality, but cheaper.

it didn't have any brand on it from what i remember. we looked again in there recently and they don't have them anymore.

i found a similar looking cheap one in asda yesterday for £7.50, but it stated on the label that it was unsuitable for use on the hob. so i'm guessing my matalan one was the same, they just didn't bother to tell me so on the label!!

Nicki

We got some very useful dishes for a wedding present which look like pyrex but you can use them on the hob as well. I've no idea where they came from though, but as we got married very young and this gift was from a friend who was a student at the time, I can't think that they cost the earth. Maybe a trawl round a good kitchen shop or department would throw something up?