I would stick with Le Creuset, but opt for the more traditionally shaped casserole. This one is harder to find, but imho the one to pick. It’s like a regular dutch oven, but lower.
I bought mine from amazon Italy for 180 euro. Its official name changes from country to country but in the US it’s called shallow round oven.
I have the “Bruntmor” braiser. I got if off of Amazon. I used my accumulated reward points from my credit card. I don’t think it was all that expensive to begin with, though. I’ve used a few times and its fine.
Edited to add: Yesterday I was at an indie liquidation place that is always about 85% total junk and 100% heavily used. Wahine’s eye caught a tajine that ended up being Le Creuset. The tag price for this decidedly less-than-pristine piece? $125! New, they run anywhere from $190 to $285. You can get the same used piece on eBay for well under $100.
I’m a big fan of Tramontina, but pretty sure their ECI is made in China. But so are our phones, tablets, and computers so I’m not sure I get the point of avoiding Chinese made cookware.
Yeah… but for ECI, too few and too expensive. Don’t get me wrong… I have a few pieces of LC and they are fine, but bought them way before the prices went crazy.
At one point in the early 1980s, I owned nearly every piece LC made. I invested a fortune–even back then. It made me a much worse cook, delaying my development by more than a decade, because I lost interest due to the results.
I’m not trying to draw flames, but since getting into cookware development and its physics, I’ve learned it has never been a good construction for cookware. In the years since, LC has not improved in any way other than the color palette. LC has gotten to be like Dutch tulips in the 17th Century. It’s painted cast iron, which is saying very little. Enamel vitiates the one chief advantage of CI: the nonstick seasoning.
Agreed… and rarely use my ECI (it is on the back of the bottom drawer of my cookware cabinet).
My point was that if you want to boycott Chinese goods, considering we all spend thousands on China sourced electronics, a $50-99 pan seems a pointless contribution.
Avoiding Chinese made stuff us impossible. We are way past the point where that is posible.
But when there is a chance to do so. I will much rather support the jobs and Economy in countries who share my own view on democracy, people’s rights, environment and workers rights.
I know i stand pretty isolated with that opinion. But hey, you gotta stand out sometimes.
My thoughts: the heart wants what the heart wants. If that is what she wants, finances permitting, please get her that, not what you or people on the internet deem better. (Also, I have something very similar and love it unreservedly.)
then my choice would no longer be what piece to buy. But what organ to harvest and sell to pay for it
