Le Creuset Is Cheugy

"When my friend Chris finished college, he asked his parents for a Le Creuset Dutch oven as a graduation gift. At school, he was often difficult to reach because his phone was usually broken or lost; he never struck me as the kind of person to covet enameled cast iron. He didn't even cook that much. But every time I visited his illegal Brooklyn basement apartment, his 5.5-quart round cocotte - in a now-retired shade of palm green - was sitting on his stove."

"This longevity is the implicit promise made by the European company: Yes, its cookware is expensive (a nine-quart Dutch oven in Cerise Red currently runs $520 at Williams Sonoma), but it will last forever and it's the only Dutch oven you'll ever need. You're not buying a pot; you're investing in an heirloom. Something has changed during the past several years, however."

Chris received a Le Creuset Dutch oven as a graduation gift and has used the 5.5‑quart cocotte regularly for more than a decade. Le Creuset positions its cookware as expensive but enduring heirlooms, with pieces like a nine‑quart Cerise Red Dutch oven selling for around $520. The brand's buy‑it‑for‑life reputation has softened as many buyers now collect pieces for status and display rather than everyday cooking. Enthusiastic collectors attend ticketed factory-to-table events to seek rare items and mystery boxes. Social media users, including a critic known as Linda From Buffalo, publicly rate and critique these events.

Read at Grub Street