Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
An excellent starter pot for any collection of Le Creuset., January 30, 2003
Pictures don't do justice to the brilliant red of the Le Creuset tomato - it's adorable and very cheerful. It's highly durable, and the interior is incredibly easy to clean!One reason I always end up reaching for my Le Creuset pans is the formation of "fond" (the little brown bits) which is so impossible to manage when browning meat in a non-stick pan. Le Cresets seem to promote fond creation, and this allows you to make magnificent sauces with what's in the pan once you're done cooking the meat. (That's a definite advantage if you're learning any French cooking.) These pots are also amazingly flexible - you can take it from the stovetop to the oven with no problems! (Be forewarned, though, that the cute 'stem' of the tomato can only withstand temperatures up to 400 degrees F. But I have yet to have this be a problem.) There are two small downsides to this particular Le Creuset pan. One of which is common to all Le Creuset enameled cast iron pots - you cannot use these over high stovetop heat, or you risk damaging the beautiful enameled surface. These pots are made for a "slow and steady wins the race" method of cooking, not a quick sear. (Save that for your Lodge cast iron pan.) However, this is not really a handicap - because once you heat this vessel up steadily, it holds the heat for an extraordinary amount of time, and it heats very evenly. It's great - when you take the dish to the table, the contents stay warm throughout the meal! The second down side of this pot is the lid - the quirky tomato shape, while adorable, causes the lid to only fit snugly in one way. This can be minorly aggrivating when you're in a real rush. (I always put the lid on the wrong way the first time.) This is the only reason for my giving this pot a four-star rating, in lieu of the five stars it would have normally earned.
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34 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
wonderful, one cute red hot tomato :-), January 29, 2003
I purchased this 2-Quart Tomato Casserole about
three months ago and have had time to use and evaluate it.Wonderful! We have a magnetic induction cooktop and I have written other
reviews of Le Creuset and All-Clad cookware here at Amazon.com in
regards to the virtues of magnetic induction so I won't repeat
myself -- other than to say that this casserole works great on
a magnetic induction cooktop as well as conventional cooktops. What is so great about this casserole is that you can use it on
your cooktop as a skillet to brown, then add ingredients and put
it into your oven to bake, then take it straight to the table to
serve! Its tomato shape makes for a very nice presentation on
the table. Cute. :-) By the way, the picture (at least right now) shows the
knob on the lid to be the normal round shape knob as found on
other Le Creuset cookware. That is _not_ the type of knob that
came with the one that I purchased. Rather, the knob is a three
pronged handle that resembles the part of the vine that connects
to the tomato. Once again, _very_ cute. :-) Since we have had a number of months now to use a variety of
Le Creuset cookware, there is one item that I'd like to pass
along regarding Le Creuset in general; I have not seen this
mentioned in other reviews. Namely, the lip of the casserole,
sauce pan, etc., and the adjacent lip of the lid are exposed
cast iron. The enamel coating is not applied to these lips.
What this means is that if you leave the lips exposed to water
for a period of time they will rust -- so don't leave them
soaking in your sink! It's very easy to avoid, just keep the
lips dry. In summary, wonderful cookware. Definitely a 5-star review!
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29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
First a Heart, Next a Pumpkin, and Now a Tomato, April 12, 2001
The whimsy of Le Creuset designers continues to delight collectors with this newest addition to Le Creuset's line of specialty pots: the Tomato Casserole, in Red. Like the orange Pumpkin casserole and the red Heart casserole, this pot is a 2-Quart size, which is about right for a "four-person" entrée or a "six-person" side dish. What I like to make in my Le Creuset specialty pots often depends on the occasion. For a quick-and-easy everyday family meal, I might use one for a "mac-and-cheese" or a "tuna-and-noodles" casserole. When the season changes or for a holiday meal, then I would make a fancier dish and tie the theme of the pan to the meal or buffet. For this Tomato Casserole, I would like to use it for a summer supper of penne with "salsa cruda" using vine-ripened tomatoes or a tri-color rotini salad with cherry tomatoes. With Le Creuset pots, one does not have to worry about any kind of acidity reaction because of the inner enamel coating. Also, I love that these pots can be used for a "one-dish" meal and can go from the range top or oven directly to the table.
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