Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tatin, quiche, beef pot pie, or tamale pie - perfect pan...., January 10, 2003
By A Customer
The tatin recipe included is, as promised in the recipe pamphlet, wonderful. Try it and you'll see.My first experiment, however, was a beef pot pie -- just browned the meat and onions in a bit of olive oil then added carrots and seasonings. A ready-made pie crust fits perfectly to line the pan, then a half-inch of stiff mashed potatoes with a little cheese sprinkled on top. The juices are sealed in and the crust browns beautifully at 350f. Try it for a breakfast cassarole of pre-boiled potatoe slices, sauteed onions and peppers, grated swiss cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, and quartered sausage links baked in a seasoned egg/milk blend to hold it together. When you bake it slow and let the flavors develope, the result is a country breakfast fit for the hungriest crowd. Any main dish or desert pie is equally at home in this great pan -- plus it brings all the wonderful attributes of Le Creuset to every recipe: Easy clean up, even heating, and lower-temp cooking.
|
|
|
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An anniversary worth celebrating, November 5, 2005
Le Creuset manufactures porcelain enameled cast iron cooking vessels as well as other quality products. These cooking vessels are cast from molten iron poured in sand moulds which are used only once. For this reason, one pan may look like another, but each is unique in its own way.
Cast iron is a highly efficient material which absorbs and distributes heat. Due to this efficiency, it is recommended that cooking with cast iron is done on low to medium heat. Remove cast iron from the heat and it does not cool off quickly. This helps your food stay warm while serving. Beware; iron tends to be heavy so these cooking vessels tend to be heavier than other pans made from alternate materials.
Cast iron is an effective material for cooking so why cover it with enamel? Iron tends to rust; iron oxide (rust) doesn't add any complimentary flavors to your food. If your cast iron cooking vessel was not enameled, you would have to season and maintain its cooking surface. Adding the porcelain enamel not only looks good, but has multiple benefits. The enamel, being a solid coating, is one of the most hygienic surfaces to cook on, does not stain, absorb odors, retain flavors, and is easy to clean. The enamel can be damaged, so limit contact to heat resistant plastic or wood utensils to eliminate the scratching and scoring the porcelain.
The benefits of cooking with Le Creuset cast iron are many, but lets get down to the Tarte Tatin or as it's also referred to, the Anniversary pan specifically. This pan holds 2 quarts of food, measures 9 1/2 inches or 24 cm internal diameter, 1 3/4 inch or 4 cm deep, and weighs 2 1/4 pounds. Two odd looking handles, placed opposite of each other; make turning the pan upside down to remove your freshly baked dish simple. The smooth surface eliminates the need to grease the dish except for delicate cakes. Be sure to lift the pan off of cooking surfaces to reduce damaging either the pan or the surface. The anniversary pan tends to do best if at least 3/4 full. Any less and you may overwhelm your food with heat evenly dispersed in the pot.
I find that the cast iron adds a crispy texture to food that may be desirable with a dish like an apple Tarte Tatin, while not so desirable for other dishes. Of course any dish that needs to be flipped out of a pan is perfect for this dish. Some possibilities include sticky buns, quiche, frittatas, baked squash, deep dish pizza, vegetable tarts, whipped yams, dinner rolls, corn bread, fruit crumbles, cobblers, deep dish fruit pies, and pineapple upside down cake to name a few.
One feature that people tend to complain about is the cost. The cost does seem steep compared to other pans made from other materials. Heck, cast iron doesn't seem like it should be expensive when comparing to that old cast iron pan past generations have used for cornbread and camping. However the manufacturing process requires making a mould for each and every pan produced. They then go through the enameling process before shipping these heavy pans. If you take what goes into making and distributing these high quality cast iron products, the cost tends to make sense. Then consider that this pan will easily last a lifetime when taken care of.
PROS:
Handles designed for flipping dishes out of the pan
Efficient absorption and distribution of heat
Hygienic enamel cooking surface
Does not stain, absorb odors, or retain flavors
Cleans easily when not abused or misused
Can be transferred from stove top to the oven to the table
Easily lasts a lifetime
CONS:
Its heavy, as cast iron tends to be weighing in at about 2 1/4 pounds.
|
|
|
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful, functional pan, November 4, 2006
I bought this just so I could use it for a tarte tatin recipe, but know that it will work for so many other dishes. Very functional, especially with those wide set handles that don't get hot. Gorgeous flame color too. I have some high-end stainless cookware that I love, but may have to buy more Le Creuset now.
|
|
|
|
