Faux Le Creuset Casseroles

Hi All, Just wanted to share my find with you. I popped into Aldi the other day and they had a big display of Cast Iron Casseroles (a la Le Creuset) for like £25, so I got myself one. I am by NO MEANS cheap, but I just could not see spending like £100 on a cooking utensil that wasn't electric! They had limited colours but they had orange and blue, casseroles and frying pans!

Just wanted to share!

Morrison's have a cast iron casserole for £14.99, except when I bought it, it scanned at £9.99!
A word of warning though - this was a replacement for one we previously had (same type) and the lid handle broke when I picked it up (after 2 years of almost daily use).

DW then fixed the handle with superglue and it seems fine, we'll just not use that lid in the oven - so now we have 2!

Well, I am cheap (I perfer the term frugal) and bought one of these from Aldi about a year ago.  I love it and have had no problems with it at all.

In Switzerland they get upset about fausses casseroles...  items labelled with the Sigg brand which are actually made in China, and of inferior materials.

I've found Le Creuset and faux Le Creuset at car boot sales and have never paid more than a fiver a piece!

Did you know that TK Maxx often has Le Creuset for really good prices? Nowhere near £100!

Thanks for the tip. What size casseroles do they have?

Thanks for the tip. What size casseroles do they have?

They were from their Thursday or Sunday special buy a few weeks ago (if you sign up for their emails on the Aldi website they let you know what's coming to store soon).   

I believe the casserole dishes were 1.5L and 3.5L, but I'm probably wrong.  They were done as both round and oval shaped with lids.  I wanted them, but just couldn't quite lift them at the time.    They also had griddles and skillets.

I have purchased all my Le Creuset at the Factory Outlet. You can get a 6 piece set of cast iron cookware for the same cost of one piece at a retailer.

Now, I'm not sure if there our Factory Outlets in the UK. 

I have purchased all my Le Creuset at the Factory Outlet. You can get a 6 piece set of cast iron cookware for the same cost of one piece at a retailer.

Now, I'm not sure if there our Factory Outlets in the UK. 

I know there is a Le Creuset Outlet in Portsmouth. The prices were great.

I bought a Chasseur casserole on offer from Amazon after a friend who lives in Bordeaux informed me it's all made in the same factory - Chasseur offers different colours from Creuset.

I use it at least 3x/week. 

Well worth the 50 quid (it's a large casserole).

We bought one of the Aldi ones a few years ago and use it all the time.  In fact I used it on Friday to do a fish pie.