Kitchen

[Just Plain Crazy]

On 2/14/2014 chickenbutt said:

JPC - Glad to help. I've done it that way a hundred times and find it to be pretty easy. Just make sure that if you are going to handwash your Lock & Lock, put them in the sink without any hot water for long enough to thaw out. If you put hot water in a frozen piece of plastic it is likely to crack it. (yeah, learned that one the hard way)

Been cooking for what seems like forever and I'm one who likes to learn things every time I do something, so I am always happy to share. Plus I'm big on 'helpful hints'. Should have written a book. hehe - Thank You for your very kind words!

You are more than welcome chickenbutt. I agree on the learning something new each and everyday in my cooking, quilting and everyday life.

I'd be the 1st standing in line to buy your book, chickenbutt. You are a very helpful and knowledgable person. Thanks too for the tips on not putting hot water into the LNL but no chance on that, sometimes I am really slow on doing my dishes

Have a good evening

JPC

[Sooner]

On 2/14/2014 chickenbutt said:

I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed about this or not, but I have pretty much every increment from 1qt to 13.25qt.

My first one was a 6.75qt oval. That's a great mid-size and shape. I also like having a 5qt round (or is it 5.5? not sure), but I have used the 9qt round a lot lately. When I make stuff like stews, chilis, or spaghetti sauce, I like to make a bunch. Then I portion it out in Lock & Locks, freeze it, and pop each portion out and vacuum seal it individually.

What's nice about that is that my little 1qt round Le Creuset is the perfect size to heat up one of those portions. So that's mainly what I use that one for. I just put the whole block o food in there frozen and slowly simmer it with the cover on, until it's hot.

I think the 5-7qt sizes are great mid-range sizes. I like my 9qt and 13.25qt for when I want to make a whole lot of something that freezes well. Storing frozen food, vacuum-sealed, allows you to keep it pristine for a VERY long time. If I didn't have a vacuum sealer I would not do this.

You are just shameful having all of those pots! I know someone who has TWO dune colored 5.5 ones! Can you imagine that? The poor person found one on a huge sale and thought hers was 4.5! LOL!!! Anyway, you can guess who THAT was! It is ok because she uses the 5.5 size most of the time anyway.

I love the braisers! I think the 3.5 quarts are pretty useful for most people.

Oh and the deep skillet with a lid. LOVE that thing. I can't remember the size!

But watch Williams-Sonoma and the LC website and Sur La Table to see what is on sale and what looks useful in your life.

[chickenbutt]

On 2/14/2014 Sooner said:

On 2/14/2014 chickenbutt said:

I'm not sure if I should be embarrassed about this or not, but I have pretty much every increment from 1qt to 13.25qt.

My first one was a 6.75qt oval. That's a great mid-size and shape. I also like having a 5qt round (or is it 5.5? not sure), but I have used the 9qt round a lot lately. When I make stuff like stews, chilis, or spaghetti sauce, I like to make a bunch. Then I portion it out in Lock & Locks, freeze it, and pop each portion out and vacuum seal it individually.

What's nice about that is that my little 1qt round Le Creuset is the perfect size to heat up one of those portions. So that's mainly what I use that one for. I just put the whole block o food in there frozen and slowly simmer it with the cover on, until it's hot.

I think the 5-7qt sizes are great mid-range sizes. I like my 9qt and 13.25qt for when I want to make a whole lot of something that freezes well. Storing frozen food, vacuum-sealed, allows you to keep it pristine for a VERY long time. If I didn't have a vacuum sealer I would not do this.

You are just shameful having all of those pots! I know someone who has TWO dune colored 5.5 ones! Can you imagine that? The poor person found one on a huge sale and thought hers was 4.5! LOL!!! Anyway, you can guess who THAT was! It is ok because she uses the 5.5 size most of the time anyway.

I love the braisers! I think the 3.5 quarts are pretty useful for most people.

Oh and the deep skillet with a lid. LOVE that thing. I can't remember the size!

But watch Williams-Sonoma and the LC website and Sur La Table to see what is on sale and what looks useful in your life.

I know, right? Shame on chicky for having (really!) way more pots than she needs. Gee, let me think for a while and maybe I can figure out who that crazy person is with two of the same size! Hmmmmm...

My 13.25 is the dune color. I don't think I really love the color but it goes well with the rest of mine (well, I think I have two other dune ones) that are either black or red.

Are the 'braisers' the round, shallow, rounded sides, with a 'D' handle on each of two sides? I have that one in the (I think) 2.75qt size and the 3.25qt size (red and black, respectively). Those are handy.

I sure don't 'need' more but I would love to have one in the purple (cassis?) color. I think that is such a delightful color!

I think if I were to choose just one that I'm loving the most lately it would be my 9qt round one (red). It's one of a few I have from the slightly newer 'signature' line, which is pretty much the exact same as the others except that the knob is slightly different (IIRC, it can handle higher temps than the previous plastic knobs). I also have a couple of the stainless steel knobs that I bought several years ago. I switched out one of mine, from the original plastic knobs, for oven use - even though I never use them on high oven heat. But I believe it's on the mondo 13qt one and I was afraid that, even on the lowest shelf, the knob might be too close to the top burner.

Happy day!

[RedHeadedWench]

I have an 8qt (I think that's the size, could be larger) dutch oven that I used for just about all my large cooking....pot roast, stuffed cabbage, etc., I have a 4 qt shallow pot that I also use a lot.

I have an 8x8 baker, 9x13 baker, some ramekins, and a large stock pot I use for corn on the cob, etc.

[Ellabella]

I have the chefs oven( small 4 qt. soup pot) in ocean, I mostly use it to make sauces in. We're a family of 6 and it's not big enough to make enough soup for all of us. It was a gift and I do love it, especially the color. Last week I was at Williams Sonoma and got the 6 3/4 qt wide round pot. I've wanted this size for a long time and was bummed when I found out Le Creuset discontinued it. Williams Sonoma had one left on clearance and an extra 30% off, it was just under $100 and I had a $75 gift card. I couldn't pass it up! I've already made soup in it and love it! I would like to also have a braiser and the batter bowl, one in the casis color.