Cast iron cookware are suppose to last and last,
their ebay pricing seems inflated over RRP
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/NEW-Staub-Round-Cocotte-Steamer-2… their RRP is $733.95 after code comes to $295.20 (60% off their RRP)
Myer has the same at $699.95 RRP https://www.myer.com.au/shop/mystore/cast-iron-26cm-52l-roun…
so at $295.20 for a $699.95 pot it should be 58% off RRP
either way it is the biggest discounted on staub cast iron cookware
they are suppose to last for more than a lifetime (unless you drop it). So yes I'd say $295.20 for over 20yrs of usage is justified. And if you coat your cast iron surfaces with oil, they become virtually non-stick, and can be re-applied over and over again.
Nah, it's a ripoff, exploiting the naivety of young people.
Cast iron pots used to be $30 only a few years ago. With inflation, $40 today.
This is like that pressure cooker fad a few years ago - $2000 for a pressure cooker worth $50.
Chinese cast iron pots are still $30 today at places like Aldi (probably much less if you find them on Aliexpress). Mind you this will be made by someone who gets paid $2 a day if they can produce enough of them per hour. There will be pitting in the enamel. It will likely craze and discolor over the decades and may even bubble and crack.
European brands like Le Creuset and Staub have been expensive for decades and continue to be now. They are made to a higher standard using better materials and processes. There are plenty of old people that love their le creuset stuff and collect vintage models from the 60s and 70s.
Uncoated cast iron pans, on the other hand, don't seem to have that much separating cheap from expensive, other than design… though I wouldn't put it past some unaccountable Chinese manufacturers to allow lead or some other toxic metal into the mix.
We've been using cheap Aldi ones for a decade now. Still as good as new.
If you want to try to justify these huge prices, you're missing the point.
@tightwad:
"We've been using cheap Aldi ones for a decade now."
I use the Aldi ones too. I also have a Soviet one that's been in my family for 40 years at least and I have watched it age.
"Still as good as new."
I should hope so.. Aldi's probably been around 15 years, and you probably bought the pot less than 10 years ago. The fact that a piece of cookware less than 10 years old is in good condition should not be noteworthy. Good enamelware should last 60 years +. Based on the physical appearance of the aldi one (namely the small pitting in the white covering on the inside of the pot) and my experience with the old soviet pot, I can guarantee you the Aldi one won't last as long as a good Le Creuset (which I don't own but have inspected).
"If you want to try to justify these huge prices…"
I don't want to justify anything. Everyone has their personal price point and preferences. high end hifis make no sense for me, but for someone else they do. Paying $100 for a kitchen knife might make sense to me, but for someone else that's unjustified.
"…you're missing the point."
I expect nhand42 stated his point explicitly, so no need to read between the lines, can respond to his words directly:
"Nah, it's a ripoff, exploiting the naivety of young people."
- demonstrably false. Know plenty of old people that have had le creusets for decades
- We can be mean and call people naive, or simply accept that different people have different priorities. As with all products, the more you pay the better the quality, but the marginal increases in quality for every extra dollar spent are decreasing. So once you're at the luxury end of the market for anything you're spending big bucks for very minor improvements. The same is true with hifis, cars, powertools, furniture etc etc etc
"Cast iron pots used to be $30 only a few years ago. With inflation, $40 today."
- This point I sort of agree with but the proviso that this was and is the price for Chinese made ones (though I reckon you could find them even cheaper). And the second prviso that this isn't a new fad that has come about in recent years. Le Creusets were hundreds of dollars many years ago.
"This is like that pressure cooker fad a few years ago - $2000 for a pressure cooker worth $50."
- Again French enamelware has been expensive for as long as I can remember, and Chinese cast iron has always been cheap. Similarly I don't think I've seen a pressure cooker for $2000. But I know you always could and still can buy perfectly good pressure cookers from Indian grocers (or Aldi) for $50 or less, but I don't know that you could ever (even a few years ago) get a Swiss manufactured Kuhn Rikon one for less than $180ish. Again the Aldi one works for me, but there are tangible differences and its up to each person to decide based on their prirorities what's worth paying money for and what isn't.. I just wouldn't be so uncharitable as to label everyone with different priorities than me "naive"
Pretty racist comment given that many Western made non-stick pans are genuinely thought to be toxic, yet Chinese pans are targeted just because they are made in China.
I never mentioned race. For all I know the Le Creuset factory is staffed by ethnic Chinese workers.
All I care about is compliance with regulated standards. On that front the developed world (whether its in the "West" or the "East" or on mars) has a better record than the developing world.
Different jurisdictions have different regulatory regimes with different approaches to enforcement and different levels of corruption. Different countries have different histories of compliance with standards. Why do you suppose so many Chinese people buy Australian and NZ baby formula instead of the far cheaper domestic products? Why do you suppose frozen berries from China and Chile are contaminated with Hep A? This has absolutely nothing to do with race, but everything to do with local compliance culture, efficacy of regulatory agencies and frameworks and probably the internal culture at some of the manufacturing companies - how they prioritize productivity, price and quality, how they compensate their workers, and what sort of working conditions they provide.
How about Teflon?
BTW your hepatitis argument is quite bizarre. I'm sure a bit of heat would soon get rid of it.
Calm down. Naivety just means lacking in experience and wisdom. Unless you think young people have heaps of both?
And "old people who bought them decades ago" means they were young when they bought them. The naivety of youth.
Feel free to spend whatever money you want, and justify it to yourself if it helps, but there's no bargain here. It's $295 for a $30 pot. That's up there with oxygen-free ionised monster-brand speaker cables.
All I'm talking about is compliance with regulated standards.
A Manufacturer knows that the relevant standards do not permit frozen berries to be contaminated with Hep A. A manufacturer knows that the relevant standards do not permit baby formula to be contaminated with melamine. A manufacturer knows they have to comply with these standards but they fail to do so.
PTFE is allowed to be used in pan coatings.. no standard forbids it. So the manufacturer continues to use it. Currently their products are compliant.
Generally manufacturers in developed countries are comparatively better at complying with regulated standards than those in developing countries.. for fairly obvious reasons. As China has become more developed, we have seen the quality of products produced there improve… I'm not sure what you're finding controversial about any of this.
@nhand42: lol I'm calm. I don't own any of these products, I'm happy with my aldi ones.
It's $300 for a $300 pot, and $30 for a $30 pot. I'm happy with the $30 one, personally. Just like I'm happy with my $30 Xiaomi headphones, but I don't pretend they're the same as my mate's $300 Sennheisers.
@simulacrum:
Xiaomi products are surprisingly good value for money. I agree Sennheiser makes great stuff, but I'd think your $30 headphones are as good as $300 Beats for example.
I'm also happy with the $30 pots. At the end of the day, ingredients matter more than the pot they're cooked in. I think we've on the same wavelength for the most part. Peace out :-)
+1 I think cast iron cookware prices are bullshit in general. People jerk off over their le crusset just like their kitchenaid mixers
Obviously you have never used either, I have, and I have used alternatives, and these are definitely much better. Interesting that you think jerking off is part of a cooking regime?
Family recipe maybe?
@sigh: The only one I know about is Soggy Saos and, I suspect, the Young Libs at Melbourne Uni could provide the recipe.
It would also appear that Kitchenaid has been holding out on me with their settings. Jerking off is no use to me, but you think they could adapt their stick mixers for the female market.
either way it is the biggest discounted on staub cast iron cookware
-1
50% + $20 off @ Myer is/was cheaper for everything except the 26cm pots :)
does whoever negged me what to offer some supporting evidence?
to demonstrate my point, the American Square Grill 26cm is $119.20 @ Kitchen Warehouse, but was $104.97 @ Myer :)
Where are these made?
I've gone into a few of the listed items. If you scroll down to specifications it lists 'Country of origin: France'
In France. They are a very well known French range known in the culinary world and with snobs who have them on show in their kitchens and would rarely use them.
Love cooking with cast iron. I use it often.
Got my first pot 30 years ago when I started my apprenticeship and it's still used at home to this day. Pretty sure that pot cost me about $120.00 back then at London American in Melbourne.
These Staub ones cost a bloody arm and a leg, but they are top notch and a lot of people would buy them because they look great in the kitchen when cooking, serving or even storing where visible. Not a motive for everyone when buying, but there is a big market for that kind of thing and these guys are still around because of it.
Edit - Don't forget that these are a premium glazed enamel coating, nickel plated knobs etc… All of this helps them to cook better for different reasons and would technically do a better job than a bog standard cast iron pot you have on a camp fire. Still… Way too much money for me.
nickel plated knobs
hang on… werent you describing the pot and not the intended buyer of these?? :P
I have a Le Creuset which is damn heavy to use and clean. How are these compared?
The surfaces are different. I prefer the mottled surfaces of the Staub, it keeps oils in for longer.
Still over-priced even after discount. If someone after a regular one not the steamer version, the everyday price for a Staub Round Cocotte 26cm Black in Costco is $240.
I've got a Staub. And have cooked with some of the other "Le-brands" and the cheap $30 Target ones.
The Staubs are amazing. Overpriced, yes, but not by much. They are awesome cookware. Much better than the Le-brands
Noticed there's some cast iron users here, so…
I have a cast iron frypan that I found on the side of the road years ago during a council cleanup. Can't see a brand, but it's heavily coated in the remnants of past-cooked meals so I've been meaning to hit it with a wire wheel in a drill and reseason it. Anyway… It's just as easy to clean as stainless steel, it's been brilliant.
Then I bought an induction cooker. And of course, none of my stainless cookware works on it.
So I thought I'd buy some cast iron saucepans. I bought a couple of small 'pancake pans' people might remember Aldi selling, when they were selling a bunch of BBQ-related cast iron. They are absolutely useless. The bottom is so rough/dimpled that every pancake grips to it like super glue - no matter how much butter you drown the useless thing with first. Then I went to BCF - their stuff has the same 'patterning' in the bottom of all their cast iron cookware. The pan from the side of the road has a very smooth surface.
Who/what brand/level do I have to go up to, to find cast iron cookware like that… that has a smooth inner surface? Plus either all cast handles, or well-mounted ones that don't snap off like I've seen junk ones do?
(Not too impressed with ceramic coated. I've seen it crack, chip, and discolour - it looks ugly - and I'd rather plain cast iron so I can make it like new when required using a wire wheel in a drill.)
I expect to pay more for better quality, but prices like $700 for one piece is ridiculous.
$295.20…for ONE pot?