I couldn't agree more, Charmion. I have two Le Creuset deep casseroles, a large one (pot roast, bulk ragu production and big stews, etc) and a slightly smaller one (casseroles and stews for two and brilliant for risottos) and a large Le Crueset shallow casserole (best thing for making pasta sauces that need gentle sauteeing of chilli and garlic, etc, as it's big enough to chuck the cooked pasta into and stir in). I've had them for many years and I honestly don't understand all this talk of pressure cookers and electrical gizmos. I feel sorry for whoever has to wash 'em up, and, well, do they REALLY produce good grub...?

I've inherited, at no cost to myself, two glass-lidded pans with vented lids which are perfect for boiling potatoes or veg, and (the coup de grace) a magnificent huge lidded stainless steel frying pan which is brilliant for cooking rare steaks, for starting off pork chops and pot roasts before they go in the oven and for browning minced steak for chilli or ragus.

All these pans need, at most, fifteen or twenty minutes' soaking in hot water with a drop or two of Fairy Liquid to get them clean. I only ever use silicone utensils in them, never metal ones. One thing I've never done is put my Le Cruesets in the dishwasher.