Le Creuset do a whole range of heavy pans, different sizes, and also casserole pots etc. Yes, you put the salt in dry and heat it up very hot. I was shown this in 'Domestic Science' lessons in 1960! Soaking the pans has always worked for me. My mother's pots and pans were so heavy I could hardly lift them as a girl. They'd belonged to HER mother. Stupidly I chucked them out a few years ago. They were square-shaped. Good quality ones are expensive but last a long, long time. I've got a Shepherd's Pie in the oven at this minute, in a le Creuset chafing dish.