Heads up home cooks. Sur La Table is having their big sale. Last time I scored two All-Clad pans - A medium sauté and a large sauce/sauté pan. One was 60% and the other was 40% off. Not bad.
It depresses me because I can find no justification for buying a single thing. When we’re in Seattle I frequently visit their store and have the same reaction - sale or no sale. Boo hoo.
I think I understand. Once you have everything you need, it’s hard to justify. But they’re also incredibly overpriced. I feel like a sucker buying items not on sale. We saw some tumblers we liked recently, walked three doors down and bought almost identical ones at Crate & Barrel for a third of the price. I did recently have a SLT gift card and bought a wall mounted magnetic knife holder. Love it!
Yeah, SLT is is like Williams Sonoma IMO. Their sale price is about the max I would pay.
Every so often I stumble upon incredible bargains at SLT, especially in their closeout sections.
i.e 5 Qt Oval LeCreuset for $109!
I’ve seen some great deals…but they’re for things that I already own versions of or they’re things that I’m not interested in, i.e., baking. And I’m not into “labels.” I’ve got Lodge pieces that I like just as well as Staub and LeCreuset. Just me.
That is a good one. Coinky dink… My Le Creuset dutch oven came from a SLT pre-christmas sale.
[quote=“catholiver, post:6, topic:4511”]
And I’m not into “labels.”
[/quote]Me neither cath. I checked my cast irons - after a long discussion on CH - and realized one is Lodge (which imo is a label). I bought it years ago because it was the only cast iron skillet sold at my local hardware store, and it’s great. When researching dutch ovens, I picked the Le Creuset over Lodge because it’s easier to clean. Plus reports stated Lodge is not manufactured as well as ones sold “back in the day”. And on a sentimental note, my mom had a Le Creuset. The All-Clads? They can go from stove to oven and are impossible to destroy. Some “labels” are more expensive because they’re worth it .
P.S. I pass on the baking stuff too. As much as I’d like it to be, baking is not my thing.
I kinda use “Lodge” generically And I’m not fussy about it like some. I don’t want it to be non-stick. I have an ENORMOUS oval LC that a little old lady gave me cause she couldn’t lift it. I have one Staub that I got at a great price online and needed the size. I switched to induction cooktop a few years ago when All Clad and many others like it weren’t induction capable. I have pots and non-stick skillets from Ikea that are my faves.
Back to the original topic, I use strolling through SLT and occasionally will pick up a little doodad
For a hot minute a few years ago, Sur La Table kept emailing me coupons for $10 off any purchase. Eventually they caught on that all my purchases were exactly or just a bit more than $10, and my golden goose ceased to lay eggs.
Ahhh… I see. But why don’t you want your CI non-stick?
I’m not familiar with how the induction stove works and didn’t know you had to have special pans.
Heaviness seems to be a frequent reason women give up Le Creuset. My cousin gave all but one away. I would love to have inherited or had a little old lady give me mine. We don’t know what happened to my mom’s and aunt’s. Mine was a X-Mas gift (on sale) from my boys. I cherish it and am surprised how much use it gets. My favorite feature of both Le C & All-C is their stove-to-oven ability. Multi-function saves on cleanup and clutter. Plus I love how they conduct heat. I like to low and slow my beans. Before the Le C I used the Crockpot, which is fine if you can wait like 6-8 hours. I would have definitely forgone the All-C if they weren’t marked-down or I had a good restaurant supply place near my home.
With regard to non-stick, I was worried about chemicals in my food and threw it out in favor of my well-seasoned CI’s. But I recently broke down and bought a small, expensive, “green” non-stick at Sur La Table. It was on sale though .
I might buy one or two high-end chef knives. But am plenty happy with mine from Smart & Final. I did buy a couple Cutco from a nephew who was selling them. I know people slam them. But I actually love mine.
My one unnecessary splurge would be an All-C roasting pan. I roast a turkey just about never. If anyone has a less expensive suggestion for a sturdy roaster that would be great.
No worries about going of topic Cath. I’m not such a stickler about that. Besides it’s nice to have another home cook to discuss such things with. FTC is a little barren in that department.
Whaaat? I would have been all over those $10 off deals. I do love Sur La Table… in case you didn’t guess by my starting this thread.
I wash my CI with soap and water, put on a high burner til almost dry, put in some oo, rub around with a paper towel and that’s it. I simply can’t be bothered with fussing any more than that.
As far as I know, nonstick has never been proven dangerous at the kind of temps used in a kitchen. But don’t keep your parakeet in there.
Induction capable means the bottom is magnetic. Now readily available a few years ago I walked around with a magnet But all CI, plain or enameled work.
I have two chef’s knives but only use one. It cost <$100. Other knives are super cheap.
My roasting pan, with rack, rarely gets used and I’m sure it was well under $100. About the only ‘fowl’ I cook is a small chicken, the Zuni way. CI skillet.
[quote=“catholiver, post:13, topic:4511”]
I wash my CI with soap and water, put on a high burner til almost dry, put in some oo, rub around with a paper towel and that’s it. I simply can’t be bothered with fussing any more than that.
[/quote]Me too exactly. Except I use grapeseed. For the first couple years I didn’t use soap. But now they can take anything.
[quote=“catholiver, post:13, topic:4511”]
My roasting pan, with rack, rarely gets used and I’m sure it was well under $100. About the only ‘fowl’ I cook is a small chicken
[/quote]Me too!
That parakeet thing was funny. You’re a funny girl.
Oh, I should use grapeseed oil something I’ve really only recently started using so I have it on hand. So are your skillets nonstick? My old ones are super smooth; the newer ones not.
Re the “parakeet thing” evidently birds really can be super sensitive to that. Too lazy to look it up but I seem to remember. But I like birds outside and on platters (!!!) so not an issue
I started using grapeseed because it’s flavorless. Plus the oo can get a little gooey overtime, and it has a lower burning point. My CI are pretty much non-stick now. But there are times you just want a real non-stick.
I didn’t know that about the parakeet. But we’re cat people over here. I like birds and would love to get a bird feeder. But that would be ringing the dinner bell for my little hunter. I’m at the point where I don’t even want to plant things that attract hummingbirds.
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