Classic heritage: the history and skills behind our cast-iron cookware

Many of the fabulous foodies and chefs we come across here at Le Creuset tell us about how their earliest culinary memories include family meals with a flame-coloured cast-iron Le Creuset casserole brimming with fragrant, mouthwatering dishes in the middle of the table. These happy memories have become as much part of their foodie DNA as the recipes that have been handed down from generation to generation – and a lucky few have inherited their family’s legacy of original cast-iron Le Creuset dishes.

FORGING AHEAD
All of this made us think about the heritage of Le Creuset. Cast iron has been used as ‘the’ material for cooking pots since Roman times. Even with today’s wide choice of cooking materials, cast iron, still forged and crafted by hand, reigns supreme with its versatility, good looks and ability to retain and spread heat evenly.

We are proud of our long and fascinating history, and of the lovingly hand-crafted techniques and time-honoured processes of forging and casting that we still use today. While Le Creuset has expanded the types of products it offers and has taken advantage of many technological advances since its beginnings in 1925, some things have not changed.

BEHIND THE SCENES: making cast-iron pots

The process of making cast-iron pots is fascinating. In this age of mass-production, do you realise quite how much personal carea and attention goes into each of your Le Creuset treasures? Take a look at the skilled process that lies behind making our cast-iron masterpieces.

Sand moulds and casting
In order to produce the desired shape for a Le Creuset piece, two sand moulds need to be made. One produces the interior shape of the item and the second, the exterior shape. The moulds are secured together leaving a small gap between them. The raw materials, including pig iron, are melted at an extremely high temperature in a large cauldron (called a ‘creuset’ in French) and then poured into the moulds. Once the shape is cast, and the iron cooled, it is removed from the mould, ready for the finishing process to begin. After use each mould is broken (the sand is then recycled), meaning that no two pieces of Le Creuset are ever ‘exactly’ the same.

Finishing
Once removed from its mould, each piece has then to pass through several finishing processes under the hands of skilled craftsmen for cleaning and smoothing, rough edges and burrs are removed in a hand process called ‘fettling’. Then each piece is blasted by tiny metal pellets to prepare a uniform surface for enamelling.

Enamelling
Each piece of Le Creuset receives two coats of enamel. The first is a ground coat that, once fired at 840°C, is clear and uncoloured. This allows for better adhesion of the second coat, the coloured enamel, to the cast iron. This special colour coat is applied internally and externally. After the enamel is applied it is air dried before being vitrified to produce a highly durable, hygienic and shock resistant finish.

DID YOU KNOW?

• The cocotte, or French oven, was one of the first cast-iron items produced by Le Creuset and is still the most popular item sold in a range of bright retro colours, with Flame being our trademark.
• Le Creuset is now sold in more than 60 countries around the world, including the US, UK, Japan and Australia.
• Le Creuset began producing its first porcelain enamelled cast iron pots in 1925 from its foundry in Fresnoy-le-Grand in Aisne, France. It is from this base that we continue to produce our world-famous cast-iron pots.
•  Le Creuset has continued to use the hand-crafted techniques and the original process of forging and casting in the manufacturing of our cookware.

OUR SUCCESS STORY

1925 to 1935: The beginning of an adventure
In 1924, two Belgian industrialists, Armand Desaegher (a casting specialist) and Octave Aubecq (an enamelling specialist), met at the Brussels Fair. They decided to create a foundry that would enamel various cookware items. In 1925, Le Creuset was born and set up business in Fresnoy-le-Grand in Aisne, France. This was a strategic position for the company, at the crossroads of transportation routes for the raw materials of coke, iron and sand. This same year the first cocotte was produced.

1935 to 1945: Le Creuset during the war
Le Creuset began to develop a commercial strategy as well as its product range: in those days this included cookers, charcoal stoves, hot plates for electric cookers and kitchen utensils. A first publicity campaign on the radio and in the press was launched to promote the quality of enamelled cast iron. The onset of war brought troubled times as the foundry was close to front lines and occupied by German forces.

1945 to 1955: A new start
After the Second World War, unlike its competitors, Le Creuset concentrated on its range of enamelled cast-iron cookware and was a major innovator of the time, with new and exciting styles and pieces. Originality was shown in the creation of enamel colours. In 1952, export to other countries had really begun with ever-greater volumes of products destined for other European countries and the United States.

1955 to 1965: Innovation
This decade was to see the acceleration of the ideas and enthusiasm that were the original dream of the two founders. In 1955, the first Grill model – the Tostador – was launched. The new colour ‘Elysées Yellow’ was a real success!

In 1957, Le Creuset bought its major competitor, les Hauts Fourneaux of Cousances, the designer of the popular Doufeu – a cocotte with a water lid. 1958 saw the launch of the gorgeous Coquelle, designed by Raymond Loewy, the famous Franco-American designer, justly named the ‘Father of Industrial Design’. In 1962, Le Creuset launched its first Fondue Set, inspired by the growing trend in winter sports and skiing holidays. In 1963, Le Creuset launched its first Barbecue.

1965 to 1975: Modernisation
In 1966, Le Creuset modernised the factory production equipment and replaced the manual casting workshop with semi-automatic machines. In 1970, Le Creuset took over the Godin company, specialists in furnaces and firing equipment for foundries. In 1972, the celebrated Italian designer Enzo Mari completely redesigned the traditional cocotte to create the ‘Mama’ range, with its distinctly different handle shape. Total production exceeded 6 000 tons! In 1974, Le Creuset took leap forward into the USA with the formation of its own subsidiary in South Carolina, ‘Le Creuset of America Inc.’.

1975 to 1985: Internationalisation
This decade was all about the internationalisation. The USA, Australia, United Kingdom, Germany, Belgium: these were the many destinations for Le Creuset cocottes, which were universally associated with images of French style and cuisine. In 1980, a US publicity campaign promoted: ‘Every good cook should know a little French: Le Creuset.’

Innovation remains at the forefront of Le Creuset’s success. In 1980 to 1981, the jam pot was introduced, and the multifunction cocotte was launched, promoting a healthy approach to steaming food. Products were adapted with the introduction of the Vitrobase to make them more suitable to ceramic hobs.

1985 to 1995: A totally new spirit
In 1985 a worldwide survey by the weekly magazine Expansion, in collaboration with Newsweek, placed Le Creuset in the top 30 French products recognised by a worldwide audience. In 1987, Le Creuset launched its new range ‘Futura’, designed by JL Barrault. In 1988, the current President, Paul Van Zuydam, bought the company. This decade was to see the set-up of three further subsidiaries: in the UK (1988), in Japan (1991) and finally in Germany (1994). In 1991, Le Creuset purchased Hallen International Inc., who made wine accessories under the Screwpull trademark. In 1992, Le Creuset launched its first wok, inspired by the growing trend in Asian cooking, and the new Saffron colour.

1995 to 2008: Expansion
This decade saw the set-up of various subsidiaries worldwide: in Hong Kong (1998), Switzerland, South Africa, Brazil and Spain (1999), Scandinavia (2003), Italy and Canada (2004), as well as a sourcing office in China (2004). Product innovation reflected the strong international presence of Le Creuset, adapting to local cooking trends and habits: the Spanish Pueblo range in sun-baked colours in 1995, the first US vegetable cocotte, the Pumpkin, in 1998, the French tatin dish in 2000, Indian Karahi and Balti dishes, Japanese Sukiyaki Cocotte in 2002, Italian Risotto Pot in 2004…

New colours appeared: Granite Grey and Cream in 2000, Chocolate and Pistachio in 2003, Satin Blue and Kiwi in 2004, Lavender and Burgundy in 2005…

Le Creuset modernised its factory with the installation of a new electric furnace in 1999 and a new moulding chain increasing the foundry capacity in 2003. The brand was also diversified with the introduction of enamel-on-steel kettles in 1995, silicone spatulas in 1997, a textile range in 1999, stoneware bakeware in 2001, silicone bakeware and stainless-steel cookware in 2002, Toughened Non-Stick frying pans in 2008 and, most recently, the Ceramics range of porcelain oven to tableware.

Watch this space to see what fabulosity is next in the Le Creuset pipeline…