I am sorry to hear about that Linda but thanks for your response.

I have an older Le Creuset lasagna pan. For some reason, I put it in the oven to get it off the counter and forgot about it. I turned on the broiler one night and after a while I smelled a strange odor. I opened the oven and saw a smoking brown pan and realized it was my red/orange lasgana pan!

The enamel was melting, or so it appeared. I immediately and carefully took it out and placed it on some trivets. The orange enamel was now completely chocolate brown colored. As it cooled, the orange color started to come back.

It seems to be OK, but I definitely think you can harm the enamel if it gets too hot.

I was looking for a new roasting pan last week and the Le Creuset instructions said that 450°F was the maximum. Since I routinely roast at 500°F I hesitated to buy one. I ended up buying a cast iron/porcelain roasting pan, Mario Batali's brand made by Copco. It got good reviews, was less expensive and can go in a 500°F oven. I bought the Dutch Oven too.

Ann

Several years ago, I accidentally cooked a chicken stew type dish in my Le Creuset on my electric range on high temperature, and the pot actually fused to the electric coil. I had to let the pot cool off, and sort of insert a strong knife in between the pot and the coil. The pot has some dark coil marks on the bottom, and a few small spots where the enamel is thinner. It is still functional. The electric burner still worked, too, though it had some enamel patches on it.

Oh boy, sure am glad that I read this. We are newbies to LC cookware, and I'm the proud owner of 5 pieces. Good to know, thanks for posting.

It seems there are two types of Le creuset- one can withstand higher temperatures

My first LC pot, I think I had it very hot on the cooktop and started to deglaze it with some wine. I pulled the wine out of the fridge so it was cold. The very high heat in the pan and the cold wine caused a crack in my enamel and a big chunk came out. I had purchased this pot at the outlet and not sure if it was thee because it had a fault in the glaze? Anyway, I put in a warranty claim and they sent me a new one. I have deglazed with cold liquid in my new one and never had an issue.

I use my LC braiser at 500 degrees to roast certain vegetables -- have not had any problem with the enamel on it. Haven't used high heat with the dutch ovens, not sure if there would be any difference there.

Yes. The bottom inside pitted and rust would seep through. Le Creuset said it was from over heating the pot.