The HfP chat thread – Sunday 13th June

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• Anuj says:

  13 Jun13 June 18:05

  Has anyone got a Le creuset or other brand enamelled pan? I’m trying to decide what to go with and there’s just so many options for type of pan.

  • KBuffett says:

    13 Jun13 June 18:15

    Our go to place is ProCook for these types of purchases. We’ve discovered that the upmarket brands aren’t worthwhile for us.

    • Aston100 says:

      13 Jun13 June 18:22

      Exactly this.
      Pro Cook are more than fine unless you absolutely have to have Le Creuset on show to impress your friendship circle.

  • Reeferman says:

    13 Jun13 June 18:21

    We have the Le Creuset saucepans (not the frying pans) and, after 10-12 years of use, they’re as good as new. Throughly recommend them.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      13 Jun13 June 19:02

      Agree re Pans, trays and ceramics you can pretty much treat them however and they still look like new.

      Need to really look after the nonstick frying pans

    • Tony1 says:

      13 Jun13 June 22:33

      Agree, the saucepans are good ( but slowly get heaver each year !) the frying pans are not so good. Got ours from Macro back in the day.

  • Lady London says:

    13 Jun13 June 18:23

    I have bits of both and would rate Staub over Le Creuset. Le Creuset’s advantage is it tends to be lighter.

    John Lewis / Peter Jones used to have some models (only some) nicely discounted once a year in their sales (I think only either summer or winter very unsure both). Harrods used to do a flat rate discount on the brand in their sales – they sold enough to have a staff member who actually worked for Le C. If you like the brands they carry wait for Harrods sale as they have offers on brands often not discounted at all elsewhere in the UK. Got an idea Bicester or somewhere like that has Le C though? My Le C is complete only buying Staub now.

    • Lady London says:

      13 Jun13 June 18:28

      PS if you just want to try if cast iron is for you Aldi does a selection about twice a year. A fraction of the price and finishing standards not like the brands I mentioned but well worth what they charge. In particular you’ll be able to see if you can work with the extra weight of cast iron. Le C much lighter and Staub and Le C both much more refined but Aldi a piece or two when it comes up lets you find out much more cheaply if cast iron is for you.

    • Lady London says:

      13 Jun13 June 18:34

      PS for frying pans I like De Buyer stainless steel. Lodge (US brand, clunky, black original only but very solid and well liked – but Le C is lighter and more refined) is now in the UK via Lakeland. Excellent value if you know where to buy in US, plain, indestructible, a bit overpriced in Lakeland compared to US but you might want to take a look. I like their skillets and the mini ones are sweet ( not sure if Lakeland has them but worth looking at in US).

      • KBuffett says:

        13 Jun13 June 18:41

        Lakeland have an AmEx offer, stackable with their own discount vouchers they send in the post.

        • Lady London says:

          13 Jun13 June 18:59

          Don’t get me started on Lakeland and Waitrose’s refusal to send vouchers electronically. It has seriously reduced my spend with both.

    • KBuffett says:

      13 Jun13 June 18:41

      Non need to wait, the Harrods sale has already started. They do good discounts in their Kitchen department, genuine discounts.

      • Lady London says:

        13 Jun13 June 19:12

        Double Grrr used to be one of my favourite haunts but I am not in London now. Harrods also can have some interesting apparatus pieces related to coffee – like decent Swiss machines or knockout boxes wide enough and with a bit of heft to withstand a thorough thwacking. Some of the more interesting things only appear in sales.

        • KBuffett says:

          13 Jun13 June 19:37

          Its a great store, and it’s the only one I know that still does genuine sales and a decent loyalty scheme

  • Anna says:

    13 Jun13 June 18:37

    I got a Le Creuset teapot and coffee pot in TK Maxx in Windsor the other week for £12.99 each. Gorgeous things in duck egg blue. I considered buying up the rest of the stock and putting it on eBay but there’s only so much my OH will carry.

    I resisted the temptation to ask the staff (in an American accent) whether the Duchess of Cambridge buys her clothes there.

    • Lady London says:

      13 Jun13 June 19:05

      🙂 the Le Creuset ceramic production switched to Thailand IIRC a very long time ago. Not sure about the lighter metal stovetop kettles – those are steel under the enamel I think so not sure where they are made. I’m currently lusting after the Staub stovetop cast iron kettles. beautiful gradations of depth jewel colours in the enamel over the cast iron – £179 or so last time I looked grrr but I am sure there is one in my future 🙂

    • meta says:

      13 Jun13 June 20:29

      @Anna hahaha. I buy all Le Creuset stuff in TK Maxx. Why pay full price when you can get it discounted, right?

      @Lady London I also rate DeBuyer very highly. I have couple of various cooking/baking items and love them. It’s also used by many professional chefs.

  • Lou says:

    13 Jun13 June 19:05

    I got myself the Aldi ones in Match, very happy with them, and they were an absolute bargain at £20 each

  • Stuart says:

    13 Jun13 June 19:37

    I was given a set of pans and some casserole dishes in 1990 and they are all still in excellent condition!

    • Gavin says:

      14 Jun14 June 07:58

      Mine are 14 years old, bought 4 pans in a deal for £160 and still going strong. One of the pans I own is now £240!

    • Polly says:

      15 Jun15 June 06:58

      Same here, we were given our Le C stuff as wedding presents in the 80s and still going strong, love them.

  • Lyn says:

    13 Jun13 June 19:37

    I agree with Lady London that Staub cast iron pans are good quality. They are made in France. The Zwilling web-site may have special offers occasionally.

    • Anuj says:

      13 Jun13 June 20:06

      Thank you everyone above for your advice, very helpful !

• r* says:

  13 Jun13 June 18:26

  How does AA business class compare to IB or BA? Are all transatlantic business seats direct aisle access/club suite style seats?

  Also if booking via BA site but its on an AA plane, does eu261 apply on the return flight US to UK?

  • Richie says:

    13 Jun13 June 18:50

    No because AA is the operating air carrier and it’s a US airline. Codeshare flight numbers are generally irrelvant.

  • ChrisC says:

    13 Jun13 June 19:22

    Not flown IB bit I prefer AA over BA.

    AA is all direct aisle access and lay flat seats. Their equivalent to the BA club kitchen is much better with sandwiches and wraps not just crisps and chocolate. Flagship lounges are better than BA club lounges.

    Food is better as well.

    TBH given the very small number of flights that qualify for EU/UK261 compensation it’s not a factor in my choice of airline going to and tap from the US.

  • Doc says:

    13 Jun13 June 21:05

    Seats better on AA compared to AA ( am excluding club suites here) particularly on the 77W but service and food and drinks are so much better on BA.

    • Doc says:

      13 Jun13 June 21:05

      Better on AA compared to BA

  • Anna says:

    13 Jun13 June 21:07

    I don’t know if you specifically want to know about cancellations, however the US Department of Transport requires an airline which has cancelled a flight (any airline, to or from the US) to refund passengers. They are also very proactive about enforcing this.

• Yorkie Aid says:

  13 Jun13 June 18:28

  Datapoint for paying Beardy with Amazon MC.
  It was reported on here yesterday by DT that you could pay Beardy using the Amazon MC. Well I just tried a small test transaction and it failed, saying “Ah that didn’t work.” The transaction isn’t even showing as attempted on the NewDay account. Don’t think I’m doing anything wrong and have not had any other transactions fail on this card. I can’t say I’m very surprised because Beardy clearly states enter a Debit Card number! Can anyone else confirm success with this route? Thanks.

  • 747_Brat says:

    13 Jun13 June 18:43

    Interesting, thanks for reporting.
    Did you attempt using bendy with Amazon MC as underlying?

  • BP says:

    13 Jun13 June 18:58

    Hasn’t worked for me either.

    • Yorkie Aid says:

      13 Jun13 June 19:33

      No worriws. I only attempted direct as reported by DT. I don’t have metal bendy so I’d be out of pocket on the deal! I might try paying Solihull dirwct with it tomorrow though. If successful I will report back.

      • Yorkie Aid says:

        13 Jun13 June 19:35

        Having trouble with ‘E’ on my phone obvs!

        • 747_Brat says:

          13 Jun13 June 19:50

          Cheers, thanks Yorkie Aid

      • Reney says:

        13 Jun13 June 20:02

        Thanks for trying. And I was so looking forward to getting my new card. I have a metal bendy but was planning to downgrade possibly before the card arrives, will try if the card arrive in time.

  • mr_jetlag says:

    13 Jun13 June 20:03

    yes I was wondering about that yesterday, have the Amazon plat mc and that has never worked for me.

    • Chrisasaurus says:

      13 Jun13 June 21:39

      There was a time you could pay solihull with it, but not been the case for a good while

      • Yorkie Aid says:

        13 Jun13 June 22:26

        Thanks for the heads up Chrisasaurus. I will just stick my Amazon MC back in the drawer then.

• GEORGE says:

  13 Jun13 June 21:47

  Has anyone had any issues with American Express Shop Small tracking? I have been to several pubs/restaurants which are on the Shop Small Map where you have to order and pay via an app. In most situations this has meant the transaction has not been classed as ‘shop small’. This is really frustrating and misleading, as the way we order and pay in COVID has changed! Anyone experienced anything similar?

  • Andrew says:

    13 Jun13 June 23:26

    See previous page – we’re all giving up on shop small – waste of time.

  • Rich says:

    13 Jun13 June 23:27

    Most pubs round here will take orders manually and let you pay via card machine if you having trouble with the app

    Clearly the huge number of transactions going through a third party app isn’t going to work for Shop Small – Amex should’ve thought of that really!

  • Chris P says:

    13 Jun13 June 23:27

    Yes, I did last week in North Wales. I rang AMEX who saw the pub on my statement and asked how I knew it was in Shop Small! I said it was on the interactive map. AMEX said they would credit the account manually in the next 5 days. We’ll see!

• TGLoyalty says:

  13 Jun13 June 22:16

  All the LBG cards are fine

• SteveJ says:

  13 Jun13 June 22:29

  Do you have any HMRC bills to pay?

  • Newbie says:

    14 Jun14 June 00:25

    Thanks – Yes, though not much as I arrange my affairs to minimise tax.

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