Le Creuset 5-Tier Cast-Iron Cookware Stand

I have mixed feelings about this item. I had seen the stand displaying various sizes of Le Creuset at Williams Sonoma and felt I must have one especially because my Le Creuset collection, at least one piece of which we use almost every day, was taking up way too much room in my cupboard. Though pricey, I made the purchase online. Upon delivery, I excitedly opened the very heavy box only to discover two very important pieces of information NOT OFFERED IN THE DESCRIPTION: 1)the bars that appear to run along the outsides of the stand are not three long pieces, but rather, each bar is comprised of four small pieces held together by a rather ingenious but not exactly confidence inspiring method featuring pieces of threaded plastic that you have to hammer down into the small pieces of metal tubing, which, when assembled, give the illusion of being three, long, single pieces of cast iron. The tubing itself is not uniform in height, but rather of two different lengths. This means, the second shelf IS NOT TALL ENOUGH TO FIT ANYTHING LARGER THAN A VERY SMALL SAUCE POT--equivalent to 1-1.5 quarts, American. My second disappointment was in the stand's actual height. I hadn't really paid enough attention to dimensions when ordering, as I had the mental image of what I had seen at Williams Sonoma. To my great disappointment, I found a disclaimer included in the instructions informing me that most people and businesses will purchase TWO cast-iron cookware stands and put them together. I live in California--earthquakes R Us. Not only did I doubt that the plastic strips provided to anchor the unit to the wall were adequate, but if I did put two units together, it would likely be just tall enough that it would be dangerous to put cast iron cookware on it! Remember those little pieces of threaded plastic are all that is holding the piece together. NO, I would NEVER trust two put together, not in my home. (Williams Sonoma can deal with that potential problem, if it happens)! But one alone would fit in a playhouse! THIS WAS NOT WHAT I HAD IN MIND AT ALL. Besides--purchase two? At this price? I was already splurging to purchase one! While, assembled, the stand is handsome, and the shelves ARE made of cast-iron (and say LE CREUSET, if that is what is important to you), I must admit that I felt a bit idiotic that my splurge wasn't turning out quite as I'd hoped. My sons and I had a good laugh when I likened the proportions of the completed stand to the set of 'Stonehenge' built for the big American tour in THIS IS SPINAL TAP--dancing midgets not included. (Please accept apologies for this very un-PC joke). I am keeping the stand--but had I known what I know now, I must be honest and inform you that I would NOT have purchased it. LIVE AND LEARN. Staub, anyone?

I can't say enough good things about this rack.

Storage I use the bottom 4 shelves for pot storage, the top shelf for ramekins and a plant. If needed, smaller pots can be nestled inside the larger pots, I have 6 pots and a grill pan on mine. Makes it so convenient to retrieve.

Appearance black matte cast iron shelves, I have had mine for 5 years, looks like it did when it was new. This is a great way to display Le Creuset pots, the colors just pop.

It is very stable, I wasn't sure what to expect, but there have not been any problems, even made it through a California earthquake and remained upright. Although the description states the shelves are adjustable, it is very limited in that regard. The shelf depths are fixed by the length of the posts provided with the unit, what you can do is arrange so that the deep shelves are on either the top or the bottom. I recommend the deep shelves be on the bottom, as shown in the picture.

This piece is made with the quality you would expect from Le Creuset.

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I have two stands/shelves for my Le Crueset dutch ovens which are the back bone of my cookware. This stand does not hold any of my ovens over 5 quarts. The other stand holds my 9, 6 and 5 quart dutch ovens and this one holds ovens that range between 2-5 quarts. It's solid, attractive and does look great with the small-medium cookware, but will not fit the larger sizes. Because we live in an earthquake area, the sturdiness is really important -heavy dutch ovens seem very safe on these shelves!

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The support columns are some sort of black painted metal, not cast iron.

The support columns are held together by plastic components and headless bolts.

After assembling the stand, I lifted it up by holding onto the middle shelf, and what do you know, the columns lifted right off their plastic holders.

I am very disappointed in Le Creuset for selling this rickety thing. I love Le Creuset cookware and bakeware. I had no idea that they would dare to make such a shoddy structure and then sell it at a list price of over $400.

Included in the package is a plastic "wire-tie-esque" anchor for anchoring the shelf to a wall. But there's no screw for that included so you better have your own screw.

The cast iron shelves have some extra iron tips at the 90 degree corners, as if to say "This used to be a really sturdy shelf structure until we decided to cheapen it out and use sheet metal and plastic columns, but hey--we've already spent the money on the shelf molds that have these little tips for the old cast iron column support structure, so let's just keep making the shelves the same old way."

The cast iron shelves have a lip on the bottom. To prevent damage to your floor, you would want to install the bottom shelf upside down (i.e., turn the "Le Cruset" brand name to the floor).

Pay attention to the measurements. The shelves may be smaller and divider columns may be shorter than you would think.

I returned this item because in the product description, there was no mention of the plastic and non-cast-iron columns that are critical to the support structure. I wish I had read Paulina's review in more detail before I purchased this item in the first place.

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I guess if you have smaller pots, this would be fine; however, I think most of us have larger pots in our kitchen, and the shelves are not large enough, especially for ovals. we still put our french oven oval on it, but it does stick out. I guess it's good that this is designed for a corner, so it is out of the way. It's stable and relies on it being in the corner, but it is not that stable away from the corner.

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