
Announcement
BEFORE COMPLETING ORDERS, PLEASE INQUIRE ABOUT FEDEX SHIPPING. ETSY ONLY PUBLICIZES U.S. POSTAL SHIPPING — DESPITE ONGOING COMPLAINTS FROM SELLERS — BUT WE PREFER TO AVOID USPS RIGHT NOW, DUE TO ABSURD DELAYS AND OTHER HORROR STORIES. FEDEX SHIPPING CAN BE ARRANGED.
Interest in classic vintage cookware is surging. With more people forced inside than in typical winters, attention turns to food, family, and fellowship. And if you've got extra time on your hands, with family at home — or neighbors from your "bubble" coming over — now's the time to learn or refine your "Low and Slow" technique, in a great piece of classic European enamelware.
Whether it be an heirloom for yourself or splurging on quality for that student who went off to college in Fall, Keepsake shoppers can find something for just about every interest-level and budget. And that's why we just finished our most successful holiday sales season ever.
As multiple satisfied reviewers attest, we cut out the hassle of searching and negotiating — not to mention losing all those auctions at the buzzer! And no more worries about having to return something due to condition problems. Any and all defects will be noted and pictured in the CONDITION section of the listing.
So, yes, you may find some of these classic pieces elsewhere on-line, perhaps even for a lower price. But it's very, very unlikely you will find them in better condition for less in a "Buy-It-Now" format.
Put simply, through experience and years of study and enjoyment in our own kitchen, we know what we're doing here.
A big part of our energy is "custom" — doing the legwork for customers looking for "just the right piece" (see ABOUT section for how to arrange appraisals or consultations) — but our main focus is also our promise: great-value treasures meant to be used every day.
Among the brands most often sold is Dru Holland, its 1.5-century-old factory grounds in The Netherlands now a shopping/residential complex and museum. We're also fond of US-made Prizer, long-gone as a company but with finishes equal in durability to any brand.
Yet, Le Creuset remains our premier line. So, we would be remiss to not point out, once more, how Le Creuset — under its own brand name, as well as Cousances — still manufactures cast-iron heirlooms for the future, mostly from recycled metal at its original factory in the north of France. Le Creuset's continuing commitment to quality maintains consumer interest in kitchenware that bucks all the modern trends.
BUY WITH CONFIDENCE: Unless otherwise noted, Keepsake Cookware offers free insurance on all domestic shipping. And look for several Free Shipping items this holiday season!
Announcement
BEFORE COMPLETING ORDERS, PLEASE INQUIRE ABOUT FEDEX SHIPPING. ETSY ONLY PUBLICIZES U.S. POSTAL SHIPPING — DESPITE ONGOING COMPLAINTS FROM SELLERS — BUT WE PREFER TO AVOID USPS RIGHT NOW, DUE TO ABSURD DELAYS AND OTHER HORROR STORIES. FEDEX SHIPPING CAN BE ARRANGED.
Interest in classic vintage cookware is surging. With more people forced inside than in typical winters, attention turns to food, family, and fellowship. And if you've got extra time on your hands, with family at home — or neighbors from your "bubble" coming over — now's the time to learn or refine your "Low and Slow" technique, in a great piece of classic European enamelware.
Whether it be an heirloom for yourself or splurging on quality for that student who went off to college in Fall, Keepsake shoppers can find something for just about every interest-level and budget. And that's why we just finished our most successful holiday sales season ever.
As multiple satisfied reviewers attest, we cut out the hassle of searching and negotiating — not to mention losing all those auctions at the buzzer! And no more worries about having to return something due to condition problems. Any and all defects will be noted and pictured in the CONDITION section of the listing.
So, yes, you may find some of these classic pieces elsewhere on-line, perhaps even for a lower price. But it's very, very unlikely you will find them in better condition for less in a "Buy-It-Now" format.
Put simply, through experience and years of study and enjoyment in our own kitchen, we know what we're doing here.
A big part of our energy is "custom" — doing the legwork for customers looking for "just the right piece" (see ABOUT section for how to arrange appraisals or consultations) — but our main focus is also our promise: great-value treasures meant to be used every day.
Among the brands most often sold is Dru Holland, its 1.5-century-old factory grounds in The Netherlands now a shopping/residential complex and museum. We're also fond of US-made Prizer, long-gone as a company but with finishes equal in durability to any brand.
Yet, Le Creuset remains our premier line. So, we would be remiss to not point out, once more, how Le Creuset — under its own brand name, as well as Cousances — still manufactures cast-iron heirlooms for the future, mostly from recycled metal at its original factory in the north of France. Le Creuset's continuing commitment to quality maintains consumer interest in kitchenware that bucks all the modern trends.
BUY WITH CONFIDENCE: Unless otherwise noted, Keepsake Cookware offers free insurance on all domestic shipping. And look for several Free Shipping items this holiday season!
Items
All Items
Reviews
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Callie on Feb 17, 2021
5 out of 5 starsGorgeous vintage matte baby blue Le Creuset 4.5 qt dutch oven. Exactly as described, packed and shipped perfectly. Excellent communication. Thank you so much!
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Lisa on Feb 8, 2021
5 out of 5 starsNice size for special occasions. Hope we get to have one of those soon in the COVID years! Great seller, very communicative. Thanks!
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Lisa on Feb 8, 2021
5 out of 5 starsGreat seller - really communicative about the shippng. And the items are even nicer in person. Thanks!
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dhipgrave on Jan 26, 2021
5 out of 5 starsBeautiful item in as new condition. Excellent communication from Paul, a knowledgeable and highly recommended seller.
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allyev on Dec 28, 2020
5 out of 5 starsThis was a Christmas gift for my girlfriend, and she loved it! Thank you!
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Kurt on Dec 17, 2020
5 out of 5 starsAn amazing (pristine) piece and an extremely well-handled, professional, and personable sale. We had a slight delay due to seasonal USPS service volume, which the seller handled quickly and kept me updated on as needed. And when the oven arrived it was well packed and safe shortly. A great experience overall and hope to buy from him again :)
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Kirsten on Dec 11, 2020
5 out of 5 starsThis is the second piece that I have purchased from Paul, and just like the first, it is phenomenal! Paul communicates with his buyers so well, from the truthful descriptions of his pieces (What you see in the pictures is what you get. He fully documents verbally and visually the condition of the item, there are no artfully hidden defects) to the shipment of the item. Buy confidently, these pieces have ALOT of life left in them.
Thank you, Paul, it’s gorgeous! -
bob1271 on Nov 24, 2020
5 out of 5 starsWonderful oven! I'm very happy to have it! Seller communicated throughout the order/shipping process, packaged item very securely, etc. - I hope to have the chance to purchase more items he offers for sale!
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Kelsey on Nov 17, 2020
5 out of 5 starsPaul was so kind when I ordered this item from him. It was so carefully packaged and arrived in immaculate condition. I highly recommend ordering cookware from him.
I purchased this Dutch oven as a Christmas gift for my mom. After her mom, my grandmother, passed, my mom inherited her Dutch oven and cooked with it to the point that it was chipping and was no longer safe to use. After exhausting all efforts to find someone locally who would re-enamel the original oven, I found this identical one from Paul. I haven't given it to her yet, but I know that it will make her Christmas so special. Thank you, Paul! -
srs368 on Nov 16, 2020
5 out of 5 starsArrived promptly, carefully packed, and as described. I'm very pleased.
About KeepsakeCookware
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Did you know there is an active re-sale market for high-quality enameled cookware? Appraisals & consultations provided.
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Keepsake's retail store, inside Deep Creek Cellars winery at Deep Creek Lake, Md.
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Le Creuset Cast Iron Terrine: perfect for delicious ground meat and vegetable creations.
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Great cookware for memorable meals — every night!
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Le Creuset's colorful line-up gives the kitchen brightness and cheer — any time of the year.
Visit Keepsake Cookware at Deep Creek Cellars in Maryland
Please visit the retail store for Keepsake Cookware, located in our winery’s gift shop at Deep Creek Lake, Md. (DeepCreekCellars.com). In addition to fine wines, entirely from local grapes, you'll find one of North America's largest selections of valuable vintage enameled cookware.
We’re just three hours from the DC or Baltimore beltways, near which most visitors to Mountain Maryland live. Six hours from Cleveland and Philadelphia. Seven from New York. Two from Pittsburgh.
Wondering whether that old orange pot your Grandmother gave you still has any life left? Or, did you misplace the lid in ’75 the morning after that crazy concert, and the bottom has been sitting unused in the cupboard since? Next time you’re vacationing near us, bring those kitchen remnants along.
Cash paid for old enameled cast-iron! Please email or call ahead, to arrange appointments at the store for consultation, appraisal, and purchase of your vintage and collectible enamelware: 301.746.4349. Also in stock: many original lids and some bottoms in popular colors. (I am also willing to travel to your location for appraisals. Appraisal by photographs, transmitted electronically, is not recommended but in some cases can work.)
We’re located just 6 minutes off I-68, which millions of Americans use to travel cross-country. So, stop by on your way through. That old pot might pay the way!
And just how did I get here? I came to heirloom and vintage enamelware 25 years ago by buying new pieces of Le Creuset (which I still do today). I cook with them daily for my family, and as frequently as possible for friends.
People often remark about the succulence and tenderness of my preparations. “How’d you do that?”
“Le Creuset” is all I can say.
Obviously, cooking is not all or even mostly about the pots and pans. But slow-cooking in porcelain-coated cast-iron seals in foods’ natural moisture, vitamins and minerals, flavor, and, well, somehow… the panache.
And while Le Creuset has become almost synonymous with great enamelware, making cast-iron vessels for cooking goes back at least four centuries, to Le Creuset’s 1553 predecessor— Cousances, absorbed in 1957 to become the famous brand we know today.
It was Belgians who perfected the hard, sand-based coatings of modern enamelware, but the world knows about Le Creuset because it took France’s amazing culinary history to spread the word. By using the same sorts of cookware that so many French mothers, grandmothers, and chefs use, it’s possible to tap into those traditions — and create your own for your family.
If you want sensual tenderness, cook slower and generally longer, lid-on, in cast-iron.
But, if you also want easy clean-up — without constant “seasoning” of uncoated iron — the hard, porcelain finish of enamelware is the way to go. It’s the original “No-Stick Cookware.”
Yet, because the underlying material is iron, rather than cheaply made aluminum with finishes that flake off over time (exposing you and your family to potentially carcinogenic materials in the chemical finish), the heat is retained better and spreads more evenly.
Good quality stainless steel also has its place — and I occasionally sell it at Keepsake — but it’s more for frying and short-duration cooking.
Now I know Americans like kitchen gadgets, but — spoiler alert — coated iron replaces a crock pot for stewing and soups, plus real heirloom-quality enamelware is far better-suited to basting and roasting and, with just a little care, will last many lifetimes.*
Also, we all know great food didn’t start in Europe. But a key step in classic regional dishes from many cultures is slow-cooking. Roasted poultry in cocoa-laced molé sauce? This great Mexican dish is even more delicious from my #30 Le Creuset braiser! Those great simmer sauces from India and Pakistan? Sorry, mine’s hard to beat, thanks to a prized #24 Le Creuset Wide Round. Jambalaya? No question — much better in my big ole 1952 Cousances Oval.
Whether you visit me personally at our winery shop, or use Etsy’s award-winning customer service portal — with free Keepsake insurance on all domestic shipping and service to many other countries — you’re never too old or inexperienced to start or expand your own collection of cookware worth keeping.
When you come to our shop, you’ll notice the chalkboard sign with a hand-scribbled note: “Make Dinner Tonight.”
Incredibly, many people ask if that’s a reminder to myself.
“No, that’s for you,” is my reply. “Don’t you need a local wine to go with it? Or how about a great vintage pot to cook it in!”
Lastly, try to buy naturally nutritional and environmentally sound organic raw ingredients. Buy from local farmers as often as you can. And, for Americans especially, before it’s too late, slow down, take time — sit around the table more with your family and friends.
Paul
Friendsville, Md.
November 2017
*A fundamental footnote about the trashy, splashy cast-iron pots jamming the Big Box shelves these days. A few years back, when I first started, someone brought in an enameled pot with a dazzling light-to-dark blue gradated finish. The shine was so catchy (and I already knew that Americans love blue cookware), that I bought it, even though it had no maker’s mark and was undoubtedly modern and Chinese. I put it on the shelf, right beside and at one-third the price of the scratched-up, shaggy-looking #24 Cousances that Napoleon himself may have used in an early campaign. Shiny Blue had almost exactly the same capacity. But when I compared it closely to the Cousances, I found: 1) the coated finish on the nearly new Chinese pot was frayed along the edges and surely would not hold up over time, and 2) the metal on the Euro pot was a good sixteenth of an inch thinner, then 3) picking up Shiny Blue by the handles was awkward, because 4) the thing was monstrous — I mean shockingly heavy! It would be like lugging a bowling ball around the kitchen. That provoked me to fetch the scale. Bonaparte’s Cousances: 10 pounds, 2 ounces. Blue: 16 pounds! Imagine the poor quality of the pig iron involved. By comparison, imagine the rigor of innovation and refinement, over decades and even centuries, that went into creating a vessel of such durability that it is also light by comparison to modern competitors! And there you have it: great enamelware, which is still made by Le Creuset, Chasseur and Staub in France today, is also far lighter and, as a result, more enjoyable. You simply can’t have it both ways: if you want something to last forever, buy cast-iron. If you want something to last forever and be immensely, durably fun to cook with, try new or vintage European enamelware.
Shop members
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Paul
Owner
Paul is a professional winemaker and writer with a love of good food and what it takes to grow and make it. To discuss your vintage cookware, call him: 301.746.4349, or email: paulr@deepcreekcellars.com. To buy on Etsy, it's free — just sign up!
Shop policies
Shipping
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Returns & exchanges
I don't accept returns, exchanges, or cancellations
I accept returns I do not accept returns
I accept exchanges I do not accept exchanges
I accept cancellations I do not accept cancellations
Because of the nature of these items, unless they arrive damaged or defective, I can't accept returns for:
Privacy policy
More information
Frequently asked questions
Why Don't You 1) Accept Cancellations, or 2) Allow Returns or Exchanges?
I am happy to answer any and all questions before purchase, or even to hold an item for sale until the customer makes a final decision. But, after an order is received, several steps remain to fulfill it. Additionally, one order may affect decisions about the shop's overall inventory and work-flow.
Therefore, please appreciate my need to accept that an order placed is final.
As a veteran on-line vintage cookware buyer, I also know about the routine risks associated with shipping. The best way to avoid complications is to avoid unnecessary shipments due to Returns or Exchanges, thereby raising the overall satisfaction level for my customers.
Again, the key is for us talk as much as necessary in advance of purchase.