Yes - to those who asked if I meant to say "broiler" rather than grill, for finishing salmon fillet cooked in a Le Creuset grill pan but seared on the cooktop first. I have never worried about the temperature restriction for this pan, since our oven is a convection oven and I believe the broiler get to about 450 and that's all. I also don't put it on the top shelf, but use the 2nd one. Naturally, we like it cooked well, as all salmon should be. So for a 6-8 oz fillet - depending on thickness - I pre-heat the grill pan on the cooktop (set at 5, which gets it really hot) for 4 minutes; spray with Pam; put in the fillets and sear 1.5-2 min per side (so it is only turned over once), then put in oven under preheated broiler for another 3-4 minutes. When done, I put on pre-heated plates in the bottom oven (set at 200 and used as a warming drawer) to rest until everything else is ready to eat. PS: prior to searing, I always skin the fillets.

I ordered on the 29th and received a shipping estimate almost immediately. They charged my cc on Monday so I was getting antsy. They have shipped my order, and I should get it tomorrow. I was wanting to buy some Staub, but we're going to start building this Spring besides I already have two big enameled dutch ovens. I did get two long hot pads which are badly needed, a boning knife, a set of stainless mixing bowls (I bake a lot and my other set are my favorite mixing bowls), and a set of cheese spreaders. I know cheese spreaders but every year when the holidays roll around, and I see them out I think I want those. Then the holidays pass and I forget again.

Oh yes, the towel animals were one of the best parts of our cruise too! Our cabin steward, Alf, left one every night after turning down our bed and tidying up. I put them on our window sill where I had a zoo going and Alf would leave them there until there were too many to fit and then he'd take them away. I was very disappointed that Alf didn't leave a towel animal on the last night of our cruise. About an hour later, hubby pointed at one of the upper cabinets and said, "Look!" I couldn't believe that it took so long for one of us to notice it!

@Sherry8aNorthAL, I found that Tramontina is all around a great brand. I don't think you can make a mistake buying any of their products. You miss out on some of the attention to detail that I see in my Staub pots. And yes, I do like these little improvements. But whether the improvements are worth 2.5 times the price is a very valid question. On the other hand, as others have said, these are pots that you'll use for decades to come. So, if you do decide to splurge, the cost does amortize over time. The heavy weight is an issue with any cast iron product. That's why, unlike for Dutch ovens, I prefer carbon steel skillets over cast iron. They handle very comparably, but they are noticeably lighter. Lodge makes a great and inexpensive model, and according to ATK, Matfer Bourgeat makes the nicest one, but I haven't tried that myself. Both cast iron and rolled steel, despite all their advantages, suffer from poor heat conductivity. So they work better on stoves that distribute heat evenly. We love to cook with them on our Bluestar range. The star-shaped burners are perfect for this application. We liked them a lot less, when we had to temporarily use the Viking in our in-law unit during our remodel. Hot spots were very obvious and annoying. Capped circular gas burners are a much poorer fit for this type of cookware. Of course, once transferred to a hot oven, all of that is moot.