Thanks to such an enlightening discussion on knifes earlier, I thought I would ask about pots and pans.
Is non stick healthy? What sort of chemicals are there that make food not stick to a hot surface - is it safe? Is traditional pans preferable?
I'm pretty sure having a metal handle is preferable, for putting in the oven if need be. Any other considerations/recommendations on getting pots and pans - I know they'll last a long time, so I want to make a well considered decision.
All-Clad. 'Nuff said.
Cast iron. Heavy, but it lasts forever. Prevents anemia. And you can put it in the oven, if you don't buy anything with wooden or plastic handles.
I mostly cook with two cast iron frying pans, one cast iron Dutch oven, one medium-size pot (old Revereware, stainless with copper bottom), and two large stainless steel pots for soups and the like.
cast iron, enamelled cast iron, and copper clad stainless steel.
that is all i use.
non stick should be made illegal, it is just pure evil.
keep far far away from it. it comes with all sorts of fancy names now....don't be fooled, it is all basically the same dangerous rubbish.
just like with knives, i don't believe in buying sets of pots and pans.
identify what sizes and types of pots and pans your cooking style requires and take it from there.
lodge make terrific pre-seasoned cast iron stuff....we love our lodge frypan here.
i looked for the perfect omelette pan for years and eventually tracked one down in the uk....le creuset, in a model not available here or in the us.
a friend in spain bought it and arranged shipping for me.
a bit more expensive but very worth it. and i got precisely what i wanted.
i have:
a 1 litre, 2 litre, 3 litre and 5.5 litre copper pot set.
also a steamer that fits on the largest three pots.
a 5.5 and a 6.5 litre cast iron casserole.
a copper frypan, a cast iron frypan, a small cast iron frypan for omelettes
a huge oval copper two handled roasting dish and a huge round copper paella pan with a lid.....these are so handy for parties.
a big steel wok.
that is all, and i cook and entertain a lot.
from time to time i think i want another of the smallest pots....sometimes i have two sauces happening at once... but i always manage without it.
go for solid metal handles and look for proper rivets, not those cheap rivets.
look at the design and imagine cleaning the item for years and years....are there any bits that are going to be hard to clean?
if i was starting from scratch, i would buy myself the same stuff again, but i would cough up for mauviel pots.
expensive, but great design, and will last your entire life.
I knew I could trust in the knowledge and experience on this forum - as always bandicoot, you're a FONT of wisdom! I'm taking notes for when I go out, so I can price, and compare etc.
Size is a hard one to guage - going from cooking for 5 or so, to 1 - 6 (but mostly one).
Why do you have some things cast iron, others copper? I do like the anemia help!
I have a few pieces of Infinite Calphalon. They clean pretty easily. However, they're very heavy. I love the metal handles that can go in the oven. But be VERY careful taking pots out of the oven. I managed a 2d degree burn on my wrist from a pot handle about 5 months ago. It's healed up pretty well (with aloe plant and silvadene), but will always leave a mark.
why some copper and some cast iron?
good question.
for say, steaming vegetables, cooking pasta, or making quick sauces, or confectionery, i want to be able to heat the pot quickly and have it cool quickly as well.
this is a job for copper-clad stainless steel.
i also prefer to cook fruit in stainless steel.
for long slow braises and soups, for sauces that need a long cooking time....cast iron, or enammeled cast iron is the best.
also, it rocks for baking no-knead bread.
cast iron has bulk to it, it takes a while to heat up, but you get this terrific all-enveloping steady heat.
and for fast quick stir fry type cooking, you need a really well-heated wok.
i love talking about kitchen gear....when you have the right equipment for you, cooking is such a pleasure.
Ooooh, goody! I love this topic!
It looks as if my pots has been discontinued AGAIN, but I'm going to run up to the local Sears store and see if they still have one there: the Kenmore Elite tri-ply stainless received a Best Buy rating from Cooks Illustrated, and as I bought them the last time they took them off the shelves, it was $100 for the set (1.5 and 2.5 quart saucepans, 3 quart saute pan and 6 quart stockpot, plus lids). I supplemented it with 3 and 4 quart tri-ply pots from Tramontina (also a CI Best Buy), a 10" stainless omelette pan, plus a 12" cast iron skillet and a 6-quart enameled cast iron Dutch oven, both by Lodge.
As much as I adore the responsiveness and look of copper, my next place is going to have an induction cooktop, so -- *whimper*
And a quick add-on to bandicoot's plug for no-knead bread: if you are purchasing cast iron for that purpose, make sure that the lid knob is either rated for high temps or metallic. I do know people who put their pots in at 550 and found the plastic had deformed from the heat (most phenolic knobs are only rated to 400). Lodge has wised up to this and is now offering their Dutch ovens with metal lid knobs; they've got 6-quart ones at the grocer's up the street from me for $40, and I have the feeling it's going to be the centerpiece of DS's Christmas (if I go to Sears and the set's gone: my mom and I committed to sharing the cost of one for DS).
I have my mother's Revereware - copper clad steel. It is at least 55 years old ans still going strong, i have added only one piece, a large soup/stock pot. I also have a cast iron Dutch oven - with an oven friendly glass cover, and 2 cast iron skillets. One is small, like for one egg!, but is surprisingly handy.
Of non-stick I have:
- a large frying pan
- a crêpe suzette pan
- an egg pan
- a small sauce pot
- a middle-sized pot (3 liter?) and a larger one (5 or 7 liters I think)
- a wok
- a grill pan
and I'm sick of them. Once the surface starts peeling off - and we don't use any metal but just wooden or silicone tools when stirring etc. plus handle/wash with care - it's already beginning to damage. Hate it, waste of money and an unbelievable health hazard!
Luckily, due to a slight hoarding gene, I also have of stainless steel:
- a 3 liter pot with an extra part to put on top for water-bath cooking (would love the steaming part as well!)
- a small sauce pot of the same size as the non-stick one
- two larger pots, one the same size as the non-stick one and a really large one
- a smaller frying pan, which sort of covers the crêpe size
Can you guess what will happen once the non-stick pots die? Nothing! I'm already covered *rolls her eyes* The only thing I'd like to add then is:
- a larger frying pan of stainless steel, preferably with a bit higher sides
- a small pan for one-egg cooking (have used the non-stick pan a lot for lunches and the occasional lighter evening meal during summer time or such)
Oh and snosie, if you have access to the free app "How to cook everything" or something like that from App Store, I can tell you that the writer's way of presenting stainless steel frying pans made me realize the only reason for me buying/asking for non-stick was I don't have enough technique knowledge in the kitchen yet, but that everything is in the temperature.
I therefore have to get to know my stove better and will also read up a bit on food physiology in general; haven't bought this yet but would like to have it:
http://www.amazon.co.uk/McGee-Food-Cooking-Encyclopedia-Kitchen/dp/0340831499/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322853947&sr=8-1
I think the non-stick surfaces being made now are much less toxic and more durable than those made in the 1970s. That being said, the top-quality makers are the ones to go with, not the K-mart brand. I am planning to get a non-stick frying pan pretty soon for the sole purpose of making scrambled eggs and/or omelets. If it's good enough for Alton Brown, it's good enough for me, and I do love eggs.
My most-used pans are:
big copper thing 1, quite deep and medium-wide (between a saucier and a risotto);
big copper thing 2, shallower and very wide (between a risotto and a paella).
I also use:
a copper-clad stainless heavyweight frying pan for cooking chicken, or pork tenderloin, or anything that's not requiring as much space as the bigger coppers provide;
a smaller less heavy stainless frying pan; and
a smallest Lodge cast-iron frying pan specifically for fried eggs.
Also:
big stainless stockpot with steamer and pasta inserts;
less-big heavier-weight stainless dutch oven type device that unfortunately is not oven-safe but gets used frequently on the cooktop.
Seldom used are:
a stainless saucepan, 1 quart
a stainless saucepan, 2 quarts
stainless saucepan, 2.5 quarts.
A superfluous saucepan there, it seems. If I didn't have such capacious cabinets, I might be inclined to pitch it. Used saucepans a lot before I learned to cook. :-) Now they are mostly for reheating leftovers.
and
Nonstick Calphalon "grill pan" which I used to use a lot, not so much anymore, may be on its way out.
Finally: Presto electric skillet for when I need to turn out a lot of fried eggs at the same time, or for the legendarily rare occasion of French toast or pancakes.
I have a very nice expensive set of nonstick my partner bought for me, and love the set. As long as you care for it properly you're fine; chcha1 is bang on. Of course if you buy the $40 set it starts flaking and that's alarming.
The one full set does me pretty well; I wish I had a deeper skillet, though - the skillets are a tad small for browning ground meat in; I used to have a lovely large pot that was half the height of a regular pot with straight sides and it was the best for making spaghetti, taco meat or chili in.
I have a small griddle, and an incredible 3 pot slow cooker I use more than anything. I wish I had a square Presto electric skillet like I had as a girl - makes the best french toast, hashbrowns and swiss steak!!
I got my hands on a real waffle iron a few years ago - an old one like my grandmother had that makes huge enormous waffles and isn't stupid plastic that won't get hot enough to bake a waffle crisp!
it is worth haunting etsy and ebay for vintage pieces too.
from time to time you can find beautifully made old items for a good price, that have decades of wear still in them.
I invested in(succumbed to high pressure sales pitch when I could least afford it)a set of SaladMaster cookware in 1978 and have been extremely happy with it over these past 33 years. I also use a very cheap non-stick frying pan and intend to purchase a much better one soon without the non-stick.
We camped over the last holiday and attempted to bake in a dutch oven. Luckily,no forest fires began that day, but the dessert was just charcoal...
Dearest bandicoot, I don't know if I should thank you or curse you for mentioning Mauviel. I have been looking for stainless steel pots to replace some of my non-stick cookware, but I hadn't found anything... until today, when I checked out the Mauviel cookware in a store in Stockholm. Absolutely lovely stuff. Lovely but expensive, hence the "curse" option. I prefer the ones without copper, though. An interesting thing that I didn't know is that Mauviel apparently comes from a small French town called Villedieu-les-Poêles - a place I've driven through countless times when I lived in Normandie.
I have used non-stick cookware ever since I moved away from my parents' some 30 years ago, but no matter how careful I am, they don't last forever and need to be replaced now and then. I have glanced at cast-iron but never found anything I really liked until last year, when I finally decided to buy an enameled cast iron skillet from Le Creuset. I now have two skillets (20 and 23 cm) and one dutch oven (20 cm). I use them all the time and love them. I am planning to get rid of the remaining non-stick pots as soon as I've found suitable replacements in stainless steel (saucepan, mid-sized pot) - and I think Mauviel will be my choice. I really like stuff that can be used a long time, I actually don't want to buy new pots ever again.
I have also have a large non-stick frying pan/shallow pot (don't know the exact name for this), a large stainless steel pot and a large old cast-iron dutch oven from Kockums. I don't know if they will be allowed to stay or not. The large stainless pot is useful a couple of times per year, the other two don't get used at all nowadays.
Well, there went my ideas of copper cookware down the drain. Or? I understand copper does not usually work with induction stoves, which is what I would like to have later. We do not have gas commonly here and while ceramic stoves are quick, the induction ones are supposedly easier on the electricity bill.
Candy: Le Creuset also do some amazingly good stainless steel saucepans (also expensive, alas). We bought a set of 3 about 10 years ago and they're still fine after some dreadful abuse over the years (I tend to forget stuff on the stove!).
Our pots and pans:
Set of 3 afore-mentioned saucepans, plus a crummy extra large one for when we need to cook for more people. And a massive stainless steel jam pan also used for stock.
Le Creuset casserole dish, large
Cheapy wok, the best kind
Le Creuset cast iron griddle pan
2 nonstick frying pans, used for eggs, eggy bread, quick dishes for which I'm too impatient to wait for heavier pans to heat up.
One medium and one large good quality, extremely heavy nonstick pans for everything else. I believe one is Le Creuset and the other is Alessi.
Not a pan but used instead of one: my bamboo steamer for cooking extra veg with pasta, rice etc. I have a fussy family so I seem to need to cook all veg individually.
candy, truly, if you just need one or two, it is totally worth the extra $$$ for mauviel.
they will last for ever, and they will be wonderful to use.
how cool that you know the town where they are made!
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