RFI - Cooking Pots and Pans

[El Cid]

First let me say I’m no chef. I do occasionally prepare food provided the recipe isn’t too complicated. That said, I know squat about pots and pans. Specifically what makes them gimmicky and what makes them quality. I see the infomercials for those crazy copper stuff that is no-stick and all that. But I’m naturally skeptical so I doubt I’ll ever trust a “But wait! There’s more!” commercial.

The stuff I have is old - like 20+ years, has spots where the cooking finish is damaged, the outer finish turns grey after it dries, and it’s time to get something new. I’m not looking to spend a ton of money but am willing to pay for quality.

Thanks!

[TheRoland]

Can you give examples of what things you like to cook?

I'm a fan of mostly stainless steel, with a little cast iron on the side. Nothing copper or nonstick, due to cost and temperature limits.

[Matt O]

Quality stainless steel, quality cast iron. Nothing else need apply.

[Stephanie B]

Glass pots are pisser for cooking rice. Nonstick pans that have damage to the nonstick surface are trash.

A good stainless frying pan does most of what I need. Which is eggs. If it can’t be fried, poached, nuked or spread, I’m not doing it.

Damn the iPhone Typos!

[HCM]

Glass pots are pisser for cooking rice.

Damn the iPhone Typos!

No yellow rice please.

[txdpd]

Caphalon tri ply is my go to. Mostly because I hate washing dishes and tri ply is completely dishwasher safe. My tri ply is 20 years old and still looks new.

Vollrath wearever is hard to beat for non-stick. They will fall apart in a dishwasher.

Cooking in copper and cast iron, particularly acidic foods like tomato sauce, will leach metal from the pans and help you get two vital minerals in your diet.

[NPV]

I love me some cast iron, but it does require some work in the beginning. But after proper seasoning (and sanding if it’s a lodge) you will be good to go.

Carbon steel also has my attention lately and it may be come a more used tool in the kitchen.

[peterb]

Pots & pans with a heavy and/or laminated bottom are important for minimizing hot spots and scorched food. Cheap stuff is usually thin and light. Slightly nicer stuff often has an aluminum disk added to the bottom for conduction, but if it doesn’t wrap up the sides things will scorch around the edge. The thin copper wash on the bottom of some pots does nothing for function.

Stainless steel is great for cleanup and non-reactivity but the heat conduction is terrible. That’s why aluminum or copper — both excellent thermal conductors — are laminated into/onto the bottoms.

Heavy aluminum can be ok for non-stick because the coating isolates the food from the metal. With non-stick, respect the temperature limits, don’t use metal utensils, don’t scour, and replace when worn.

[Matt O]

Carbon steel also has my attention lately and it may be come a more used tool in the kitchen.

We have a carbon steel wok that, even with seasoning and weekly use for years, will still rust with a quickness if it isn’t cleaned, dried and oiled immediately. Definitely more picky about care than any cast iron we have. Sample of one and all that though.


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[UNM1136]

Like knives, I really dislike buying sets. Look for a local restaurant supply store. Buy the individual pieces you need or want. You will save a bunch even if you get 1/2 to 1/3 of the life out of a pan by using it a lot more and even mistreating it. I don't like teflon much and have largely gotten away from it but still keep an 8 inch teflon pan around for frying eggs, and a 12 incher for fritattas and other eggy dishes. You really can't build a good pan sauce on non-stick, and when cooking eggs you dont't need more heat than about 350, so teflon vapors are not a real concern for me. My kids are abusing it regularly now, so I am happy that I paid about 10 bucks for it.

Well cared for cast iron is great, carbon steel good, stainless is OK. In cookiing school we were not allowed to wash the "egg pans" with soap. We wiped them out with a paper towel and rinsed them off. We were required to cook correct over medium eggs and were reqired and tested on flipping them and serving them without utensils. 30 students each making 2-3 dozen eggs a day.

Some tips from using and abusing pans.

It is OK to wash cast iron with soap and water. Don't let it soak, and thoroughly dry it by putting it over a low flame. When dried with the flame if it looks dry, rub it with some oil while it is hot. It should be just enough oil to coat. There should be no puddles, use the thinnest possible coat. My grand dad used his cast iron this way for decades without issues.

Cooks illustrated used thier test kitchen to determine the best seasoning for cast iron. A table spoon of flaxseed oil (find one with no addititives; the only ingredient is flax oil). Put in a 200 degree pre heated pan and use tongs gripping paper towels to spread evenly over all surfaces and use clean paper towels to wipe out all excess oil. Put the pan upside down in the oven and set to max baking temp. 425-450 works for me. Let oven come to temp and let it go for an hour, then shut it off and leave the pan to cool in the oven for two hours. Repeat five times. I do it once a day for a week. Cast iron pans seasoned this way have survived trips through the dish washer with thier seasoning intact. I use flax to season my disk-it (carbon steel) as well

If you get your pans at a resraurant supply joint you can get a couple universal lids (not common at restaurant shops, might need bed bath and beyond or a cooking shop). Really cuts down on storage space. Foil in conjunction with the lid if you need a better seal.

When deep frying use a cast iron dutch oven.

A lot of pan damage to non stick comes from storage. People go to great lengths to avoid metal utensils or scrubbers, then stack the pans in the cupboard where the stainless steel bases gouge the non stick. In cooking school we used paper towels, and cheap ones at that, but I really like calphalon's cloth pads from bed bath and beyond.

Despite health claims to the contrary non stick works best with a small amount of oil. Since my non stick is used primarily for eggs that is usually butter, butter/oil combination, or non stick spray. I use crisco, since pam was designed for baking it used to have small amounts of flour in it. I have no idea if it still does.

Anything that has the potential to stick (like rice and whatnot) gets non stick spray in the pan period. I use non stick spray in all pans and cassaroles, baking pans, really any cooking vessel, until test recipes show that it is detrimental to flavor, color, or appearance (souffles for example need to be able to grab the walls of the ramekin to climb it and rise properly.) It is cheap insurance, and does not keep things from sticking, but it does help with cleanup to some extent.

A cleaning miracle I recently came across was Mr Clean Eraser Kitchen with Dawn. My stainless pans as they get used get polymerized fats sticking to the outside (usually) creating patterns that are a bear to scrub off, so I quit trying. After all, the food gets cooked inside the pan, the polymerized fats are what seasoning on a pan actually is, and I am lazy. The kitchen Magic Eraser, while fragile, and will fall apart after a couple of uses, cleaned the pans incredibly well with surprisingly little work.

I'll post more as I think of it.

pat0