Bought new range, but what is safe cookware?
stinky-gardener
13 years ago
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DLM2000-GW
13 years agoRelated Discussions
cookware for a pro-style range?
Comments (16)My advice is to figure out which size pans you use the most and buy the best quality you can swing for those few pans and keep and re-use what you have in the other sizes and kinds. Put your money in sauce and saute pans/skillets where you use higher heat and fats rather than tall stockpots where you're either simmering something or just boiling water for pasta. I know I use the same 3 or 4 pans every day, and then the rest of them might get between one use per week to one per month. I had an OK-to-pretty-good stainless European cookware set before I got my higher-BTU range. It was quickly clear that I didn't need to replace the Volrath stainless stockpots as the ones I had worked just fine> But sauce and saute pans were a different story. I bought a couple of W-S on-special All-Clads (this was 20 years ago) and quickly found that they made a big difference in my (amateur cook's) control of the higher fire-power. Since then I've added some more AC (usually at sales or the good deals at W-S outlets). Truthfully, I don't actually use all of them equally. I find my 2 1/2 qt windsor pan, a 1 1/2 qt sauce/saute pan, 4 qt sauce pan and the big, 6 or 8 qt saute pan are all I really need. I think they have made a change in their handle design or finishing standards. I find the older handles to be better fitting (and smoother) than the newer ones, so I'm glad I'm not in the market for more. Aside from the AC, I use a range of 2 or 3 ancient cast iron skillets/chicken fryers and a dutch oven (inherited). I fequently use my beloved Pyrex glass double boiler (I can't the hang of the D-B insert that came with one of my AC sauce pans - I really need to see the water.) And I have a group of big to really, really large (I am a home canner) stainless Volrath stock pots (purchased at restaurant supply house). I have a few 50+ year old Revere Ware sauce pans that I grew up with that I occasionally fish out for old times sake. (But you have to watch'em like a hawk if you've got your cook-brain programmed in AC mode.) Cookware is something that's so tempting to me - and I find it hard to resist buying other pieces in the line as new ones are added. But I try do so since when I have bought extra pieces, they usually don't get as much use as I thought and then I kick myself for spending so much $$. And you definitely should avoid buying a full set of any one line. However, for my every day, core, AC pans, the $100-$300 -apiece! - they cost doesn't seem exhorbitant (in retrospect, I remember being pretty shocked at the time) because they are reliable, well-performing tools that rarely go a day without seeing some action. Aside from some evidence of use (a stirring patina and scratches on the bottom from burner grates) they look and perform as good as new. I can see no reason they won't give me another 30 years of service and then I'll leave 'em to somebody in my Will. I don't own anything with a non-stick coating. I don't think the coatings are healthy (no matter what the manu. says) and, anyway, I've never seen the point since I do just fine with my plain stainless and cast iron pots, without any evidence of sticking problems. I don't have a DW, so I would definitely know if I had the stickies. If a pan has a crust on the bottom when I plate, I dump some hot water in the pot and let it soak while I eat, then a nylon, or worst-case, a stainless scrubbie takes care of it when I wash up. And believe me, I am certainly not an expert cook who never scortches or burns things. ('Course when you've got a couple of hundred bucks invested in the pan, no way are you not going to take the trouble to clean it up!) Unless you exclusively use well-seasoned cast iron skillets (and will continue to do so), I think the first better-quality pot I'd suggest purchasing is a saute pan, or french skillet. That way you can try out the new cookware line with a pan that's intended to be used with high heat and a bit of fat. That's where I see the biggest difference in cooking technique and success among the different pans. The next would be a larger sauce pan where you'd be sweating some veg. or actually working with a sauce. You won't see to much of a difference with a "sauce" pan that's primarily used for boiling or reheating liquids or steaming veg. It's mostly where you're actively using heat in the transformational alchemy of cooking, not simply boiling fluids, where you'll see the biggest difference with your new range and better quality pots. L...See Morenon-stick,dishwasher safe,stainless steel cookware
Comments (7)We bought ScanPan about 10 years ago & it's now all pitted in most pots. I don't like seeing or worrying about what's now exposed, so we've replaced them. I used wooden spoons & silicone scrapers, so it's not abuse, although ScanPan advertised that metal utensils can be used. The fry pans have lost their nonstick property. Since we now have induction & gas burners, we want cookware that works on both. All-Clad works great, but I don't like the handle on pots & skillets. Recently we purchased several stainless Classic-clad pots & saute pans by Henckels, & like them a lot, plus they're a lot less expensive than All-Clad....See MoreBought Frigidaire range... now what cookware?
Comments (3)Herring-maven, thanks for the specific brands. I've never heard of Kuhn, but will check those out. I'll see what Chantal I can find (at TJMaxx, etc.!) Thanks! Warmfridge, I think you have a good point, lol! A lot of the manual's warnings most likely are CTB! Will check out Tramontina. I think the expensive enameled pans like yours (LeCreuset) are probably fine to use. The enamel is really baked on isn't it? Was drooling over the ones I saw at William Sonoma. Such pretty colors! Think they'd *probably* be fine, but the red, orange, blue Paula Deen cookware, & others like it maybe not so fine? Anyhoo, I think your're right on...as long as I don't use something outrageously scratchy or crazy, it will probably be okay. Thanks!...See MoreA Question About Buying Non-Stick Cookware: Is any of it safe????
Comments (34)Pecan: Thanks for the update. I'm disappointed as well. I thought we could have lunch at Sample House, which is close-ish to the Moss Farm fields, if that's where you might have had your tournament. It's a sweet little shop that sells gift items and kitchen things, Crocs, baby gifts, candles, gift wrap, cute pet stuff and lots of other unusual things. It's a fun place to wander around. They have a little restaurant called the Soup Shop in the store that's open from 11-2 every day (except Sundays). Lake Highlands High School seems like another soccer tournament location, but I know that there are fields everywhere (I've been to most of them). Keep me posted if your plans change. Thank you. Fly: Someone told me that Hormel is making nitrate-free lunch meat. This friend also told me that Monsanto "invented" sodium nitrate, which is a preservative, and that Monsanto knows this substance causes cancer, but Monsanto makes so much money off of sodium nitrate that it does everything possible to make certain that it stays on the market. How sad....See MoreBumblebeez SC Zone 7
13 years agostinky-gardener
13 years agolkplatow
13 years agotinam61
13 years agoUser
13 years agoBumblebeez SC Zone 7
13 years agoDLM2000-GW
13 years agostinky-gardener
13 years ago
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