RE: [CH] Off topic some what, but still cooking...

T. Matthew Evans (matt.evans@ce.gatech.edu)
Tue, 7 May 2002 10:31:54 -0400 

Over a number of years in restaurant kitchens and many more in my own, I
have found that there are a few pans that I simply cannot do without.  For
what it's worth, I maintain the following collection:

1.  A relatively complete set of All Clad stainless.  These pots and pans
have 18/10 stainless on the exterior, but an aluminum core for heat
conduction (note that aluminum conducts heat even better than cast iron).
These are my everyday pans, and I use them for most everything.  They are a
little expensive, but a set can be purchased over time.  My oldest pieces
are probably 10 years old now and still look as good as the day I got them.

2.  A large cast iron skillet, a small cast iron skillet, a flat-bottomed
(rounded on the inside) cast iron wok, and a cast iron Dutch oven (all of
which, except the wok, at one point belonged to either my grandmother or my
wife's grandmother).  While the large cast iron skillet is great for a
variety of uses (breakfast, blackening, baked potatoes, etc....) the other
three have relatively specific uses -- I primarily use the small one for
toasting spices and dried chiles, the wok for stir fry's and Asian seared
fish dishes, and the Dutch oven for Cajun food -- gumbo, etoufee, beans, and
jamba.  And, I must disagree with Rael here, as some of my cast iron pans
have probably not been washed with soap in 50 years -- once you've gotten
them suitably hot to cook in (or even up to 225F or so) any nasties in them
are very, very dead.

3.  Two 10-inch skillets purchased from a restaurant supply store.  Very
heavy duty -- one is aluminum and the other is aluminum with non-stick
coating.  These hold up to abuse that I might not want to impose on my other
cookware.

4.  A hammered steel wok for other types of Asian food -- sandpots and
soups, for example -- which I probably wouldn't want to cook in the cast
iron wok.

5.  A couple of pieces with stories -- e.g., "My great-grandmother always
made me green beans and potatoes in this pot when I would go visit her, so
that's what I use now when I make green beans and potatoes".

While the above collection sounds somewhat large, there is not a single pan
that I could go without.  Note also, that with the exception of the All
Clad, every item in the list above is either free or cost less than $20.
Lastly, with the exception of the two 10-inch skillets from the restaurant
supply store, none of the above pieces will ever need to be replaced.  They
should all last essentially forever.  Anywho, that's my two cents.....

Hope all is well.

Matt

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
T. Matthew Evans
Graduate Research Assistant
Geosystems Group, School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology
URL:  www.prism.gatech.edu/~gte964w
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


-----Original Message-----
From: owner-chile-heads@globalgarden.com
[mailto:owner-chile-heads@globalgarden.com]On Behalf Of Scott Peterson
Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2002 6:30 PM
To: Chile-Heads
Subject: Re: [CH] Off topic some what, but still cooking...


At 12:19 PM 5/4/2002 -0500, you wrote:
>I have one of those smooth top, glass electric stoves which I dislike a
>great deal but Hubby, who sells appliances, insisted I had to have it when
>we moved into a new house. The result is that I can't use cast iron too
>successfully because every pan to to be completely flat on the bottom to
>make contact with the darn glass top.  I my downstairs kitchen I have a gas
>stove which is what I definitely prefer.

I use the Le Creuset iron cookware.  It's supposed to work well with
induction ranges. I use gas so I'm going by what other people have told me
and what it says on their web site.   Their cookware does have an enameled
interior that, while it's not non-stick, cleans easily.  For most cooking
tasks I'll swear by their stuff although I do keep a few copper pans and
skillets for when you need fast even heating.

The only other problem is that it's not cheap.  If you're lucky, there is
an outlet store in your area that sells overstocks and seconds.



                          		Scott Peterson

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