Choosing The Proper Pots And Pans

Steve Williams

Site Founder, Site Owner, Administrator
Hi Keith

It seems that every few years my wife looks for a new set of pots and pans for cooking and baking. I would think that if they are well built they should last forever.

What do you use and how do you go about choosing the proper ones. Do you buy a se or do you mix and match

Is a flat iron skillet a necessary tool for the kitchen and if so what kind
 

LL21

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Dec 26, 2010
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To add to that, do you have any particular thoughts/experiences with: Mauviel aluminum, SKK (skillets/pans) and Le Creuset (pots). These are the 3 we use at home which my wife loves, but it is always good to hear from the pros. Thanks!
 

Phelonious Ponk

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Jun 30, 2010
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Hi Keith

It seems that every few years my wife looks for a new set of pots and pans for cooking and baking. I would think that if they are well built they should last forever.

What do you use and how do you go about choosing the proper ones. Do you buy a se or do you mix and match

Is a flat iron skillet a necessary tool for the kitchen and if so what kind

That's sort of the purpose in buying the good stuff. Of course she might say the same thing about audio equipment. :) I think you need stainless steel with heavy riveted handles, thick bottoms -- aluminum, copper or both - a few selected pieces in good quality non-stick (those will need replacing periodically) and a couple of cast iron pans.

Brands, fancy price points and additional features are mostly marketing as far as I can tell, with the excpetion of front handles on the big pots, it makes them easier to handle. I personally like glass lids, again, heavy rivets, but that's just me.

The steel and iron pieces your kids should be passing down to your grandkids. A small cast iron skillet makes an excellent weapon. We should add it to the self-defense thread.

Tim
 

Johnny Vinyl

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May 16, 2010
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I've assembled a nice set of pots and pans over the years, about 20 pieces counting lids. I suspect I'll have them for life, as the oldest ones are going on 8 years and they still look brand new. I'd have a Le Creuset, but I refuse to pay the price for it. So instead I bought a Kirkland Signature one from Costco at less than half that price and it's served me well.
 

mep

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That's sort of the purpose in buying the good stuff. Of course she might say the same thing about audio equipment. :) I think you need stainless steel with heavy riveted handles, thick bottoms -- aluminum, copper or both - a few selected pieces in good quality non-stick (those will need replacing periodically) and a couple of cast iron pans.

Brands, fancy price points and additional features are mostly marketing as far as I can tell, with the excpetion of front handles on the big pots, it makes them easier to handle. I personally like glass lids, again, heavy rivets, but that's just me.

The steel and iron pieces your kids should be passing down to your grandkids. A small cast iron skillet makes an excellent weapon. We should add it to the self-defense thread.

Tim

That's pretty funny Tim. Back in the day when women stayed home and cooked, I bet many a man deservedly received a wallop on the head/face from a cast iron skillet. I think the art of cooking is a lost art with today's crop of younger women.
 

Johnny Vinyl

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That's pretty funny Tim. Back in the day when women stayed home and cooked, I bet many a man deservedly received a wallop on the head/face from a cast iron skillet. I think the art of cooking is a lost art with today's crop of younger women.

I know you didn't mean this to come across as sexist, but man....it sure is! Same could be said for us.....back in the day we were Mr. Fix-it! Now we call a plumber or electrician......
 

mep

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Apr 20, 2010
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I know you didn't mean this to come across as sexist, but man....it sure is! Same could be said for us.....back in the day we were Mr. Fix-it! Now we call a plumber or electrician......

As a child from the 1950s, when I grew up, women stayed at home and men worked. My mom never worked until after I left home in 1972 and she and my father divorced. Most couples today both work and lots of them don't want to be bothered with cooking when they get home from work. So no, my comment was meant to be sexist, just a reflection of today's reality. Chances are that a woman today who is in her 20s may not know much about cooking and neither does her mother. Look, I cook at least 50% of the meals in my house so it's not like I expect the woman to always cook and I'm supposed to sit around drinking a beer waiting to be called to dinner. But, at least my wife knows how to cook.
 

Keith_W

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Mar 31, 2012
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Hi Steve, here are some considerations when buying pots and pans. FYI I don't buy sets of pans in the same way we don't buy a hifi "set" because it is better to mix and match :)

Size. This is by far the most important. Do not choose a pan which is much larger than your largest available burner. All the heat will be concentrated in the middle anyway, which means that any food pushed to the side will be undercooked. Since you are not going to use the sides of the pan (if you buy a large pan), you are better off buying an appropriately sized pan in the first place.

Material. Choice of material depends on the type of heat transfer you want:

- Copper: These have the highest thermal conductivity. Copper pans heat up and cool down like F1 cars. Because of the conductivity, heat distribution is excellent. The downside: they tarnish, they are expensive, and they taint some foods. Copper pans are usually either tinned or clad with stainless steel. Do not buy tinned copper pans, because the tin surface wears off easily with abuse and require retinning. Also beware of cheap copper pans - most likely the pan is stainless steel with anodized copper on it for cosmetics. If a magnet sticks to it, it ain't copper.

- Aluminum: Next best choice behind copper for speed. The downside is that the metal is soft, so it is often clad with stainless steel for durability. Bare aluminum taints food and is linked to Alzheimer's, so if you buy an anodized Aluminum pan make sure you don't scratch it. Like copper, aluminum is not ferromagnetic so is unsuitable for use on induction hobs.

- Stainless steel: Relatively poor thermal conductivity means that these types of pans readily develop hot and cold spots if not used on an appropriately sized hob. However, these are inexpensive, durable, non-reactive, resistant to scratches, and tolerate all sorts of abuse. If you buy a well constructed pan, these pans will likely last you a lifetime.

- Carbon steel: Poor thermal conductivity and the tendency of makers to produce thin pans means these types of pan readily develop hot and cold spots which is desirable for some types of cooking (woks, paella pans). These pans also rust. These pans are inexpensive but not suitable as an every day pan.

- Cast iron: very poor thermal conductivity. These pans take forever to heat up. However, excellent heat retention means that they heat up evenly and provide a very hot surface - ideal for searing (but also more likely to scorch your food). Enamelled cast iron like Le Creuset is less likely to scorch. The downsides: these pans are heavy, prone to rust if not seasoned properly, and react with acidic foods.

- Cladded pans: usually made with with stainless steel with an aluminum or copper core. You guessed it - the idea is to improve thermal conductivity and heat diffusion whilst lowering cost and improving durability. The difference between cladded pans depends on the thickness of the core and whether it extends up the side of the pan - both of these features add to the cost.

Surface treatment:

- tin: does not tolerate high heat, abuse, and eventually wears off. Needs retinning. Unless you live in a large city, chances are you will have to ship your pan to be retinned.

- stainless steel: durable, nonreactive, and scratch resistant - all good qualities which it needs because food has a tendency to stick to the pan requiring scrubbing to get out.

- enamel: durable, nonreactive, less likely to cause your food to stick than stainless steel. If it is a frypan, I prefer un-enamelled (i.e. naked) cast iron. Pots and braising pans made in cast iron need to be enamelled because naked iron reacts with acid and has a tendency to form Fe2+ ions.

- naked cast iron or carbon steel: these need to be seasoned. The process of seasoning bakes a layer of grease on the surface which prevents rust and contributes to non-stick properties. A well-seasoned cast iron pan is even more non-stick than a teflon pan and much more durable. Even if you scrub the seasoning off you can simply re-apply it, which is more than can be said about teflon.

- teflon: about the only benefit of teflon is that it is non-stick. Other than this, it does not brown as well as stainless steel, and the coating is fragile. It does not like high heat, metal utensils, thermal shocks, or scrubbing. There are also health concerns about PTFE particles in food. All teflon pans, no matter how expensive, eventually lose their coating and need to be replaced. The main difference between teflon pans is in their construction - better pans have a cladded core.

Other considerations:

- Oven proof? Pans which have plastic or rubber parts may not be suitable for the oven unless explicitly stated.

- Do you need a lid? Lids can be quite useful, even on frypans. If your pan does not come with a lid, at least make sure it is made in a standard size or shape so that you can buy a third party lid if you need to.

- Shape: some pans have curved edges, some are more curved, and some edges are more vertical than others. This is important if you toss your food. Less curved edges are better if you haven't mastered the art of food tossing and need to push and flip food with your spatula.

- Ridges or griddles: these produce "grill marks" if you don't happen to have a grille. I am completely against this - grill marks are for cosmetic purposes only. They do nothing for flavour, and are in fact bad for flavour since you are effectively producing lines of well Maillardized meat with huge islands of inadequate flavour development in between. Some say that it makes for healthier cooking because it helps oil drain away. If you are concerned about oil, don't add so much in the first place. If you must have grill marks, then do it the proper, honest way - on a grille.

Well that's all I can think of at the moment. Let me know if I missed anything :)
 

Mosin

[Industry Expert]
Mar 11, 2012
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Hi guys,

Worthy of mention are steel pans. After they have been seasoned, they are virtually non-stick, and they hold heat like cast iron. The good part is that they heat up quicker, but cook evenly. We have several De Buyer brand ones, which is a French company that has been in operation for 160 years. They must be doing something right!

I think the pans will last as long as the company has been around, too. Unlike the carbon steel pans that Keith described above, these are very heavy, and avoid the pitfalls of the cheap ones.

A note: If you buy any of these, get silicone handle covers that fit them. Otherwise, the steel handles can get pretty hot.


http://www.debuyer.com/#

Also, there are some commercial pans made by Vollrath that have a new non-stick surface that is both dishwasher safe, and capable of being used with very high heat. They are far better than your usual Teflon fare because they utilize ceramics technology. Best of all, they aren't very expensive. We have some of those, too.


http://www.foodservicewarehouse.com/vollrath/z4010/p363370.aspx
 
Last edited:

beaur

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Steve,

Not a professional but I cook just about every day. Advice from me is biased by the fact that I use an induction cooktop so aluminum and copper are not an option for me. It hurt to give up my Magnelite and copper pans but apartment circumstance dictated the switch.

Cast Iron: I have had the same Lodge dutch oven and skillet for over 20 years. Despite a cleaning lady scrubbing it out with soap a few years ago it still cooks like new. Enameled cast iron from Le Crueset has proved almost as durable.

Stainless: Sur la Table makes very durable SS cookware. It's relatively cheap and I have had mine for a decade. There are lots of good brands out there and as Keith said don't buy a set, just get what you need. Also doesn't Williams-Sonoma have a lifetime guarantee on what they sell?

Flashback advice from mom: Never and I mean never use soap on a cast iron pot. Also don't use/bang metal utensils on any enameled pot or any aluminum pot you want to seal. Not really a good idea to use metal utensils on any pots, they will last longer.

Hi Keith

It seems that every few years my wife looks for a new set of pots and pans for cooking and baking. I would think that if they are well built they should last forever.

What do you use and how do you go about choosing the proper ones. Do you buy a se or do you mix and match

Is a flat iron skillet a necessary tool for the kitchen and if so what kind
 

Mosin

[Industry Expert]
Mar 11, 2012
895
13
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I found out why my flat skillets are bending and stuff.....not because they are inexpensive, but because i tend to have two settings for the stove, full blast, and off. the high heat warps stuff. So the lady at the Boston store told me when i talked about the warping problem. I of course would agree that a cast iron skillet wont warp.

No doubt about it. That is what we use mostly. We have an antique one that was handed down. It is my favorite, and it has been seasoned so long that it is worth its weight in gold. Also, the inside is nicely machined, which is getting hard to find in the new pans.
 

RBFC

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Apr 20, 2010
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We have a very nice Viking induction cooktop, so our choice of pot/pan materials is much more limited than above. Are there any particular brands and individual pieces that you would recommend? We have some great Viking pans and a few from pampered chef, but would like to learn more.

Thanks,

Lee
 

Keith_W

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Mar 31, 2012
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With an induction cooktop you don't have to worry too much about the conductivity of your pan (provided it is appropriately sized), because the whole pan will heat up evenly. You don't even need to consider cladded pans (with copper or aluminum cores). All you need is a well constructed stainless steel or cast iron pan. I like de Buyer or Silampos but really that's because they are beautifully built and they look nice. But really you do not need to spend that much - on induction a cheap pan will cook as well as an expensive pan.
 

Groucho

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Choosing The Proper Pots And Pans

I thought this was going to be a thread about mixing desks. (I really did!)
 

Ronm1

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I have a mixed selection of pans from vendors already mentioned. La Creuset, AllClad, Cuisinart, DeBuyer, etc. I like certain pans for certain dishes or styles.
 

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