GFY Cooks: Pots and pans?
 

Odd question I know. I still have my pots and pans from when I first moved out on my own, they were hand me downs, so needless to say I need new ones but haven't the slightest idea what is good and what isn't. I was thinking one of those $60-100 sets with a couple sauce pans, a big pot, and a frying pan would work nice but there's so many different brands, styles, and makes.

What would you suggest? I'm not overly concerned about price but this isn't a culinary institute, so just something good that will last a long time and maybe stay under $125.

On the frying pan part you have to get cast iron if you really want to cook like a pimp. I don't know any difference between pots and pans, lol.

On the frying pan part you have to get cast iron if you really want to cook like a pimp. I don't know any difference between pots and pans, lol.

Go to wallmart and buy your basic $100 set check for thick bottoms on the pans and you're set .

THEN get a nice cast iron frying pan and keep it oiled after every wash to keep the rust out / flavour in .

Burning your cast iron pans is good too , but the average house oven doesn't get hot enough.

I use All-Clad, definitely the best. More expensive but well worth it. Look for sales.

go to macys and you can get a decent set spend a little more you go super cheap you will be replacing in a yr

So for frying get a nice cast iron and pots get elsewhere? It sounds like I should ditch the "set" idea and buy them individually.

I still have the pots and pans I bought my first ex-wife . . , Amway waterless coookware . . . cost me several hundred 30 years ago, but lasted forever

Actually the thick bottom provides uneven heat.

All-Clad is stainless steel with an aluminum core that retains heat and evenly distributes it along the bottom and up the sidewalls of the cookware.

Less expensive cookware is usually anodized inside and out, anodized surfaces react and can alter the taste of some foods.

You can also store leftovers in All-Clad pots as the food will not react with its surface, anything tomato based especially.

As poor a lay as my ex-wife was she was a great cook. This is good commercial shit. Get cheap plain white resturant dishes, plain silverware and look like a resturant.

Basically yeah
As long as the pots ya get look nice and have a nice thick bottom so you're not burning everything , they don't warp etc.

Get a nice cast iron pan for fryin , and maybe a nice teflon for eggs and shit ( Not if you have any birds though :warning) and you're golden.

Dont buy a big set. Go to cooking.com and check the sale section, buy the set of two Calphalon commercial nonstick skillets for everyday use. Buy a good cast iron frying pan to sear meat, chicken and fish and season it properly. You can buy inexpensive stock and sauce pans. You can find good deals on amazon or ebay sometimes. Good luck :)

You should never use soap to wash your cast iron frying pans! Boiling water and a good scrub only!

Read the above quote again, perfect advise ... soap ruins the "seasoning" of the pan.

t faul?

t foul

somethin like that.. those work

If you have or are thinking of getting a parrot, don't get teflon.

Good post ..... thank you .....

for frying pan, a cast iron 12 inch

for other pots and pans get stainless tseel with thick copper bottom plates

This person is correct. Spend the 8 or 9 bills for a set and you have the pot and pan sitch taken care of for the rest of your life.

Either buy the right tools or get a George Foreman and leave cooking to the cooks and stick to heating things up.

Tefal...if you are the average cook. One of their smaller sets plus a dutch oven type thing will do most people.

I unfortunatally dont have a gas oven, and have a shitty roomate so I picked up a cast iron skillet and these pans http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/prod...=106829&RN=399

work like a champ when I need them and the roomate doesnt use them because they need to be washed by hand. Would have picked up the stainless if it wasnt for the roomate part of things

I grew up in Amish land so people buying cast iron stuff from brand name shops is odd to me. We would just go to the Amish/Mennonite shop and buy one for a few bucks. In fact, I have cast iron skillet that I bought from the Amish shop 10 years ago that I brought to the UK with me (I am the reason for weight limits on baggage). It is the best pan I own but you have to look after it well.

kitchen aid.. all the way.
www.cooks.com

get all clad stuff, thats what i use

best stuff you can get

as for dutch ovens and cast iron get this brand

thats all you need

Blue Danube

I don't know if they are even still around, but I got a HealthyBake pot and pan set from the county fair fown here a few years ago, and they are awesome.

I don't know if they are even still around, but I got a HealthyBake pot and pan set from the county fair down here a few years ago, and they are awesome.

Sarah, In my neighborhood the Amish would pay $50 bucks a sq. ft. in the local mall like everyone else. The minute they hung a sign above their entrance they would be a brand name also. :Oh crap

Yeah cookware can cost a bundle. $1000 easy for top of line stuff. And thats just pots and pans!

Blah, stainless steel...
If you want to buy pots and pans that will last you forever AND you can put in the dishwasher, go with Le Creuset. Emile Henry would be my second choice.

Enameled cast iron is THE best thing to cook with, and if someone pisses you off, smacking them over the head with a piece will teach them to shut up about your cooking real quick ;)

Sur La Table has a good selection and they have factory stores in most of the higher end 'outlet' strip malls as well.

Yeah, that is why you need to go to the shops the Amish and the Mennonites shop at for their own stuff. There is a great shop in Lancaster that sells clothing and housegoods. It is a wall of black and blue clothing and then seriously cheap jeans and pots and pans.

The Amish and Mennonites know how to cook, that is for sure.

Calphalon makes great pans. Go for non-stick and buy wooden, plastic or silicon utensils so you don't fuck up the non-stick surface. If you want a cheaper alternative go to a local restaurant supply store and check out what they have but make sure no matter which pan you get it has a thick bottom.

That is so NOT true! :error

Tefal I think - good quality but way too expansive (at least they used to be like 7-8 years ago lol) - simply buy any non-sticking pan that looks good to you, 99% of them will do the same job

Get a pressure cooker too - makes a big difference - one of my favourite tripe soups (probably 90% of the people wont even touch it but its great) takes at least 4 hours to prepare in a normal cooker and like 30-40 minutes in a pressure cooker. The same story with Ox tail etc, all the thihngs that you have to cook or boil forever - it saves time and money !!!!!

ON a skillet you are correct, IN a sauce pan or stock pot I am correct.

Nope, you are not. In a sauce pan or stock pot you need a thick bottomed pan as you want to simmer and regulate the heat more precisely. A thin bottomed pan will lead to the bottom of the pan being burnt. Every pan needs a thick bottom.

PS: I went to culinary school and was an exec chef for 12 years so I am not just pulling this out of my ass.

I gave my wife a dutch oven last night.

As a chef You must be familiar with All-Clad, one of the best if not the best in cookware. None of their products have thick bottoms. None.


http://206.210.90.92/

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Thanks for posting the link and here it is taken from their site.....

All-Clad STAINLESS cookware sandwiches a thick core of three separate layers of aluminum between an easy-to-clean, highly polished 18/10 stainless steel cooking surface and a magnetic stainless steel exterior. The aluminum core retains heat and evenly distributes it along the bottom and up the sidewalls of the cookware.

As usual, its becoming quite apparent that I'll be spending a lot more money than I originally intended. LOL.