I came here looking for a heavy, ceramic non-stick pan, because they seem rare on the ground. Are those Rio pans pretty weighty / having a lot of thermal mass? I have a ceramic pan for eggs and such and the thing weights maybe a pound. With the electric burners cycling on and off, the pan cools and heats rapidly, which I don't like.
If there was a cast iron skillet with ceramic lining that was bomp-proof, I'd buy it, assuming I could stomach the cost or it existed.
In reply to Curtis :
I also have the Martha Stewart Dutch oven and have been happy with it. I wouldn’t hesitate to try their skillet if I was looking for one.
Um... I wouldn't say weighty, but they heat very evenly for me. They are clad on the bottom with about 1/4" of aluminum. I never noticed uneven browning.
Aluminum has less thermal capacity, but it transmits heat faster, so what it lacks in weight it seems to make up in even distribution.
... and right now (until I run a gas line) I'm using a flat top electric stove.
Oh, and I accidentally lied... my Greenpan is oven safe, but only to 350. The plastic in the handle is bakelite so it evidently can take those temps.
If you have access to Costco, check out their Kirkland Signature line. For under $200, you can get a great set of pots and pans with lids. The set varies by season, but generally includes everything you need to get started. They serve as my daily drivers and have out-performed a lot of the expensive names I have had in the past. Costco also offers deals on brand-name stuff, you can sometimes snag a Calphalon or Breville set for a good price too.
Curtis: Thanks. With mine, say I'm making a few scrambled eggs, the burner turning off has a noticeably quick affect on how things are being heated. I think the thickness of the pan I have is 1/2 what you're talking about.
In reply to pinchvalve :
I'm rocking a Calaphon set from Costco and I love it. Even though I'm stuck using a lame glasstop electric stove for now. My only complaint is that the set only had one big pot, which is too big for most of my soups and such. First world problems and all that.
Thanks guys that’s a lot of info!! Looking at the link to the Martha Stewart pan, it appears it’s ceramic on the outside, but bare cast iron on the inside? What’s the benefit?
So, Curtis, or any of you for that matter, what are the, say, three must-have size pots and pans around the kitchen? Remember I already have a couple cast iron pans, so beside those...
thanks guys, come Christmas jamie48442 will thank you!!
Cast iron for meats usually. The TeChef pans from amazon have impressed me. With almost daily use, the first one lasted me about 2 years before it became my backup pan to another techef 12” frying pan. Got the 12” “wok” too, i LOVE that thing for asian dishes. Cant believe i ever made fried rice in the frying pan. They were cheaper than what i was seeing locally and far outlasted any other non stick pan ive had.
I tried the ceramic coated pans. Both were great until the first time food almost scorched on them. After that they would stick where they got too hot. With a nice gas stove it may have been better. Like most folks i have a hateful glass top stove. Expensive one too, i still prefer cooking on my blackstone griddle outside.
^As for the electric, glasstop stoves, the super cheap GE entry-level one in the house I bought last year works 10x better than the super high-end Bosch that was in one of the fancy downtown places I lived a few years ago.
I cook on tramontina pro stainless and cast iron. Ymmv.
The ones I use most often are a large pot for pastas and soups, a smaller pot for sauces, and a large frying pan.
Wally said:The ones I use most often are a large pot for pastas and soups, a smaller pot for sauces, and a large frying pan.
Your signature makes me skeptical of your culinary advice
Another one here who stumbled into Cuisinart for most of the random saucepans and skillets, for which they're fine (but not induction-compatible, which I kinda wish they were, even though I use gas and am only on the brink of adding one induction "burner".
I use one of these carbon steel skillets for eggs, and pretty much only eggs. Now that I've got it seasoned, it acts very nonstick, and doesn't require much care. I just go after it with hot water and a scrubbing pad (no soap) after each use.
I have one 6qt Lodge Dutch oven, and got absolutely silly with delight when my favorite half of the household got me a 4qt Staub cocotte (Dutch oven, as per Margie's description) which is actually the right size as opposed to the 6qt for the bread baking I do. I'll switch to using the Staub and the nifty nesting cast iron set I picked up on Ethnic Food-Wrap Aficionado's recommendation (accidentally getting a different brand, but with good results for baking the other of two loaves...)
My sister gave me a Le Creuset casserole (EDIT: Crud, or is it a braiser? It's much lower-profile than a Dutch oven, not much taller than a skillet, with a fairly rounded transition from the bottom) a few years back, which is awesome for things like baking meatballs in sauce. Between this and the two basic cast-iron skillets, I rarely use the Cuisinart skillets, mostly using the saucepans from that set.
Man, what a bunch of rambling. Makes me realize that without knowing what you cook, it's hard to recommend cookware.
One note on the enamed cookware: if you do really high-heat stuff (like bread that kicks off at 500 degrees) the phenolic knobs will disintegrate, possibly immediately (it was fun dealing with a 500-degree lid that suddenly had no knob). It's harder/more expensive than you'd think to replace them with metal. I love that the Staub has them standard, as do *some* Le Creuset.
pinchvalve said:If you have access to Costco, check out their Kirkland Signature line. For under $200, you can get a great set of pots and pans with lids.
This is what I got 4 or 5 years ago. Its not complete garbage, but I'm ready to get rid of it.
I'm not half the foody some of you guys are but the copper and ceramic pans my father in law purchased for us 3 years ago as a Christmas gift were fantastic. We have 1 8 inch round, 2 12 inch rounds and 3 of the deep 14 inch square pans. There pretty much all we use except for a few sauce pans and one giant stainless pot for noodles. The only issue we have had with young kids is them dropping silverware in them inside the sink. They ruined our first copper pot that way.
After reading though this thread ( I need a new fry pan) I went to the Green Pans website to look at their stuff. THEY ARE HAVING A 50% OFF SALE ON ANYTHING ON THEIR WEBSITE!!!!! WITH FREE SHIPPING!!!!
code is GIFTS18 but it took some mucking around to get it to work. They're also out of stock on a LOT of stuff but I managed to order a Chatham 10" skillet to give it a try. Paid $25.
So if you want to give them a try, now's a great time!
joey48442 said:Looking at the link to the Martha Stewart pan, it appears it’s ceramic on the outside, but bare cast iron on the inside? What’s the benefit?
So, Curtis, or any of you for that matter, what are the, say, three must-have size pots and pans around the kitchen? Remember I already have a couple cast iron pans, so beside those...
Double check, but it is enameled black on the inside. All the benefits of cast iron minus the porosity. No need to season it, but it may come with directions on how to pre-bake it before using. At least my LeCruset pans did. It was something like a half hour at 500 degrees then turn off the oven and let it cool on its own.
Hard to say about ideal sizes. I live alone and if I cook for more than just me it's often for one other person. I do make big batches of things for the freezer sometimes when I find a bargain on produce at the farmers market. That being said, there are two sizes of pans - big enough and not big enough. You can always do something small in a big pot, but not the other way around.
I have a 2-qt, a 5 qt, and a big 12 qt pot (that's the one with the steamer basket/strainer in it) Those are All Clad, All Clad, and IKEA, respectively.
My personal must-haves are those three pots, one each large and small ceramic non-stick skillets, one large cast iron or iron/enamel skillet, one cast iron or iron/enamel dutch oven. Other than things like cake pans and muffin tins, that rounds out my real needs.
Although right now, I have an itch for a grill pan (one of those with the ribs in the bottom), but I do have a George Foreman grill that has those. I used to have a nice IKEA grill pan but I lost it in the divorce. Moment of silence for losing my favorite pan. Divorce is terrible. *sarcasm intended*
Surprisingly good: Sam's Club Member's Mark frying pans. They're in the restaurant supply section. ~$15 for a 10 inch, ~$20 for a 12 inch. They're pretty awesome and heat evenly. Better than the 10-year-old Rachael Ray stuff we were replacing (which were themselves pretty decent).
Curtis! I needed up getting the Greenpan rio set. My wife is happy, but we haven’t used it yet, other than I tried some eggs this morning, and wow did it work well!
Only bummer is I paid 149 on amazon and now the same set is 119!
joey48442 said:Curtis! I needed up getting the Greenpan rio set. My wife is happy, but we haven’t used it yet, other than I tried some eggs this morning, and wow did it work well!
Only bummer is I paid 149 on amazon and now the same set is 119!
I'm so glad you like them. I have been using mine for about a year and they still work just as well as day one.
Gotta love Amazon pricing. That has happened to me before. My one big bargain was getting a mattress for $169 and it is now $239. Don't stress. They are great pans. Enjoy.
I got a cast iron pan for Xmas! I am excite! I will report back after I try cooking with it
we finally bought some all clad a couple of years ago and it's been great. Much better than the calphalon and other stuff we had. Also, I bought a le crueset dutch oven and we cook tons of stuff in that thing. It browns chicken worlds better than anything else I've ever used. We also have two lodge skillets that are workhorses. Season them well, and use the chain link towel things to clean them and they'll give you years of service.
ProDarwin said:I got a cast iron pan for Xmas! I am excite! I will report back after I try cooking with it
My daily drivers are 8" and 12" Lodge Brand Cast Iron on an Induction cook top. I would never go to anything else.
Though your new pain Wil likely claim to be be pre-seasoned it would still be wise to take them through the process yourself too.
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