Comments on: What is your pots and pans of choice?

By: Eri

Eri — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 23:22:38 +0000

Cast iron is ideal for conking burglars on the noggin.

By: Eri

Eri — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 04:05:45 +0000

I love cast iron but I can no longer handle it; it’s too heavy for me with my arthritis. Cast iron doesn’t do for everything anyway. It makes the best fried potatoes in the universe. Nobody makes ‘em like I do in my 8-inch cast iron skillet.

I do love my stainless steel, too. It cooks great with great heat dispersal. For some things, high quality teflon is essential and ideal.

So I use it all.

By: Jody

Jody — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 01:20:10 +0000

I used cast iron twenty five years ago and when my carpel tunnel syndrome got progressively worse, I sold my two favorite pans at a garage sale. I should have known when they were the first items to sell that it was a wrong choice. I could not hold the pan though to save my soul.

I don’t have carpal tunnel syndrome anymore, and I inherited all of Mom’s cast iron when she moved in with me. WOW! I have a dutch oven that puts any slow cooker to shame.

Too bad cast iron doesn’t come with a guarantee of being a great cook!

By: TB

TB — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:37:40 +0000

I like my glass cooktop, which is a lot more robust than I thought it would be, but I’m just a cook, not a chef. You do have to keep an eye on keeping it clean.

Real cooking experts always use gas, which allows precision heat control.

By: FrankC

FrankC — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 20:32:25 +0000

I also have one of those confounded glass tops. What I thought was very cool when I got it turned out to be a huge pain in the ass.

If I live long enough to replace it, I will be cooking with gas.

By: TB

TB — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 19:05:10 +0000

Stainless steel is rugged, but doesn’t conduct heat worth shit. Many stainless steel utensils involve a cladding somewhere of a more conductive material. Remember Revere Ware with the stainless pot and copper bottoms?

You also have to work around whatever stove you’re using. A gas range or coil element is more forgiving of a pan with a dented or rounded bottom. The glass top I’ve got demands a pot sturdy enough to sit very flat.

By: FrankC

FrankC — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 18:53:26 +0000

That’s my first choice, but high quality Teflon is also okay.

I have heard that cooking gurus swear by stainless steel cookware but I have never gotten the hang of that.

By: TB

TB — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 16:16:04 +0000

That’s a tough one. I demand that anything I use can put up with a dishwasher, which eliminates many of those that a professional chef would use.

Heavy aluminum-teflon combos seem to work all right for me. You can find these across a vast price range, depending on quality. Or maybe brand name.