frying pan - fi

[ericj]

1: Teflon is inert. It won't give you cancer. Neither will perfluorooctanoic acid - which is used in the manufacture of teflon, but isn't really present in teflon-containing products.

2: Every serious cook should have one seriously non-stick 12" skillet. Teflon or similar. Really. And it should be heavy. But it makes a lousy all-around frying pan.

3: Cast iron is great if you're willing to maintain it. Most people aren't.

4: Ancient griswold cast iron is good stuff - i own several pounds of it, but, surprisingly, as long as it's decently cast and decently seasoned, any cast iron piece can be excellent cookware. My favorite cooking surface for fried eggs and grilled sandwiches is an extremely cheap "Mexican Fiesta" brand 12" cast iron "tortilla warmer" - which looks suspiciously like a vintage 1930 Griswold single-burner griddle, but with a far rougher (unfinished sand-cast) surface. I've got it seasoned so well that a couple times i forgot to butter the surface before cracking an egg onto it, and the egg didn't stick. No kidding.

5: Those All-Clad people really know how to put a smooth cooking surface on stainless steel. You won't regret owning a few pieces of All-Clad cookware. Even if you just get the 1qt sauce pan and 8" skillet that are surprisingly cheap. All-Clad's steel alloy and polishing process gives you a surface that is far more non-stick than most stainless cookware, but a far cry from a good cast iron piece or teflon. If you must have a stainless piece, All-Clad is what i recommend. It's expensive - you can cry now or cry later. (Edit: golly, the 1qt saucier and 8" skillet used to be less than $25/ea - now they're close to $50. I got the 8" free with my 5qt MCII saucier. Which is the bomb, and was even on sale for $180. I now use it to prepare $0.86 boxes of mac & cheese.)

6: hard-anodized aluminum (the dark gray stuff) is nice, but if you cook a lot of acidic foods (like tomatoes) the coating is guaranteed to wear off.

7: Oh yeah, the parrot thing. A teflon pan will only hurt your birds if you overheat the pan. See above wrt teflon not being a good choice for an all-around frying pan. Teflon isn't good for anything that requires more heat than a grilled cheese sandwich. And grilled cheese is better when you cook it on cast iron (better surface texture. seriously.)

[ingwe]

Originally Posted by ericj

1:
6: hard-anodized aluminum (the dark gray stuff) is nice, but if you cook a lot of acidic foods (like tomatoes) the coating is guaranteed to wear off.

Is it? I'd appreciate a citation supporting this.

Originally Posted by ericj

7: Oh yeah, the parrot thing. A teflon pan will only hurt your birds if you overheat the pan.

Exactly. I'm a lousy cook.

[Edwood]

My two favorite pans are a 12" All Clad stainless and a cheapo 10" Lodge Cast Iron Skillet.

They can both be used in the oven, which is important to me.

-Ed

[wavoman]

Agreed, All Clad is fantastic in stainless steel, non-stick stainless steel, and copper-clad (they also have aluminum+stainless which I have not tried). All but the non-stick can go in the dishwasher, and even the non-stick is OK (All Clad would say no) in the top rack. Lodge cast-iron can never go in the dishwasher, of course (but I agree it cooks great if you do everything you need to).

Here's a money-saving tip: there is an All Clad "seconds" shop -- cosmetic flaws only. I have dealt with them for years and they are great. They stock other brands too.

Cookware & More : Selling All Clad Irregulars Since 1984

[dj_mocok]

Originally Posted by ericj

7: Oh yeah, the parrot thing. A teflon pan will only hurt your birds if you overheat the pan. See above wrt teflon not being a good choice for an all-around frying pan. Teflon isn't good for anything that requires more heat than a grilled cheese sandwich. And grilled cheese is better when you cook it on cast iron (better surface texture. seriously.)

Will it hurt pigeons as well as in when I cook for my gold digger female friends?

[ericj]

Originally Posted by ingwe

Is it? I'd appreciate a citation supporting this.

would you settle for pictures of 20-year-old calphalon pans that lost most of the anodizing on their cooking surfaces long ago?

[regal]

I've been buying my wife ceramic enamel iron cookware. Easier to clean but cooks like solid iron.

[MusicallySilent]

Originally Posted by ericj

would you settle for pictures of 20-year-old calphalon pans that lost most of the anodizing on their cooking surfaces long ago?

We have old calphalon andonized black stuff from 15 years ago likely. The inside is all de-andonized up to the rivets/bolts where the handle is attached because we usually don't fill them beyond that point.

[wavoman]

Originally Posted by regal

I've been buying my wife ceramic enamel iron cookware. Easier to clean but cooks like solid iron.

Yep -- I cook with All Clad (see earlier post), but my wife cooks with enameled cast iron, in particular Le Creuset (which has factory outlet stores in nearly every outlet shopping mall). We have a lot of both.

Le Creuset can't be beat for slow cooking, etc. The dutch ovens and the fry pans (especially the new ridged ones with a sandwich press weight) are fantastic. But for flashy saute and one-handed flipping and flambe (lighting the booze you've poured in), it's All Clad all the way -- I cook only for show (and have burn marks on the wallpaper to prove it)!

[intoflatlines]

We have a Calphalon 12" non-stick and it is amazing. Cleanup is very easy and the pan itself is pretty heavy duty. It is very thick and heavy so it takes a little longer to heat up, but it allows for more even heating and holds the heat better as well.

Stainless steel pans are good too but they are not good for some things (eggs, messy stuff) in my opinion. I have a big set of Cuisinart (I think.. I'll check later) stainless steel but the Calphalon nonstick gets the most frequent use.