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Cooking Enthusiasts, what pots do you use?


Crunchtime

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You ever read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain? You should, it's awesome. It's rock n roll cooking.

 

ANYWAY, one thing I picked up from that book was his little aside on what you need, equipment wise.

 

1, sharp kitchen knife. Like a Global or something - a

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Lots of good suggestions. I prefer calphalon and all clad.

 

Your cooking surface is important to consider too:

 

If you have a gas cooking surface you can use pretty much anything mentioned in this thread.

 

If you have coil resistance heating elements you are also ok with just about anything.

 

If you have sealed heating elements you start to need to be concerned about the flatness of the pan bottom. Flatter is better for heat transfer and for safety because the pot will tend to spin when stir

 

If you have a ceramic cooking surface you have to be very concerned about the flatness. The slightest roundness or bowing will cause a pot or pan to spin like a top when you stir it on a ceramic surface. Also, many ceramic surfaces have restrictions against cast iron and porcelain coated pots/pans. I think that mine also recommends against using glass - like corning casserole dishes.

 

Induction cooktops are uncommon and they have further limitations.

 

I really wish I could get rid of my ceramic cooktop and switch to gas...

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I have a few really nice cast iron pots/pans which is basically the only thing I cook protein in.

 

All of my other pots are fairly cheap stainless/teflon coated. If I had more money, it'd be a different story.

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G/f bought kitchenaid stainless set and keeps it at my place as her roomate has tons of stuff anyways. *Much* better than the pos ikea teflon like stuff i'd been using (and no doubt eating bits of coating from for years). I probably use it more than she does lol.

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There are many qualities of good cookware...but someone already said....ditch the Teflon.

 

Anything heavy is best. But...your procedures are more important than any specific pot. For the frying pan...I Like my HEAVY SS, and also use cast iron. Immediate cleaning will erase any memories of Teflon and subsequent flaking, just let it cool slightly. I've got a decent steaming pot for veggies. The slow cooker crock pot is good for many things as well. Even heat.

 

You don't have to spend a ton of money to be a good cook. Sure...it's nice. Pasta and fish are two of the hardest things for people to cook properly, regardless of the quality of cookware.

 

And plus 70 billion for the griddle!

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All Clad or Lecreuset if you can afford it. These will last a lifetime. I have two Lecreuset roasting pans that are at least 50 years old and still use them on a regular basis, they look like they'll last another 50. Invest in a good knife (ie Wusthof or similar) and your set.

 

And Kitchen Confidential is awesome.

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Pasta and fish are two of the hardest things for people to cook properly, regardless of the quality of cookware.

 

 

Pasta is difficult to cook? Boil water, drop in pasta, set timer for al dente. Leave it in a minute or two longer if you like mushy crap.

 

It's easier than microwaving a hot pocket.

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Both of my kids are in the food business now. My daughter for desserts and my son for regular cooking. We've been upgrading our cookware to Anolon UltraClad and ChefClad brand products which are stainless steel with aluminum core. Anolon makes some copper versions as well. Great stuff and reasonably priced. I also added a 10" Lodge cast iron frying pan, but cast iron is ridiculously heavy for anything much larger.

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