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So what's your favorite cookware???

Stoner4Life

Stoner4Life

Medicinal Advocate
ICMag Donor
Veteran
I've seen tons of delicious looking dishes in the 'What did you have for dinner' thread and was wondering what name brand or special use cookware some of you guys/gals were using.

I'm not compelled to own the very finest pots, pans, knives or appliances, I own some nice old cast iron skillets and a great dutch oven but aside from them I buy most of my cookware @ Sam's Club or restaurant auctions. I always have in mind a minimum standard of quality and usefulness in whatever I buy though.

About 7-8 yrs ago Sam's started carrying Tramontina non-stick fry pans, they had a 3 pack of 8"-10" & 12" skillets for $28.00 & a nice 14" pan for $23.00 ~ Now it's a 2pack of 8" pans for about $20, one 10" pan is $18 & the 12" is about $23 and that 14" pan is nearly $50. Anyway I bought a bunch at those prices as they were great back then, the coating has proven very durable and the handles are triple riveted.

I own two deli style meat slicers (Globe) but they're way too much trouble to clean as I'm only preparing meals for one and it defeats the purpose of relieving the pain in my back having to clean one of them. Instead I bought a nice stainless steel de Buyer mandoline w/a last second snipe bid on eBay, a soak in warm soapy water and a couple minutes scrubbing gets the cleaning done for me. a decent mandoline is indispensable.


so what might be your preference in cookware?
 
L

limonene

Member
I'm single, young, and broke so I don't own too much cookware but I can cook up a storm with what I do have. I try to avoid possessions in general, but all of my stuff is from resale shops or given to me by friends. I def love the cast iron skillets and might kill for a dutch oven. Gotta have a stock pot for soup and a loaf pan for meatloaf. I'm a HUGE fan of vintage corningware and try to roast as many veggies as possible during the winter. Also, wooden spoons make life grand.

I try to avoid anything teflon coated.
 
H

Hydro-Soil

Active member
Veteran
No teflon! Shit is toxic. (don't believe me? Cook a pan too hot on a burner with birds in the house... they'll F'n die)

Cast iron rocks! :D Definitely have to have quality cast iron though. Super fine grain on good cast iron allows that non-stick with oil to be effortless. Seen a lot of wacky shit done over the years to get bad cast iron to be non-stick. LOL

Ceramic and stainless for oven roasting.

Can't go wrong with stainless, copper bottom pots for sauce pans and stock pots. Do some research for a good brand. :D

I LOVE cooking! :D

Stay Safe! :blowbubbles:
 
NPK

NPK

Active member
I have a 10" cast iron skillet, a big dutch oven (one of my best estate sale scores ever at only $10) and recently bought a 10" stainless steel saute pan for eggs, which I'm liking but has taken some getting used to. Also got a great deal on a top-rated 8" Henckels chef knife on Amazon; thought I had good knives until this baby came along.

I agree, cast iron is the best. Cooking with it actually supplements your diet with this mineral.
 
hippie_lettuce

hippie_lettuce

Garden Nymph
Veteran
The cast iron cookware from Lodge is pretty good. Thought it wasn't until I realized I was using the wrong fat (olive oil) when I should've been using lard. Better than non-stick! I also like my Staub dutch oven. It's my favorite because I can use it on the stove and saute, or as a casserole dish without the lid, or for slow cooking...I think it's cast iron with ceramic.
 
G

gloryoskie

My French skillets. Low carbon steel, well seasoned, like a thinner gauge cast iron pan.
Rice cooker, 'nuff said.
Color coded cutting boards.
Knife sharpener + honing steel.
My hands.
 
SetHeh

SetHeh

Member
For me, cast iron wok is THE cookware. I can cook almost anything in wok: risotto, curry, Chinese dishes, soup, stir-fry, you name it. You can even use it as a "Dutch owen" for baking bread, if you have a metal lid.
 
captain planet

captain planet

Active member
Veteran
Full set of cuisinart stainless steel pots and pans, very similar to calphalon, a few cast iron pieces, a griddle, and a nice deep pan. I'd love to have more copper but really am happy just not to have TEFLON.
 
E

Enchantre

Member
Cast iron skillet. Ceramic on cast iron (la cruset), both as a smaller skillet and as a braiser pan (huge, oval dutch oven). Stainless steel with copper disks on the bottom. Glass baking pans. Silicon muffin pans.

Slow cookers. I have three - huge with temperature probe, basic round that does fabulous, and tiny one I use to cook cannabutter in.
 
Stoner4Life

Stoner4Life

Medicinal Advocate
ICMag Donor
Veteran


Recently I'd been tempted to try one of the 'Orgreenics' fry pans (AS SEEN ON TV) boasting of hi-tech nonstick properties. The infomercials show crepes floating out of the pan w/a mere wisp of the pitchman's breath & being cleaned w/a single wipe of paper towel. The surface being so slick you need not use any extra oils once seasoned properly.

This line of cookware is 100% free of PTFE's ~ PFOA's ~ lead & cadmium, exceeding EPA standards for 2015.

Although I prefer a 10" pan for a good all duty size the only Orgreenics pan on the shelf @ WalMart was the 12" pictured below, somewhat impulsively I bought one and took it home where some bacon & eggs were waiting to greet it.......

aaff2002.jpg


After seasoning in the oven for 1 hour it was ready to rock.

Issue #1, it's bottom is not 100% flat; that's not a problem on gas stoves where the flames come up to meet the pan but I cook on cast iron electric burners which are truly flat, even contact w/the bottom of my pans assures even heating. Because the pan is ceramic coated I was reluctant to place a 2X4 across the bottom and giving it a few good whacks w/my framing hammer, I think it might shatter or spider web the coating which would surely ruin it.

I found a spot on one burner where the pan settled best and fried up 6 slices of bacon testing hot spot & heat distribution by the browning of said pork belly spread across the pan, it performed well considering it lacked consistent contact. Once finished cooking I poured out the excess grease and wiped it down w/a paper towel tossed in a pat of butter and fried up 3 eggs which slid easily out of the pan when done.

By now I've cooked up chicken tenderloins, steaks and a few hamburgers in it, it still cleans up w/a paper towel but sometimes I have to get aggressive with toweling it, baring down hard to work off some of the spots where meats browned hardest in the pan. Once I had to put some water in the pan to break down the area used to sear a ribeye, the burned on proteins cleaned easily, then w/a dash of oil & some heat it was seasoned again.


Orgreenic pans come in 8" ~ 10" & 12" and they also produce full 10 & 16 piece cookware sets w/a nice deep steamer & glass lids for everything but the 8" pan. I would recommend these to anyone that has a gas stove, anyone cooking on electric won't like the slightly rounded bottom pans, a Google search revealed the round bottom issue to be prevalent.


I would rate the non-stick technology/effectiveness 9.5, it's great. Clean up as compared to my other pans is a solid 9, easiest cleaning pan I own. Overall quality is a 7 because of the bottom issue, easy to see that the pans are pressed out from aluminum blanks as opposed to being cast or milled; also a 12" skillet should have a triple riveted handle not double which usually winds up wiggling loose.



=====================================
=====================================


Last night I just bought and seasoned these two pans to try the Green+Life™ ceramic non-stick surface, same as Orgreenics basically but in gray not green. The bottoms of these pans are flat and also have a thicker milled surface for superior contact & heat distribution, resting them on my cast burners they sit perfectly flat.

aaff2001.jpg


These are 8" & 10" pans, I will reserve the 8" pan for egg duty only, this will assure easy cleaning and slick food release for it's lifetime, the 10" will be used for most everything else.

A cooking/service report will follow in 2-3 weeks.
 
Last edited:
E

Enchantre

Member
If your new pans last that long. I got a couple of those, for the same reasons, and they are pretty low quality in use. Warped fast, scratches extremely easily, and has uneven heating zones.

I'm still loving my cast iron, stainless steel, and ceramic-clad cast iron. :)
 
PetFlora

PetFlora

Well-known member
ICMag Donor
Veteran
Stoner4Life said:


Recently I'd been tempted to try one of the 'Orgreenics' fry pans (AS SEEN ON TV) boasting of hi-tech nonstick properties. The infomercials show crepes floating out of the pan w/a mere wisp of the pitchman's breathe & being cleaned w/a single wipe of paper towel. The surface being so slick you need not use any extra oils once seasoned properly.

This line of cookware is 100% free of PTFE's ~ PFOA's ~ lead & cadmium, exceeding EPA standards for 2015.

Although I prefer a 10" pan for a good all duty size the only Orgreenics pan on the shelf @ WalMart was the 12" pictured below, somewhat impulsively I bought one and took it home where some bacon & eggs were waiting to greet it.......

View Image

After seasoning in the oven for 1 hour it was ready to rock.

Issue #1, it's bottom is not 100% flat; that's not a problem on gas stoves where the flames come up to meet the pan but I cook on cast iron electric burners which are truly flat, even contact w/the bottom of my pans assures even heating. Because the pan is ceramic coated I was reluctant to place a 2X4 across the bottom and giving it a few good whacks w/my framing hammer, I think it might shatter or spider web the coating which would surely ruin it.

I found a spot on one burner where the pan settled best and fried up 6 slices of bacon testing hot spot & heat distribution by the browning of said pork belly spread across the pan, it performed well considering it lacked consistent contact. Once finished cooking I poured out the excess grease and wiped it down w/a paper towel tossed in a pat of butter and fried up 3 eggs which slid easily out of the pan when done.

By now I've cooked up chicken tenderloins, steaks and a few hamburgers in it, it still cleans up w/a paper towel but sometimes I have to get aggressive with toweling it, baring down hard to work off some of the spots where meats browned hardest in the pan. Once I had to put some water in the pan to break down the area used to sear a ribeye, the burned on proteins cleaned easily, then w/a dash of oil & some heat it was seasoned again.


Orgreenic pans come in 8" ~ 10" & 12" and they also produce full 10 & 16 piece cookware sets w/a nice deep steamer & glass lids for everything but the 8" pan. I would recommend these to anyone that has a gas stove, anyone cooking on electric won't like the slightly rounded bottom pans, a Google search revealed the round bottom issue to be prevalent.


I would rate the non-stick technology/effectiveness 9.5, it's great. Clean up as compared to my other pans is a solid 9, easiest cleaning pan I own. Overall quality is a 7 because of the bottom issue, easy to see that the pans are pressed out from aluminum blanks as opposed to being cast or milled; also a 12" skillet should have a triple riveted handle not double which usually winds up wiggling loose.



=====================================
=====================================


Last night I just bought and seasoned these two pans to try the Green+Life™ ceramic non-stick surface, same as Orgreenics basically but in gray not green. The bottoms of these pans are flat and also have a thicker milled surface for superior contact & heat distribution, resting them on my cast burners they sit perfectly flat.

View Image

These are 8" & 10" pans, I will reserve the 8" pan for egg duty only, this will assure easy cleaning and slick food release for it's lifetime, the 10" will be used for most everything else.

A cooking/service report will follow in 2-3 weeks.
Click to expand...

3 weeks ago I bought a version of these in Target, with white ceramic. Got an 8" egg pan + a large for sauteing large volume.

The under coating is for shit, but the pans work great

Also have used/love a Nu Wave Oven for over 10 years, and want their instant heat burner

There's a new knife with side cutouts that will make slicing a whole lot easier
 
O

OrganicOzarks

Firstly a good seasoned wok. My oldest had a friend over to cook, and he air humped my wok. I guess that is a good sign.:)

Cast iron skillets.

Then a nice set of stainless cook wear.

I use the wok more than anything, unless I am making Indian, and then I use the stainless. My wok gets a shit load of use. If I had to choose one pan it would be a wok.
 
Greenheart

Greenheart

Active member
Veteran
I love the high temp silicone spatulas. I prefer the ones that are a whole unit instead of a handle and silicon head that pops off.

I also get old restraunt grade aluminum pans that have the teflon scratched up for free and then use a wire drill brush to buff the rest off. After the teflon is removed I take a 0000 steel wool pad and polish it to a mirror finish. Works like a charm and they are well built.
 
BOMBAYCAT

BOMBAYCAT

Well-known member
Veteran
Several Calaphon commercial cookware pots and pans and 3 sizes of 1940's vintage Griswold cast iron fry pans from GoodWill. If you ever find them get them as they really work good.
 
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