Outfitting the home kitchen: cookware

[Milhouse]

Originally Posted by foodguy

uhm, at the risk of wearing out my welcome here (and i do hope someone will pm me if this is inappropriate), i just happened to do a piece last week on gifts of kitchen equipment for beginning, moderate and advanced cooks. i intended it as the start of a conversation (argument?), so feel free to ridicule. just nobody make fun of my One Shoe.

Good piece. A lot of interesting points. Simple things like the mortar and pestle can make such a huge improvement to food because they prompt the use of fresh spices rather than pre-ground.

Again, I'm really bad at baking, so I've resisted a scale for quite some time now. I should probably get one and see if that doesn't help make my baking better. It is so strange that I'm bad at baking since I always rocked in the bio/chem lab. Maybe it comes down to having the right tools.

 

[foodguy]

i'm bad at baking, too. i think it's a matter of personality. i hate mixing something and then having to wait a half-hour to see if it turned out. i like to taste and adjust along the way.

 

[Trompe le Monde]

Originally Posted by gomestar

FWIW, Williams-Sonoma has a big All-Clad stockpot with pasta and steamer inserts for $149. The outside walls aren't the thick 3-layer deal, just the bottom. Hence the major price difference.
With the cooking that's done in stock pots (BOILING) full clad really is not necessary FYI equipment used in restaurants that serves 10-200$ meals look like these aluminum dudes:

I prefer stainless steel for my at-home "top 5" equipment because of increased mass (heat retention), relatively lower conductivity (more forgiving of quick temp changes), and shiny looks... but if I need anything else I would just pick one up from local commercial kitchen supply store

 

[foodguy]

Originally Posted by Trompe le Monde

With the cooking that's done in stock pots (BOILING) full clad really is not necessary





FYI equipment used in restaurants that serves 10-200$ meals look like these aluminum dudes:

just be sure that they are not unlined aluminum. those are fine for lots of things, but if you're going to be cooking with acidic ingredients (tomatoes, wine, etc.), not a good idea. they'll add a weird color to the food.

 

[gomestar]

Originally Posted by foodguy

uhm, at the risk of wearing out my welcome here (and i do hope someone will pm me if this is inappropriate), i just happened to do a piece last week on gifts of kitchen equipment for beginning, moderate and advanced cooks. i intended it as the start of a conversation (argument?), so feel free to ridicule. just nobody make fun of my One Shoe.

great articles so far. Keep poasting.

 

[haganah]

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09mini.html

 

[kwilkinson]

Great article, FG.

 

[itsstillmatt]

We have a bunch of stuff that we have collected over the years. By collected, I mean bought for no particular reason. It has left us pretty well stocked. For saucepans we generally use copper, and for skillets heavy nonstick, though we probably have some other things mixed in.

 

[Milhouse]

Originally Posted by haganah

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/09/dining/09mini.html

That is an interesting article, but there are some major points I disagree with. When I lived in the mountains, a pressure cooker was mission critical. Otherwise, basic things would take forever to cook.

Second, without a bread machine, I can't make bread. I tried twice a weekend, for about 3 or 4 months to bake normal bread, and I could never get it right. But what is really interesting is that he says no bread machines, but doesn't say anything about buying loaf pans....

Third, stockpots are essential in my opinion.

Fourth, nonstick pans are not essential at all.

 

[JohnGalt]

Originally Posted by foodguy

uhm, at the risk of wearing out my welcome here (and i do hope someone will pm me if this is inappropriate), i just happened to do a piece last week on gifts of kitchen equipment for beginning, moderate and advanced cooks. i intended it as the start of a conversation (argument?), so feel free to ridicule. just nobody make fun of my One Shoe.

<insert joke about chinois pic here>

 

[HitMan009]

I would avoid aluminum pans. Even though there was science floating around saying excess aluminum causes Alzheimer's disease that was been disproven, I would say that since it's a mineral that our body doesn't need, it's best to avoid using it. I usually think Mark Bittman is great since he's the everyday man's cook however there is some cynicism on what he's proselytizing. His forget the masses, I am right works for certain things but not this. Home is not a commercial kitchen where things get thrown about so things get replaced often. There is no super high BTU burner at home so the concept of pans warping is almost non-existent at home. Certainly there are things I rather buy at a restaurant supply store because first of all, you can't find a lot the stuff at some of this ripoff &quot;gourmet&quot; places. For a saute pan/fry pan, I would definitely consider getting an All-Clad but now Calphalon over something very similiar at a third the price. If you must, those blue steel pans at the restaurant supply store are definitely good, however they will react to acidic foods. For a stock pot, any old stainless steel will do since basically you are just boiling water. For a smaller pot, say in a dutch oven size ~5qt, I would definitely consider an enameled cast iron. Whether spending close to $250 for a Le Creuset or get one made my Lodge at a third of price, I leave it up to the person because there is no question the looks and finish on the Le Creuset is better but it's cast iron for god sake. I would also get a grill/griddle of cast iron as well as a 8-10&quot; pan for the searing a nice steak or making a potato dish. As for knives, I mentioned in another thread that getting the stuff they use in a commercial kitchen is not bad but a nice knife is definitely a worthy investment. Everything else such as stainless steel mixing bowls, linen towels, wooden spoons, etc, DEFINITELY skip the gourmet shop.

 

[foodguy]

Originally Posted by HitMan009

I Everything else such as stainless steel mixing bowls, linen towels, wooden spoons, etc, DEFINITELY skip the gourmet shop.

a couple of years ago my brother-in-law gave me a $100 gift certificate to w-s for christmas. i spent about a half-hour wandering the store wondering "who buys this stuff?". I couldn't find anything that i wanted, much less needed. of course, i had to spend it, so i wound up with a huge maple carving board, which i confess i dearly love. never would have bought it on my own, though and probably wouldn't have missed it.

 

[pscolari]

Originally Posted by foodguy

a couple of years ago my brother-in-law gave me a $100 gift certificate to w-s for christmas. i spent about a half-hour wandering the store wondering "who buys this stuff?". I couldn't find anything that i wanted, much less needed. of course, i had to spend it, so i wound up with a huge maple carving board, which i confess i dearly love. never would have bought it on my own, though and probably wouldn't have missed it.


I agree as JB Prince gets my money these days. Going into SLT or WS, I feel like these people might know the products well, but never have I got the feeling that they know how to cook well.

 

[stewartu]

I second the recommendation to check out restaurant supply stores. Look in the yellow pages.

Great cookware at good prices.

 

[philosophe]

My collection includes cast iron, a number of Sitram pieces, some Calphalon pots, and miscellaneous restaurant grade non-stick pans. Like Ed, I think about buying Mauviel. I have one good copper pan and love it.

I suppose that I could always give up clothes in favor of kitchenware.