This is a random ass post, but I was in scrubbing the kitchen when the Amazon person arrived with a package, and it was the dutch oven I had ordered. One of the things I have learned rather recently is that there is a LOT of really good cookware for cheap.
When I got my first paycheck after grad school, one of the first things I did was buy a really expensive chef knife. It was a Viking, it was super heavy, and it was like 120 bucks. And then, over the last 20+ years, I have slowly built the kitchen one item at a time. I only buy stuff that is going to last. So I will spend 140 bucks on one sauce pan, and then I will have that sauce pan for the rest of my life. A couple of items a year the first couple years, one or two a year over the next few, and then as needed. So I was able to amass a nice setup without every having to do a massive outlay of cash, but also didn’t have to buy a bunch of replaceable crappy stuff over and over.
At any rate, I have all that shit at home, but it is not here. And I have neither the financial means nor the desire to stock another kitchen. So I have been doing shit on the cheap. And so far, I have been super impressed. Two items of note- at home I have a range of matfer bourgeat skillets. I have no intention of doing the same thing here, but we did need one skillet, so I picked up a preseasoned Merten & Storck for 29 bucks off Amazon. And it’s been a great pan. I’ve used it 20 times already, and it is my go to skillet. Were I to do it over again, I don’t think I would spend the money on higher priced ones like I have at home.
Same with this dutch oven. I’m not spending the price of a small car on Le Creuset for here. This Mueller one for 60 bucks looks, feels, and probably is every bit as durable and good as the OG le Cresuset.
So that’s nice to know.
ALurkSupreme
I’ve noticed the same thing. One can buy a perfectly acceptable set of china, replace existing pieces, and pick up pots, pans, bowls, kitchen accessories, et al. at reasonable prices.
HumboldtBlue
I have spent the past year updating kitchen stuff, and using the Amazon Outlet page has been a great help. You can find the outlet page under all (top left) scroll down to programs and features, open the drop-down and click on Amazon outlet.
Best things I bought in the past year was a quality knife set and an excellent rice cooker made by Zojirushi. The difference in the quality of rice from that machine and the rice from my old cheap one is night and day. I also got a 6 qt enameled Dutch oven for less than $50.
Lyrebird
Thanks for the update!
I have been disappointed by soup pots. I let relatives persuade me to get rid of “that old thing” in favor of a new Cooks Standard. The new one is more pitted & has a few rust spots, worse in about 6 months of use for pasta and chili than my old Tools of the Trade one was after ~16 years of use. It was probably a good mental health exercise for me to try the new one, because yes I hold on to items too long, but gosh darn it I already need a new soup pot! I also regret letting the same folks persuade me to donate the old fantastic Oster blender with a glass pitcher.
ETA: so if someone knows of a good not too pricey soup pot, recommend away.
gene108
Does Joelle appreciate how lucky she is to have someone who loves to cook?
I almost wish I could marry you, from your AZ posts, because most of them seem to be about all the wonderful things you cook.
dmsilev
Lodge is also good for reasonably-priced cast iron cookware. I have one of their Dutch ovens , and it’s held up nicely.
John Cole
@gene108: Marriage wise lemme hear your offer what are you bringing to the table? Maybe I can leverage Joelle to up her game.
Leto
@HumboldtBlue: Zojirushi has been the standard in Asian countries for… ever? They’ve perfected rice cooking technology/techniques just due to their presence for rice. Plus it plays songs when you start it, and when it finishes. Avalune was skeptical at first (why do you need a $120 rice cooker?) but has been won over by its consistency. Love that little guy.
Regarding cheaper cookware, yeah it’s good for 20 cooks but we’ll check back in at 200, 2000, and 20,000.
JaneE
Way back when there were not so many companies making enameled cast iron but in the last 20 years I have seen more and more of them. From what I see any would last a lifetime.
Kirk
So I tend to use the tool rule. Buy a cheap one to see if you really need it. If you use it enough, or even reach for it a lot then grab something else in frustration, pay the price for quality.
I’m a clutterer, a sucker for “Ooooh, that looks neat.” This helps me reduce that problem.
Tom Levenson
Right there with you, John.
Some years ago I was able to buy some serious French copper cookware for half list. Got a big chef’s pan that is my absolute favorite pan ever, and so on. Very early on I got a couple of Le Creuset pieces — a frying pan, a 2 qt. Dutch over, and a 5 qt. oval Dutch oven. The first two have been lost to moves over the last 35+ years, and I still have the big boy. Some years ago I bought my dream chef’s knife from a friend who is a master knife craftsman. Costly–but not one of his bespoke items, so doable.
But when I had to start stocking the kitchen in the house to which we may retire…not gonna do that again. Picked up a fantastic Lodge enameled cast-iron braising pan for $40 bucks; pushed the boat out a little for an All Clad chef’s pan, and have picked up some more good stuff on sale. Oh, and two Chicago cutlery chef’s knives one for 20 bucks, the other for ten.
There’s a lot of good stuff out there for cheap–and if you want cast iron, I think Lodge is the bees knees. For my uses as good as Le Creuset at 1/5-1/10 the coast.
brendancalling
I love my good cookware. A few years back, I got my hands on some high quality vintage aluminum pots from the thrift store, and they’ve quickly become favorites.
@gene108: My current lady friend doesn’t cook much, but is learning quickly from me. It’s a great skill to have. When I think about it, I’ve won pretty much every long-term girlfriend I’ve ever had based on my cooking (it sure as hell isn’t my boyish good looks or sunny disposition).
Leto
@dmsilev: I bought one of their 6qt Dutch ovens. Overall like it, it’s replacing a slightly smaller one, but the shape of its bottom isn’t exactly to my desire. It’s too round? It’s more of a saucier bottom. I’d prefer a more angular bottom which would give me more surface area for cooking. Which will lead me back to Le Crueset or Staub. But that’s a later thing when I can grab one at a good sale price.
John Cole
@Tom Levenson: Go to the bougie areas of Connecticut suburbs like Avon and you can buy cookware and antiques worth thousands for pennies. People just giving it away.
Kelly
@dmsilev: I’ve used my Lodge skillets for around 40 years.
debit
If I recall correctly, le Creuset wins all the prizes for being light and rated for higher heat. Some bargain enameled cast iron can only go up to 400 F.
i have several Cuisinart enameled cast iron pieces and never once considered replacing them with something pricier.
NotMax
Large pan? Yes. Fantastical? Double yes. A snap to clean in only the sink? Triple yes. Looks so attractive just sitting on the range I leave it there. Have found a multitude of uses for it.
@Leto
Completely enamored of the super duper Zojirushi bread machine.
Tom Levenson
@John Cole: But that would require leaving my coccoon and that just doesn’t seem attractive.
But yeah–high end used cookware is a great way to go.
NotMax
Mom still using a set of Reverewear pots received as a (first) wedding gift when Truman occupied the White House. Stuff looks like it was purchased yesterday.
Chacal Charles Calthrop
And then there’s cast iron which not only lasts forever, the antique case iron pans (Griswold and Erie) are lighter and easier to use than the modern ones….
trollhattan
In my bachelor era I felt it was time to move on from my college apartment era aluminum-teflon stuff, and caught a Macy’s Le Creuset sale. The Big Box of Really Heavy Stuff comprised two casseroles + lids, three saucepans + lids, 1 frypan, 1 au gratin dish. Less than two hundred bucks.
I’m not sure what happened since, considering two hundred bucks doesn’t even buy a casserole now. Blame Biden.
Even though the spouse has managed to burn the utter crap out of the enamel, we still use that set. She tossed out all her Calphalon because she became part of the “aluminum is evil” cult. I blame RFK jr.
A word on Henkels knives: I’ve tried and tried and can’t adequately sharpen the things, but a pro has restored them to their awesome selves.
Dr. Fungus
I love the LeCreuset Dutch oven I snagged off of Craigslist, but my smaller Lodge looks identical—aside from the size and color—and cooks just as well.
Phylllis
I’ve found some good pieces at TJ MAXX and Homegoods. Current go-to skillet is a 12 inch All Clad with a lid that I got for 30 bux.
Leto
@Kelly: the Lodge skillets from 40 years ago are constructed differently from their more modern counterparts. Specifically the finish of the surface itself. The pans of yesteryear had a smoother surface due to the time involved in the construction process While the new ones are made faster, and with a pre-seasoned finished. Not saying they’re bad, per se, just that it takes a lot more work to get them to “moms standard”.
The Real Reason Why Cast-Iron Pans Are So Rough
trollhattan
@Chacal Charles Calthrop: I’ve read that the old ones were milled to a uniform thickness while most new ones are simply cast. True? IDK but your grandma’s cast iron is vastly better than most of today’s product.
Quality of the iron is probably a factor. One reason vintage Volvo and Saab engines last so long is blocks cast from Swedish iron, which has unique chemical properties.
Phylllis
@NotMax: I had a Revere soup pot that disappeared in a move years ago. Still miss it.
Leto
@NotMax: there’s a guy on Imgur who re-tins copper pots/pans. Works with pieces from the mid 1800s and on. Basically only have to do it every 50-60 years? Unfortunately more people are catching on to that so the prices for pieces are just going up, up, up.
CaseyL
@NotMax: I very much want to replace my current non-stick pans because the non-stick surface is flaking off and I know that ain’t good. Ailwyn interests me – can you say anything about the durability of its non-stick surface? Thanks!
NotMax
@NotMax
Reverewear = Revereware.
(Stupid fingers.)
Another Scott
@Lyrebird: My dad had a roughly 8 quart brown teflon-lined aluminum stock pot kinda thing that he used for spaghetti and so forth. I use it for that and for giant batches of beans.
There’s lots and lots of bad press about teflon linings now, but it’s fine (IMHO) as long as you don’t overheat it or damage it. The whole point of teflon, after all, is that it’s inert as long as it hasn’t broken down.
If I’ve need recent pots, I generally just grab a Calphalon thing at Target. I’m not too picky.
But I’m agreed that it’s important to have good tools (of whatever kind) if you’re doing more than a one-off kinda thing. And good tools are being manufactured all over the world now, and companies are trying to build market share, so it’s a good time to be a customer. Good tools make everything easier.
Cheers,
Scott.
rikyrah
I hadn’t bought myself new cookware in a long time. A couple of weeks ago, I just went,
” I want a new non-stick pan for my omelettes.”
Ordered one. I am amazed by nothing sticking to it..LOL
debit
@Chacal Charles Calthrop: I have an ancient Wagner skillet that feels like a feather compared to my Lodge pans. Bought is for $1.00 at a country flea market in the late 80s.
rikyrah
This is a random cooking question.
For those who have an air fryer. How do you cook cornbread so that it comes out that you can actually slice it? Mine always crumbles.
I do use pre-made mixes a lot of the time (Jiffy, Martha White, Krusteaz)
NotMax
@CaseyL
Have not encountered any wear, scuffing, scratching, etc. of any kind to speak of yet. Bought it in 2021. Heats evenly too, which is always a plus.
Barbara
@trollhattan: My mother refused to buy good cookware on the grounds that my father would destroy anything and she didn’t want to waste that much money. Plus, the disappointment level is so much higher when the lost pan or skillet was really great. As I found out for myself after I bought a few choice Christmas presents for her that my father boiled or burned into oblivion. She managed to make some wonderful things with her mediocre cookware. I still think of those original pans as the first ingredient in certain recipes. I have never equaled my mother’s scrambled eggs or fried potatoes that she always made in the pitted and scarred heavy frying pan.
Chetan Murthy
I have a non-stick Tefal pan that I’ve had for nearly 30yr, that I only use for making pancakes. So its surface is still intact (b/c I don’t make pancakes *that* often). But a few years ago, I got a Matfer Bourgeat carbon steel saute pan, and ….. once I got it properly seasoned, that was a revelation. Pancakes and crepes don’t stick! Huzzah! Omelets don’t stick! Amazing! I foresee never using that Tefal pan again.
From what I understand, the key is the seasoning, so any cheap carbon steel pan would do — just gotta season it right.
debit
@rikyrah: never used my air fryer for baking, but if there are instructions for using a convection oven, that should work.
JPL
Has this been mentioned? Don Blankenship is running as a democrat in WV… ugh from the hill
UncleEbeneezer
Also, not only is great cookware fairly cheap nowadays, but you can also get it just about everywhere. The supermarket, ethnic markets (Mexican, H-mart etc.), hardware stores, even some drug store/pharmacies etc. Like, if I want a Lodge pan, there’s a half-dozen places nearby that I can get one. I don’t think that was the case even 10-15 years ago.
Kristine
Back in the ’00’s when I was replacing the stuff I inherited from the folks—no, not great stuff—I looked at All-Clad. I had just started watching all the cooking shows and was all agog. Was just about ready to purchase a starter set (small sauce pan, small fry pan, lid) for over $200 when I paused and continued searching. Settled on a whole set of Cuisinart MultiClad Pro for the same price, and over the years added a few more pieces. Nice, hefty, and no difference that I can detect between those pieces and the All-Clad I did break down and buy. Plus I received some pretty nice knives as a bonus when I bought the fill-in pieces.
Love my 2 Le Creuset Dutch ovens, but don’t see the need to buy more. Bought mine on deep discount.
Also, all the pieces are induction-ready. I only lost the use of a couple of Calphalon pans when I made the switch.
Leto
@Barbara: my mother had a similar philosophy. She bought my dad a non-stick pan back in… ‘82? Loved it the first time he used it, then proceeded to use a steel wool pad to clean it because “it felt slick”. That was his first and only one.
@trollhattan: check out the article I linked in the post above your comment explaining the differences.
trollhattan
@JPL: Blankenship? He’s an actual murderer.
The Red Pen
@rikyrah: I was worried that an air-fryer was too close to being a single-use item. I don’t have a lot of space in my kitchen. So, ironically in light of limited space, I got something larger. It’s basically a small convection over the size of a small microwave. It air fries, but it also broils, bakes, and has programmed setting for pizza.
It has enough space to roast a chicken and I got the optional temperature probe that allow it to do this in a “set and forget” manner.
RandomMonster
For Christmas, RandomMrs bought us a set of three GreenPan ceramic-coated non-stick frying pans, because we were sick of reading about teflon toxicity, and the fact that the damn things wear out so fast. The new pans are awesome (for when you want non-stick) and were like $99 or something.
Otherwise, we’re with you on only buying knives and pans we intend on keeping for life.
JPL
@trollhattan: Yup.
Ken
Hmm, I may have to rethink my current cookware, which I sardonically call “bachelor lifestyle”. Your one pot cycles:
Obviously on Saturday you run it through the dishwasher, with all the other dirty dishes and utensils you’ve accumulated that week.
Jackie
@NotMax: I have a set of Revereware bought in ‘76. Still use to this day. I hand wash plus use a copper cleaner paste with every wash. It’s a ritual. They look brand new and I love them.
About 25 years ago I discovered an old Revereware HEAVY skillet buried in the back of mom’s kitchen cupboard in terrible disrepair. My parents bought it used at a secondhand store in 1953 and used it for camp cooking over fires!😳 I took it home and miraculously, over time, managed to bring back to its beautiful copper-bottomed glory. It has one small dent in the side from campfire cooking, but otherwise looks new. I love that skillet!
Lyrebird
@Another Scott: Thanks! And hear, hear! Good tools make a big difference.
Had a friend who got almost all her clothing second hand (note: this is not a good solution for everyone, not claiming it is), grew most of her own food, not a big spender… except for a few key items from that Smith and Hawken garden catalog. Because they were the BEST tools for the job.
CaseyL
@NotMax: Thank you! OK, I ordered the pan I saw on Ebay.* It will feel good to get rid of the old pan, warhorse though it has been :)
*I try not to buy from Amazon if I can possibly avoid it. Ailwyn appears not to have any other outlets, but I checked Ebay and lucked out.
Anyway
Wait, Joelle’s kitchen didn’t have a skillet?!
p.a.
Around 1960 USG said cast iron pans should indicate country of origin. If your cast iron doesn’t indicate, it’s probably older. I have a meh 6″ Taiwan, nice 8″ Wagner no USA mark, and one 10″ that looks to be Birmingham Iron Works, judging by the ridge down the middle of the handle’s underside. All inherited.
Don’t baby them. You think the 19th century women with 7 kids had the time to gently scour them with salt for 5 minutes to get ’em clean while the rest of the stuff soaked in the sink? Get a decent seasoning, and use them. Soap & water is fine, just dry, lightly reseason & fucking cook in them.
My very large grandma pot is cast aluminum and has been used for pasta sauce (SUNDAY GRAVY!) for generations, and is a no-no because of the acid/aluminum issue. The can pry it out of my cold dead hand, I’m not retiring it.
ETA: Oh, and while I’m ranting, everyone seen the B&W Julia child originals? She did all that on electric calrods. So there.
Leto
@Chetan Murthy: so I have a set of Made-In carbon steel pans. The difference between those and your Matfer? 1 mm. And it makes a world of difference in how heat is spread/handled, as well as how well the seasoning holds. I struggle with the Made-In, and after further research it’s not just me. If I wanted to stick to just steaks, I wouldn’t mind. But I wanted them for all the rest of the cooking I could do, and I’m not happy with them. Wasn’t a big outlay, but will be purchasing some Matfers in the coming future.
Brachiator
I was listening to the radio this morning, and two talk radio hosts were talking about 13 kitchen items professional chefs think are useless. An example,
I tracked down the source article here.
Anybody use a shrimp de-veiner? Or a garlic press?
debit
Chetan Murthy
@Brachiator: For decades I’d minced my garlic with a knife — and yeah, also smash flat it with the knife, etc, but I always struggled to get the garlic really finely minced. Finally a few months ago I got a garlic press, and I gotta say, I really like it. So much easier and faster, but more importantly, now my garlic is actually minced. Maybe I should have searched for “how to mince garlic for idiots”.
CaseyL
@debit: Garlic presses also fit neatly into the “something they can probably use, will probably like, but are unlikely to buy on their own” category of gifts.
NotMax
@Ken
May I humbly suggest a hefty size bowl with a handle (nukable!) for soup, pastas, stews, mac ‘n’ cheese, cereals and so on?
As I live alone, a single one is enough and has served me well for years.
Leto
@Brachiator: I’ve heard chefs say the exact opposite regarding garlic presses. I use one for the same reason debit does. I guess if I’d spent 10 years in a
sweat shopkitchen doing nothing but chopping garlic, yeah it’d be faster. But I don’t have mess with getting the skins off, I can repeat the process in seconds and get consistent quality each time. But I also have a similar debate with a friend regarding a peeler v a knife.RandomMonster
I’ve tried all sorts over the years and never found one that wasn’t a total pain in the ass to use/clean. So I either just mince, or resort to the frozen crushed garlic you can buy now. (Frozen minced ginger is also awesome!)
Chief Oshkosh
OT: Another Biden BFD, (warning, link to The Great Orange Satan):
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2024/1/26/2219705/-Bill-McKibben-on-Biden-s-LNG-A-Massive-Win-and-What-it-Means?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web
The MSM is reporting it as a move that will negatively impact our international partners. McKibben in the DK article points out that “this is the biggest check any president has ever applied to the fossil fuel industry, and the strongest move against dirty energy in American history“
Jackie
OT:
Wonder if TIFG will shut up until after the jury announces the actual awards. Heh, I jest!🤭
Leto
@NotMax: I have a number of those! Use them for all sorts of things, including what you listed. Great for french onion soup!
Leto
@Jackie: the off button is located in places nobody will ever touch, so we’re SOL on him shutting up.
piratedan
@Anyway: no need, in Arizona there IS a taco truck on every corner.
Jackie
@RandomMonster: Smash the clove with the flat side of a large knife, then use knife to do a quick mince, scoop garlic with same knife and done! And you keep your fingers garlic-free.
rikyrah
@NotMax:
I need some bowls. The ones I have just aren’t big enough.
Nor deep enough.
NotMax
@CaseyL
Used to be an Amazon link in the sidebar which when used for purchases would trickle a few shekels into Cole’s coffers, but that seems to have vanished.
phein64
I wish we could have good things, but as I’m the only adult out of the four currently living here who takes care of cookware, I tend to go cheaper and cycle through on everything except cast iron and whisky glasses.
About 18 months ago, I ordered one of those Blue Diamond 12″ skillets on sale on Amazon for about $20. When they box arrived, it had four skillets, although I was only charged for one. [No, I don’t feel bad about keeping them. Why?]
They pretty much do what we need a 12″ pan to do, and are easy to clean. There is starting to be some wear around the rim, but that’s all.
Leto
@Jackie: put garlic in press; press; done! And you keep your fingers garlic-free.
gvg
Check out estate sales. You can pick up a lot of kitchen stuff there cheap if you beat the other people. A lot of people have junk, just like all things, but some have really good stuff. I picked up 4 Revereware for $20. However, I want to go induction and they won’t work for that. I have also found some good stuff at Homegoods. I am a careless cook. Sorry, not sorry. I can cook some things well, but it mostly bores me and that means I can burn things. Decided never to do teflon again. I always seek stainless steel. It works for me.
Amazon can be a challenge. I use it, but I hate all the substitute generics that have very few sales or reviews and random letter names. They are flooding the searches, when I want to seek established companies with a reputation. Haven’t figured out how to make the search give me that. Factory outlets used to be good for it too, but lately they seem to be going under.
Chetan Murthy
Knives ….. I had a Victorinox chef’s knife for years and years. Then recently I bought a (cheep!) chinese cleaver from The Wok Shop (in SF’s Chinatown) and …. since then, I rarely-if-ever use the chef’s knife. The cleaver is so much better. If I’d only known decades ago!
I bought some sharpening stones, but it was suuuuch PITA I didn’t sharpen but like once a year. So eventually I bought an electric knife sharpener, and boy howdy, my knives stay much sharper b/c I use it like once every month-or-two. World of difference.
Dorothy A. Winsor
@Chetan Murthy: I use a garlic press. I’d never try to grate a garlic clove. I’d skin my fingers.
Chetan Murthy
@Dorothy A. Winsor: right there with you. I have a microplane grater, and sure I’d use it for grating a nub of ginger. But for grating up 4-6 cloves of garlic? Oh man, I’m sure I’d end up losing some skin.
Jackie
@Leto: Cleaning a press is a PITA – and time consuming trying to get all the nooks and crannies garlic free.
Ken
@NotMax: Well, when you say “nukable” that’s a sticking point. No microwave, you see; largely because my apartment’s counter space is limited.
Chetan Murthy
@gvg:
Oh boy, I remember when i was young, poor, and in grad school. Used to drive around to all the estate sales in the Finger Lakes area and fitted out my entire house: bed, couch, table, kitchen, everything. I remember trying to bargain down a rolling pin:
“how about 50c ?”
“Dude, it’s only a dollar!”
Ha! I figured you had to negotiate, right?
wmd
Buying quality fits the Sam Vimes Boots theory of socioeconomic unfairness.
And I agree that la Creuset isn’t worth the extra money – you’re not paying for substantially better quality even though the aesthetics of a set of La Creuset is outstanding. I’ve got a lodge enameled cast iron dutch oven that I expect to keep forever.
My first quality chef’s knife is a Sabatier high carbon steel knife. I don’t use it much nowadays because it needs to be immediately cleaned and dried after use. Replaced it with a Gerber Balance Plus in stainless, which still gets use, but most days I’m using a cheap Cuisenart knife with a somewhat shorter blade.
Chetan Murthy
@Ken: You probably have a small kitchen? My kitchen’s counter space is limited, but it’s got lots of floor space, so I bought one of those rolling islands. Actually, I have two — one that I’ve had for 20yr, and another (with a granite top) that I bought a few months ago. Great stuff! The granite top is grrrreat! as a workspace for rolling out dough, kneading, and esp. shaping loaves.
Leto
@Jackie: True; that’s why I use a Zyliss with the built in cleaner. Has a super simple plastic cleaner tool that has the shape of the press on one end. Press into grates, remove skin, clean device same way you’d clean the knife. You guys are making it sound like you’re stripping/regreasing a Kitchen Aide mixer. It’s a garlic press. Uniformity/consistency/speed.
Quinerly
Didn’t read all the comments, I assume that everyone knows you can hit some high-end cookware at rock bottom prices, even better than Amazon, at HomeGoods and Marshall’s. Usually pieces that don’t match, have been discontinued, maybe a dented piece. All my enamel cast iron, heavy gage stock pots, and high end frying pans have come from there. Aldi sometimes has the nice enameled cast iron knock off Le Creuset Dutch ovens dirt cheap. I have a giant red one that I just used this AM. I guess it’s on it 20th year. Stove top to oven and I can tell no difference in it from a pedigreed one. My regular old cast iron all came from the Lodge Outlet in Tennessee. My favorite smaller pots are these odd hammered thick metal ones that I grew up with. I think my parents got them after they married and before I came on the scene. They always make me think of them when I use them.
Love your posts, Cole!
prostratedragon
“The Right Tool for the Job,: Marcia Ball
randy khan
I am willing to spend money on really good knives, or rather I was, since I now have the ones I want.
But I also bought a nice set of Calphalon more than 30 years ago and it has served me really well. I threw in one non-stick frying pan a while back and, again, haven’t really felt the need for anything else in the pots and pans category. I did something similar with baking pans – two really high-quality half-sheet pans that we use over and over again for all sorts of things. It’s not that expensive to buy good cookware, especially these days, and it just makes your life so much better.
Chetan Murthy
@wmd:
I bought a 6qt during the pandemic, used it for baking sourdough. Gunked it up but good with carbonized dough. Tried to clean it, went thru baking soda, then barkeeper’s friend, etc. No avail, and I probably scratched the surface a bit. After the pandemic I stopped baking sourdough util this summer. When I restarted, I learned that you can clean off the gunk with a 25% solution of bleach — just leave it overnight. I did that, and yep, it cleaned it off. But somehow in all that, I guess the enamel got damaged, b/c when I baked sourdough with it next, the enamel started flaking off.
I emailed Lodge, sent ’em pics, explained that I’d used it for sourdough, and…. they sent me a replacement pot! ha! Said I should upcycle or whatever the one I had.
So yeah, that lodge will last forever, I guess, b/c if it ever gets damaged, I can get a replacement.
Kristine
Another fan of garlic presses. All nicely smashed and I don’t have to deal with the residual left behind on/in the cutting board.
Cheryl from Maryland
@dmsilev: Yes, I have a 10 year old Lodge enameled Dutch oven. Also Lodge cast iron skillets. My mother seasoned a set of three for me 45 years ago, and they are still my go to skillets.
Leto
@Quinerly: Costco has a partnership with Le Crueset where they do 1 off runs on items for low prices. Always a good idea to keep an eye out. Plus they do different colors for them versus the normal stuff.
dr. luba
No one has mentioned Aldi yet. Aldi finds often have decent cookware and cutlery. I bought a soup pot, dutch oven, and lots of knives there. All cheap and reasonably good quality. Sure, they may wear out a bit faster, but at 65 I’m not horribly concerned about that.
I own many good knives (Japanese knives bought at the recommendation of a friend who trained at the Cordon Bleu), but use my Aldi Santoku daily.
For sharpening knives, the Wustof sharpener really does a good job; I take it with me, in my knife roll, when I travel to the UP, and sharpen all of my freinds’ knives while I visit. I also cook for them, and bring bags of TJ’s cookies and sesame oil, so am a welcome guest.
Kristine
My method for cleaning enameled cast iron: baking soda + 3% hydrogen peroxide, heat to boiling/foaming, let cool. Works great on the Le Creuset. Different ratios of ingredients online.
I don’t get the shine back on the cooking surface, just the color.
Chetan Murthy
@randy khan: “set of Calphalon”
I have to say, I bought a 9pc set for $250, 15yr ago, and I’m pretty disapppointed in it. Several of the pieces have lost their anodized coating, and the frying pans were never very nonstick to begin with. If I’d known better, I’d have gone with carbon steel frying pans and enameled dutch ovens.
cain
Tesla stock fell 12% as it warns about a slowdown- poor poor Elon.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tesla-stock-falls-12-as-ev-maker-warns-production-growth-will-be-notably-lower-than-2023-210154852.html
Leto
@randy khan: like all tools, maintenance of those tools is key. Also I think for beginners, they need to go through the cheap stuff first so they can get a handle on cooking basics before moving up. Cheaper/less frustrating in the long run.
mrmoshpotato
That bread – also an ass post.
Denali5
I blame Amazon.
Nix Besser (fmr. steppy)
Good lord, so much stuff to respond to!
My greatest cookware score was a 6 quart enameled dutch oven from Target that was being discontinued. Got it at least 15 years ago for $40. I defy anyone to say that le Creuset outperforms it.
A great-uncle handed down an unbranded cast iron skillet that must be close to 100 years old now. My wife and I have picked up some other vintage stuff (a Wagner and a Griswold). If I was allowed only one vessel to cook in, it would be a cast iron skillet. I don’t care for Lodge, especially their newer stuff–I don’t like the sandblasted finish.
We are still on an old cheap rice cooker, but I’d love a Zojirushi. We have their fancy-ass bread machine and we bake several loaves a week for ourselves and to give to friends and neighbors.
And, we just got an upgrade to our Food Saver vacuum sealer. That thing is worth its weight in gold, especially during the growing season. We are getting half a hog at some time soon and the Food Saver will be working overtime.
Almost Retired
I cook frequently but I’m not at all good at it and my wife won’t let me near the quality cookware. Although I can’t cook, I offset that by also being utterly useless at home repair.
ETA. Also, I didn’t even know what a Dutch oven is, except in the fraternity boy sense. So I had to look it up. Now I know, so this day is not wholly wasted.
Leto
@Chetan Murthy: non-stick has a limited cooking life. That’s fundamental when buying non-stick: you will have to replace it as the coating eventually wears off. On top of the fact that a lot of the earlier non-stick chemicals leeched into your food. It’s why they’re all non-PBOA, and this/that now. Yeah, stainless steel/carbon steel will serve everyone infinitely better as they basically last forever (with proper maintenance). Less stuff going into the trash, less landfill waste, etc.
Chetan Murthy
@Leto: Yes, that’s what I didn’t realize about Calphalon. I was led to believe that “anodized aluminum” wasn’t the same as Teflon, and would last. Ah, well. S’ok, now I know. Eventually those Calphalon should somehow get recycled. If only I knew how to do that when I don’t have a car.
Leto
@Almost Retired: If they can’t find you handsome, they can at least find you handy – Red Green Show :P
Jay C
The New York Times’ “Wirecutter” section did a review last month of Dutch ovens: they only rated two: Le Creuset and non-Le-Creuset: the latter being Lodge; they liked it; and at 1/3 the price.
M31
inherited an old cast iron pan (with the super smooth cooking surface) and finally turned it over and squinted at the bottom to read the brand, “Piqua Ware” which went out of business in like 1935
awesome pan, practically non stick to this day
bought a huge cast iron frying pan, ugly and covered with crusty carbon on the outside, for $1 at a yard sale, took it home and fried some chicken in it, now the inside is smooth as glass, mmmmm, weighs a ton though
LOL the cast iron discourse on places like Reddit is so amusing, half the people are seasoning their pans every week, and fetishizing their sliding around over-easy eggs, and the other half are telling everyone to shut up and cook something you loons
Leto
@Chetan Murthy: I think non-stick, in principle, is really good. Think about how the home life, over the past 50 years, has changed wrt how we cook. The primary person doing that was the wife, and that knowledge was handed down from mom-to-daughter over the generations. But as more women entered the workforce, we needed faster/easier ways to cook. This was one of them. Just over the preceding years, we’ve found out how this is detrimental. Also I think about how many men I know who love to cook. That’s another benefit just because it gives men something else to talk about rather than sports, work, or politics :P
What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?
I got a set of Cuisinart pots and pans when we got our new induction range for a pretty reasonable price considering it was like 3 skillets, a saute pan, a smaller saucepan and a larger pot (3 quarts maybe) and a big pasta pot, all with lids (plus a vegetable steamer that fits in the medium sized pot) for like $150. I think it’s the multiclad pro line. A long term house sitter put some scratches on the cooking surfaces of a couple, not sure how (maybe used my chain mail scrubber I have for cast iron on them?) but they still work fine. I also have the lodge enamel cast iron dutch oven and a couple cast iron skillets from them.
The one trendy gadget I use the most is the instant pot. Making beans without pre soaking, making rice without worrying about boil over, making bone broth out of a turkey or chicken carcass in a fraction of the time and set it and forget it convenience…I made spare ribs and sauerkraut in it once and went from prep to fall off the bone tender ribs in less than an hour. I have had a few other kitchen gadgets over the years but that is the one you’d have to fight me for.
Chetan Murthy
@Leto:
Next you’re gonna tell me that all this chit-chat about ovenspring over at the baking Discord is just lekkng behaviour! *grin
Kristine
@What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us?: That Cuisinart set sounds like mine—you got a great deal on price.
Mai Naem mobile
@NotMax: thats the old Revere stuff. The new stuff is garbage. I bought some millennium pieces years ago from a dept store going out of business sale and they had a good run ~ 25 years. I like the Costco triple clad stuff. They usually have a good deal on it around the holidays. The restaurant stores also have some good quality stuff at decent prices.
mrmoshpotato
Haha! Well said.
John Cole
@NotMax: That is what my grandmother had and it was fabulous.
Ruckus
As a person who manufactured things for a living, mostly tools for industry to use to create things that humans bought for everyday needs and for toys for those that were too young to do much but play. I’ve seen a lot of things sold that have a touted name and really are not better than many of the same goods at cheaper prices. IOW you are often paying for the name. Back 30-40 yrs ago it was mostly human skill that made good stuff and a somewhat lack of it that made less good stuff. But today the machines used are far more accurate and most often does not mean the product is as much different. And so today, buying “better” does often not mean spending more, or at least not a lot more.
In our lifetimes this is a dramatic change in the somewhat less noticeable aspects of living.
IOW quality is relatively cheaper today than it was. Can you still buy crap? Sure! Can you buy well designed and well made stuff that works and lasts – at a relatively lower price? Yes, yes you can.
John Cole
@Anyway: this super lightweight nonstick lined thing like a set of pots and pains where you get 18 pieces for 29 dollars and you dent it taking it out of the box. It was horrifying.
And then amongst all the horrifying things like that I open drawers and cabinets and find OG glass pans (like 6 different sizes that people would kill for) these beautiful Corning Ware casserole and other pans WITH LIDS like shit from the 40’s and 50’s that again I would kill for oh and two 500 dollar kitchen aid food processors that were given to her.
Keith P.
@Kristine: I got some Cuisinart pans around that time frame as well. The plates on the bottom of a couple popped off. Now I have All-Clad (and a Le Creuset), and they’ve been essentially indestructible (although my brother managed to delaminate one of his)
Chetan Murthy
@Keith P.: If by “delaminate” you mean that the Le Creuset lost its enamel coating, you can write to ’em and they’ll replace it. A friend of mine had that happen. Lifetime warranty.
Czar Chasm
@HumboldtBlue: Zojirushi also makes the best damn insulated travel mugs out there. I still have one I bought 9 years ago, and WOWWWEEE! One winter, I had some hot cocoa in it that morning, forgot about and left the mug in my car on a day that got up to only 20 degrees outside. When I came back to my car that evening and found the mug, the cocoa was STILL warm. Lifetime loyalty earned right there.
mrmoshpotato
@Lyrebird:
Target buy?
Kristine
@Keith P.:
That’s the Chef Classic line. The Pro line pans are all one-piece and so far seem to be pretty good dupes of All-Clad.
mrmoshpotato
@Leto: Yay Zyliss!
Kristine
@Leto: I’m going to get a Zyliss. My old Kuhn Rikon is great but one of the nuts is stripped and keeps popping out.
Lyrebird
@mrmoshpotato: Indeed – they have it separate, thank you!
Plastic holds tastes too well, and when you’re making smoothies one week and Korean soup stock another, not so good.
Scout211
My mother had Revereware pots and pans and they were awesome. I got my first set as a wedding present and then I went to the Revereware outlet off and on for the next 20 years or so and picked up a dutch oven, a soup pot, cookie sheets, lasagna pan, 9×11 pan, 9×9 pan, round cake pans, muffin pans and maybe something else I can’t think of right now.
They are super thick stainless steel and so easy to clean and heat evenly and are just indestructible. I love them all.
A few years ago in a balloon-juice discussion, a commenter was asking for recommendations for good stainless steel bakeware because she was getting frustrated with the kind she was using and wanted bakeware that was thicker and easier to clean. I recommended all my Revereware bakeware and she responded back after she looked it up: they don’t make them anymore.
I love my large Revereware soup pot. But the only place you can find one now is in a second-hand store or maybe an online marketplace somewhere.
Another Scott
@gvg: I often do a Google search for something before I hit Amazon. Amazon’s search is seemingly intentionally broken (they want to sell you featured stuff, not stuff you’re looking for). Lots of time you have to have the particular product name or model number to find it among all the dreck. :-/
While at Amazon, I also almost always look at the ratio of 5* reviews, and almost always read the 1 and 2 star reviews (to try to account for places that have masses of fake reviews). Lately, looking at the number of those items bought in last week/month (listed just under the stars at the start of the listing) can be helpful.
If it’s something spendy, then I’ll also check other vendors (e.g., Provantage, B&H for electronics stuff) to make sure there aren’t hidden bargains elsewhere.
[ /TMI ]
It’s hard to be a smart online shopper these days!
Good luck.
Cheers,
Scott.
Citizen Alan
@JPL: Pretty diabolical. Win the Dem primary purely on name recognition and crossover votes. Then, either a GOoPer wins the general or an ultraconservative Dem does before promptly switching parties after the election.
And yes, Don Blankenship is a murderer who got away with it.
Shalimar
My sister worked at a Le Creuset store for years so almost everything I have is Le Creuset stuff she got for free for meeting sales goals. I love it all, but I wouldn’t pay for it if I had to. I would go with the much cheaper stuff that is 90% as good too.
Scout211
I still buy from Amazon but I do sometimes take a long time to find what I am looking for, with multiple different ways to search for it.
They have changed their search to favor certain vendors but they also have changed searched to make results regional. They announced that they were doing this because it saves on shipping costs. The vendors near you are listed first on your search and vendors who are selling the same or similar things but are across the country get bumped down on your search list. So it sometimes takes multiple searches and multiple pages to find what you want.
It’s definitely frustrating.
Steve in the ATL
No love for Caraway? We have almost completely abandoned our All-Clad since getting that. It’s fantastic, and remains non-stick.
Ruckus
@Leto:
There are only 2 things that will shut him up.
Confinement in his own soundproof cell, OR his demise.
SFB thinks he is the height of humanity and above every human on the planet.
Not everyone agrees with him……
Mai Naem mobile
@John Cole: Corning Ware went into bankruptcy last year. I had no idea until my sister asked for a Corning Ware serving bowl cover that she lost. Corning Ware is one of the best everyday use American made products ever made. Pretty much indestructible. You pretty much have to want to destroy it to destroy it.
Another Scott
@Mai Naem mobile:
Replacements, LTD is your friend.
:-)
Cheers,
Scott.
Scout211
Yes, along with Revereware. In fact, back when outlet shopping was really a bargain, the Corning/Revere outlet was always my go-to destination.
Quinerly
@Leto: I have way too many pots! And moved them all here. Loved a lot of my parents pieces so when I sold both the house I grew up in and the beach place, packed up those older pots. Don’t ask me how many sets of Corning Ware have ended up here between those two places and from my 40 year run in St. Louis.
I really need to get rid of some stuff.
Gin & Tonic
@Czar Chasm: Everyone in my family has a Zojirushi travel mug. But they’re almost too good – most of my family members drink their coffee black, and if you fill one of those with hot black coffee you are likely long since at your destination before you can take a sip.
Suzanne
@Scout211:
I think that was me! I ended up buying a bunch of metal bakeware from USA Pan. I had to throw two of the baking sheets away because the silicone coating seemed to be damaged by the dishwasher and were getting smoky in my oven. (My Spawns and SuzMom and Mr. Suzanne all use the kitchen stuff a lot and I’m sure that non-dishwasher-safe stuff has made a few accidental trips through it.)
I replaced those two a couple of months ago with Williams-Sonoma Goldtouch after reading lots of reviews. They are A M A Z I N G for cookies. We’ll see how they hold up.
I will also note that a friend let me know a few months ago about a Le Creuset sample sale, and I bought a set of three ceramic baking dishes of different sizes for, like, $50. They are A W E S O M E.
Princess
A family friend solves the prof cleaning his garlic press…by never cleaning it at all. There’s a certain logic to it. Garlic itself is mildly anti bacterial. If left alone, residual particles of garlic will just dry up and fall out. And let’s face it, you aren’t going to use the press for anything else.
Manyakitty
@Lyrebird: in case you check back, get a stainless steel one at a restaurant supply. At least that’s my plan when the time comes. Meanwhile, my 35 year old Revere Ware stainless with the black handles still serves me well.
Paul in KY
@JPL: As long as he caucuses with Dems & votes for Schurmer as majority leader (stuff that Sen. Manchin does), I say I hope he wins and will congratulate the Democratic Sen. Blankenship!!
Paul in KY
@Paul in KY: I don’t think he’ll win.
randy khan
@Chetan Murthy:
That’s a shame.
I will say that Calphalon seems to have gone more mass market in the recent past. But the ones that I bought in the late 1980s (possibly as late as 1990) are still going strong. They are thick and heavy, so they hold heat well, and nigh unto indestructible. Also, I paid considerably more than $250 for them in 30+ years ago dollars, and that was at a Calphalon outlet store.
UncleEbeneezer
In other news two of tennis’ biggest assholes: one accused by multiple exes of domestic violence (Zverev) and one who is the world’s biggest, anti-vax douche (Djokovic) were both eliminated from the Australian Open!
And Zheng Qinwen becomes the first Chinese woman since Li Na, to make a final of a Major (her first Major final appearance where she will face reigning champion, Sabalenka).
randy khan
@Suzanne:
We got our baking sheets (actually half sheet pans) at Sur La Table maybe 15 years ago and they are fantastic. The coating is wearing off a bit on the edges, but they’re still fine and we really didn’t care about the non-stick part anyway, as we use Silpat when baking cookies and the like and grease the pans well when we’re doing other things.
karen marie
I recommend the restaurant supply store in Mesa (1305 Main Street – Standard Restaurant Supply). I go there when I need to replace a coated pan or feel like I need a new bowl. Or soup spoons! I bought a box of 20 bouillon spoons a couple years ago but only wanted six, so I gave one each to kids around my apartment complex for Christmas that year. They already thought I was weird but that didn’t help my reputation. I love bouillon spoons. They’re so pretty and more better for eating soup (or anything, really) than a regular spoon.
I believe that’s where I also got my 1,000 sheet box of parchment paper (full size sheet pan), although I don’t see it on their website. It’s been so long since I bought it, it may have been somewhere similar. It’s the same price at webrestaurantstore that I paid six years ago. I love having the sheets because they always lay flat, unlike rolls, and after six years I’m not halfway through it. I recommend the full sheet pan size to reduce clean up. I fold the sheets in half to use in my half-sheet pans.
mkd
@dr. luba:
i helped two granddaughters who are at college set up their apartment kitchens with Aldi pots and cast iron cookware. they may go on later to get fancier Staub or Le Creuset but the Aldi stuff is great for starting out without breaking the bank .
sab
My dutch oven was my grandmother’s. I think she bought it almost exactly 100 years ago. It still works fine. Ditto her meat grinder. The other grandmother left an aluminum egg coddler that I also still use.
sab
@Chacal Charles Calthrop: The old cast iron ( Erie and Griswold) were polished after the were cast, so they are smooth inside, not nubbly like modern Lodge and Legend pots. It is so much easier to maintain them as smooth and not sticky. I use my Lodge pot for stew, but I really dislike trying to fry anything in it.
In the midwest thrift stores are a great place to find great cookware for amazimg low prices.
Tom V
I was gifted the large Hexclad saute pan about 6 months ago.
Awesome pan! Well worth the (high) price!
Czar Chasm
@Gin & Tonic: My partner sees that as a feature, while I have a cat tongue. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
NotMax
@Scout211
Never used it myself but know people who swear by (rather than swear at) the CamelCamelCamel comparison shopping app.
Keith P.
@Chetan Murthy: Na, his All-Clad developed a bubble. He heat-shocked it, which isn’t covered under warranty
ronno2018
wait, john went to grad school? what degree does he have? what a cool dude!
catclub
So we have had our knives for 40+ years and there is maybe 1/5th of their life gone to sharpening.
More like 1/10th. Except the bread knife is hard to sharpen back to factory sharp.
catclub
I am not sure normal people can tell any quality difference between Lodge and Le Creuset Enamel pans.
But they can tell the price difference.