What Cookware Is the Best?

 

Spilling over from Susan’s post on Kamala’s recent cookware purchases is a minor debate on what cookware works the best, for what purpose, and at what price. @doctorrobert, @kedavis, and @jimmcconnell have already commented. But what do you think? I suppose I started the digression with this comment:

I confess to you, I have one of these. I’ve only used it once to fry a single egg. I told my wife before l’affaire Kamala that she might as well start using it — we’re not getting any younger.

Mauviel Copper M'200 CI Fry Pan

Mauviel Copper M’200 CI Fry Pan

Select : 12″

$435  (It was much cheaper when I bought it.)

Williams-Sonoma many years ago. Up ’til now it’s just been too special to use.

What is your favorite skillet, chicken fryer, or saucepan?

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  1. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    My wife swears by cast iron.

    It’s very good. It just takes so long to heat, though. But it’s cheap, durable, and non-stick. Perhaps I’ve been using too thick a skillet. Cast iron is certainly the best for dutch ovens. And cauldrons, but who uses them anymore.

    We do have a crane on our fireplace so Lynda can cook over the fire. I guess she’d use a cauldron. I don’t guess it’s like having a cauldron out in the middle of the heath.

    Peas porridge in the pot nine days old.  They say that houses kept a pot in the fireplace on simmer 24 hours a day.  Don’t know if it’s true, but it does away with the need for refrigeration.

    • #91
  2. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    My wife swears by cast iron.

    It’s very good. It just takes so long to heat, though. But it’s cheap, durable, and non-stick. Perhaps I’ve been using too thick a skillet. Cast iron is certainly the best for dutch ovens. And cauldrons, but who uses them anymore.

    We do have a crane on our fireplace so Lynda can cook over the fire. I guess she’d use a cauldron. I don’t guess it’s like having a cauldron out in the middle of the heath.

    Peas porridge in the pot nine days old. They say that houses kept a pot in the fireplace on simmer 24 hours a day. Don’t know if it’s true, but it does away with the need for refrigeration.

    It would probably take a while to learn how to use it.

    Lynda insisted on the crane.  Just in case.

    • #92
  3. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    My wife swears by cast iron.

    It’s very good. It just takes so long to heat, though. But it’s cheap, durable, and non-stick. Perhaps I’ve been using too thick a skillet. Cast iron is certainly the best for dutch ovens. And cauldrons, but who uses them anymore.

    When I was doing my Jacque Pepin omelet-making impression this morning, I used an 8-inch non-stick Le Creuset pan. Even though it’s non-stick the booklet that came with it suggests “seasoning” it every 15 or 20 uses. Anyway, it does a good job.

    You shake a Le Creuset?! Anyway, I never understood seasoning enamel. Have you tried it?

    This one isn’t enameled. It’s an old looking little thing, seems to have some sort of ceramic coating on it.I think it’s heavy gauge aluminum with a steel plate in the bottom to make it work with induction cooktops.

    But you shake it? I can’t shake it and scrape it at the same time. I feel like I’m having a seizure coming on.

    I do it pretty much like this: 

    • #93
  4. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    My wife swears by cast iron.

    It’s very good. It just takes so long to heat, though. But it’s cheap, durable, and non-stick. Perhaps I’ve been using too thick a skillet. Cast iron is certainly the best for dutch ovens. And cauldrons, but who uses them anymore.

    We do have a crane on our fireplace so Lynda can cook over the fire. I guess she’d use a cauldron. I don’t guess it’s like having a cauldron out in the middle of the heath.

    Peas porridge in the pot nine days old. They say that houses kept a pot in the fireplace on simmer 24 hours a day. Don’t know if it’s true, but it does away with the need for refrigeration.

    It would probably take a while to learn how to use it.

    Lynda insisted on the crane. Just in case.

    I think once you get the pot boiling you put the cauldron near the fire, but not over it, and stew in it.  I suppose, you could use it dry as a baking oven.  Hey, you could make flat bread by throwing rounds to stick against the inside.  But using the crane in and out to provide indirect heat is probably the key to temperature control.

    • #94
  5. TBA Coolidge
    TBA
    @RobtGilsdorf

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    My wife swears by cast iron.

    It’s very good. It just takes so long to heat, though. But it’s cheap, durable, and non-stick. Perhaps I’ve been using too thick a skillet. Cast iron is certainly the best for dutch ovens. And cauldrons, but who uses them anymore.

    We do have a crane on our fireplace so Lynda can cook over the fire. I guess she’d use a cauldron. I don’t guess it’s like having a cauldron out in the middle of the heath. And there’d only be one of her.

    How long do you normally cook a crane? 

    • #95
  6. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Django (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    My wife swears by cast iron.

    It’s very good. It just takes so long to heat, though. But it’s cheap, durable, and non-stick. Perhaps I’ve been using too thick a skillet. Cast iron is certainly the best for dutch ovens. And cauldrons, but who uses them anymore.

    When I was doing my Jacque Pepin omelet-making impression this morning, I used an 8-inch non-stick Le Creuset pan. Even though it’s non-stick the booklet that came with it suggests “seasoning” it every 15 or 20 uses. Anyway, it does a good job.

    You shake a Le Creuset?! Anyway, I never understood seasoning enamel. Have you tried it?

    This one isn’t enameled. It’s an old looking little thing, seems to have some sort of ceramic coating on it.I think it’s heavy gauge aluminum with a steel plate in the bottom to make it work with induction cooktops.

    But you shake it? I can’t shake it and scrape it at the same time. I feel like I’m having a seizure coming on.

    I do it pretty much like this:

    He’s the only one I’ve ever seen do it that way.  He’s also liberal with the butter and the salt.  Looks delicious.

    But you do that every morning?  I take it your wife is already awake.

    • #96
  7. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    TBA (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    My wife swears by cast iron.

    It’s very good. It just takes so long to heat, though. But it’s cheap, durable, and non-stick. Perhaps I’ve been using too thick a skillet. Cast iron is certainly the best for dutch ovens. And cauldrons, but who uses them anymore.

    We do have a crane on our fireplace so Lynda can cook over the fire. I guess she’d use a cauldron. I don’t guess it’s like having a cauldron out in the middle of the heath. And there’d only be one of her.

    How long do you normally cook a crane?

    Longer than sparrow, shorter than flamingo.

    • #97
  8. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Django (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    My wife swears by cast iron.

    It’s very good. It just takes so long to heat, though. But it’s cheap, durable, and non-stick. Perhaps I’ve been using too thick a skillet. Cast iron is certainly the best for dutch ovens. And cauldrons, but who uses them anymore.

    When I was doing my Jacque Pepin omelet-making impression this morning, I used an 8-inch non-stick Le Creuset pan. Even though it’s non-stick the booklet that came with it suggests “seasoning” it every 15 or 20 uses. Anyway, it does a good job.

    You shake a Le Creuset?! Anyway, I never understood seasoning enamel. Have you tried it?

    This one isn’t enameled. It’s an old looking little thing, seems to have some sort of ceramic coating on it.I think it’s heavy gauge aluminum with a steel plate in the bottom to make it work with induction cooktops.

    But you shake it? I can’t shake it and scrape it at the same time. I feel like I’m having a seizure coming on.

    I do it pretty much like this:

    He’s the only one I’ve ever seen do it that way. He’s also liberal with the butter and the salt. Looks delicious.

    But you do that every morning? I take it your wife is already awake.

    Certainly not every morning. 

    • #98
  9. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    We splurged on a set of All-Clad cookware about 18 years ago, which proved to be an excellent investment; it all still looks and works great. We also have some Lodge cast iron cookware (skillet, grill skillet, grill flatiron), and a Tramontino enamel cast-iron dutch oven (works as well as Le Creuset at a fraction of the price). The one thing we regularly have to buy is a non-stick skillet every few years. No matter how hard you try, that teflon is gonna get scratched. Our latest is from MadeIn and it’s my favorite yet.

    • #99
  10. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):

    We splurged on a set of All-Clad cookware about 18 years ago, which proved to be an excellent investment; it all still looks and works great. We also have some Lodge cast iron cookware (skillet, grill skillet, grill flatiron), and a Tramontino enamel cast-iron dutch oven (works as well as Le Creuset at a fraction of the price). The one thing we regularly have to buy is a non-stick skillet every few years. No matter how hard you try, that teflon is gonna get scratched. Our latest is from MadeIn and it’s my favorite yet.

    I got one just for eggs, but my wife uses it to fry bacon and stew in among other things which ruins if pretty quickly.  What do you find the teflon useful for?

    Added: I assume it’s for special uses.

    • #100
  11. Django Member
    Django
    @Django

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):

    We splurged on a set of All-Clad cookware about 18 years ago, which proved to be an excellent investment; it all still looks and works great. We also have some Lodge cast iron cookware (skillet, grill skillet, grill flatiron), and a Tramontino enamel cast-iron dutch oven (works as well as Le Creuset at a fraction of the price). The one thing we regularly have to buy is a non-stick skillet every few years. No matter how hard you try, that teflon is gonna get scratched. Our latest is from MadeIn and it’s my favorite yet.

    I got one just for eggs, but my wife uses it to fry bacon and stew in among other things which ruins if pretty quickly. What do you find the teflon useful for?

    This has worked well for me for several years. 

    • #101
  12. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Django (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):

    We splurged on a set of All-Clad cookware about 18 years ago, which proved to be an excellent investment; it all still looks and works great. We also have some Lodge cast iron cookware (skillet, grill skillet, grill flatiron), and a Tramontino enamel cast-iron dutch oven (works as well as Le Creuset at a fraction of the price). The one thing we regularly have to buy is a non-stick skillet every few years. No matter how hard you try, that teflon is gonna get scratched. Our latest is from MadeIn and it’s my favorite yet.

    I got one just for eggs, but my wife uses it to fry bacon and stew in among other things which ruins if pretty quickly. What do you find the teflon useful for?

    This has worked well for me for several years.

    Oven safe and you can use metal in it.  That sounds very good.

    • #102
  13. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    I’m so glad this post has gone extremely well! It shows the topic was deserving of its own post. Great job!

    • #103
  14. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Susan Quinn (View Comment):

    I’m so glad this post has gone extremely well! It shows the topic was deserving of its own post. Great job!

    Yes, surprising, isn’t it?  But the more the merrier.

    • #104
  15. DaveSchmidt Coolidge
    DaveSchmidt
    @DaveSchmidt

    We are almost entirely a Revere Ware kitchen. Bought them as we could afford them, or found them at garage sales, shortly after we got married. Working just fine for nearly 5 decades. 

    • #105
  16. kedavis Coolidge
    kedavis
    @kedavis

    I think I might go with MadeIn just so I could say that Ricochet sent me.

    • #106
  17. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):
    The one thing we regularly have to buy is a non-stick skillet every few years. No matter how hard you try, that teflon is gonna get scratched.

    We do that, too. It goes in the dishwasher after each use. Once the teflon doesn’t work, we replace it. I use it for omelets.

    • #107
  18. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    DaveSchmidt (View Comment):

    We are almost entirely a Revere Ware kitchen. Bought them as we could afford them, or found them at garage sales, shortly after we got married. Working just fine for nearly 5 decades.

    My wife uses a Revere Ware pot that she inherited from my mother (which she got used), and it’s unlike any of the thin steel ones I was raised with.  It’s very thick, and is probably, I think, at least forty or fifty years old as well.

    • #108
  19. Jon Gabriel, Ed. Contributor
    Jon Gabriel, Ed.
    @jon

    Flicker (View Comment):

    I got one just for eggs, but my wife uses it to fry bacon and stew in among other things which ruins if pretty quickly.  What do you find the teflon useful for?

    Added: I assume it’s for special uses.

    I think eggs is all I use non-stick for. I make Jacques Pepin’s omelet recipe with tons of butter, but the teflon helps hide my culinary inability.

    • #109
  20. Flicker Coolidge
    Flicker
    @Flicker

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):

    I got one just for eggs, but my wife uses it to fry bacon and stew in among other things which ruins if pretty quickly. What do you find the teflon useful for?

    Added: I assume it’s for special uses.

    I think eggs is all I use non-stick for. I make Jacques Pepin’s omelet recipe with tons of butter, but the teflon helps hide my culinary inability.

    I noticed Pepin used a good bit of butter in a teflon skillet.  It reminds me of when, I think, Katie Couric had a French chef making scrambled eggs on her morning show and he said, First, we use a little butter!  And Katie said, But his is a non-stick pan; you don’t need to use butter.  And the chef leaned to her and smilingly said, For the taste!

    That’s one of my two Katie Couric learns to make scrambled eggs anecdotes.  The other was with Bobby Flay.  Katie never knew how to make scrambled eggs.  Bobby Flay wasn’t as kind.

    • #110
  21. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Flicker (View Comment):
    That’s one of my two Katie Couric learns to make scrambled eggs anecdotes.  The other was with Bobby Flay.  Katie never knew how to make scrambled eggs.

    Let’s just say that’s not where her fortune was made.

    • #111
  22. Skyler Coolidge
    Skyler
    @Skyler

    The best cookware is whatever someone else is doing the cooking with.

    • #112
  23. Guruforhire Inactive
    Guruforhire
    @Guruforhire

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    Not cookware, but prompted by “we’re not getting any younger, ” so we might as well use it is our Wedgwood China. Since realizing that neither of our kids had any interest in inheriting it, we decided we might as well use it, and not save it for special occasions. We even (horrors!) Put it in the dishwasher.

    When I got married I had read an article somewhere about things people wished they had done differently.  And one was not eating on china every day.

    So I went to the outlet center (Neither of us had any money at that point), and was going to buy a couple of place sets of china.  When I walked in they gave me a scratch off coupon, which for me ended up being the coveted 40% off coupon (the ladies were all atwitter about the coupon).  So ended up bringing home a 12 place set that we have been using daily ever since.

    We have added the mid sized plates, and most convenient “weekday” meals I think are better consumed out of a pasta bowl (pasta with sauce, and the many crock pot goo’s over rice).  So I recommend getting a handful of pasta bowls.

    • #113
  24. Guruforhire Inactive
    Guruforhire
    @Guruforhire

    Jon Gabriel, Ed. (View Comment):

    We splurged on a set of All-Clad cookware about 18 years ago, which proved to be an excellent investment; it all still looks and works great. We also have some Lodge cast iron cookware (skillet, grill skillet, grill flatiron), and a Tramontino enamel cast-iron dutch oven (works as well as Le Creuset at a fraction of the price). The one thing we regularly have to buy is a non-stick skillet every few years. No matter how hard you try, that teflon is gonna get scratched. Our latest is from MadeIn and it’s my favorite yet.

    https://www.greenpan.us/

    Your pastor will probably excommunicate you for your obvious and flagrant use of dark magic.

    • #114
  25. Chowderhead Coolidge
    Chowderhead
    @Podunk

    My vote is cast iron. Treat it well and it’s the best. Never wash it. Scrape it, wipe it, put it away. 

    • #115
  26. Basil Fawlty Member
    Basil Fawlty
    @BasilFawlty

    Cookware?

    • #116
  27. EHerring Coolidge
    EHerring
    @EHerring

    Guruforhire (View Comment):

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    Not cookware, but prompted by “we’re not getting any younger, ” so we might as well use it is our Wedgwood China. Since realizing that neither of our kids had any interest in inheriting it, we decided we might as well use it, and not save it for special occasions. We even (horrors!) Put it in the dishwasher.

    When I got married I had read an article somewhere about things people wished they had done differently. And one was not eating on china every day.

    So I went to the outlet center (Neither of us had any money at that point), and was going to buy a couple of place sets of china. When I walked in they gave me a scratch off coupon, which for me ended up being the coveted 40% off coupon (the ladies were all atwitter about the coupon). So ended up bringing home a 12 place set that we have been using daily ever since.

    We have added the mid sized plates, and most convenient “weekday” meals I think are better consumed out of a pasta bowl (pasta with sauce, and the many crock pot goo’s over rice). So I recommend getting a handful of pasta bowls.

    Up your Game and add cloth napkins of cotton or linen, not the cheap, harsh ones.

    • #117
  28. Randy Webster Inactive
    Randy Webster
    @RandyWebster

    EHerring (View Comment):

    Guruforhire (View Comment):

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    Not cookware, but prompted by “we’re not getting any younger, ” so we might as well use it is our Wedgwood China. Since realizing that neither of our kids had any interest in inheriting it, we decided we might as well use it, and not save it for special occasions. We even (horrors!) Put it in the dishwasher.

    When I got married I had read an article somewhere about things people wished they had done differently. And one was not eating on china every day.

    So I went to the outlet center (Neither of us had any money at that point), and was going to buy a couple of place sets of china. When I walked in they gave me a scratch off coupon, which for me ended up being the coveted 40% off coupon (the ladies were all atwitter about the coupon). So ended up bringing home a 12 place set that we have been using daily ever since.

    We have added the mid sized plates, and most convenient “weekday” meals I think are better consumed out of a pasta bowl (pasta with sauce, and the many crock pot goo’s over rice). So I recommend getting a handful of pasta bowls.

    Up your Game and add cloth napkins of cotton or linen, not the cheap, harsh ones.

    My wife gives me paper towels torn in half.

    • #118
  29. BDB Inactive
    BDB
    @BDB

    Randy Webster (View Comment):

    EHerring (View Comment):

    Guruforhire (View Comment):

    Full Size Tabby (View Comment):

    Not cookware, but prompted by “we’re not getting any younger, ” so we might as well use it is our Wedgwood China. Since realizing that neither of our kids had any interest in inheriting it, we decided we might as well use it, and not save it for special occasions. We even (horrors!) Put it in the dishwasher.

    When I got married I had read an article somewhere about things people wished they had done differently. And one was not eating on china every day.

    So I went to the outlet center (Neither of us had any money at that point), and was going to buy a couple of place sets of china. When I walked in they gave me a scratch off coupon, which for me ended up being the coveted 40% off coupon (the ladies were all atwitter about the coupon). So ended up bringing home a 12 place set that we have been using daily ever since.

    We have added the mid sized plates, and most convenient “weekday” meals I think are better consumed out of a pasta bowl (pasta with sauce, and the many crock pot goo’s over rice). So I recommend getting a handful of pasta bowls.

    Up your Game and add cloth napkins of cotton or linen, not the cheap, harsh ones.

    My wife gives me paper towels torn in half.

    Luxury!

    • #119
  30. Stad Coolidge
    Stad
    @Stad

    Flicker (View Comment):

    Stad (View Comment):

    Flicker (View Comment):
    What’s Hatch green chile?

    Only the best canned green chiles you can buy. My wife orders the 28 oz cans by the case . . .

    Are the particularly hot?

    Not really.  When my wife makes green chile, she adds diced jalapenos . . .

    • #120
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