monocle's Profile
Getting rid of (most) cast iron
I am pretty sure we can just skip pans and adapt to frying things in mercury; it wont boil until 670 degrees (!).
and it's fat free!
Canning in an oil bath instead of a pressure cooker?
This treatment is insufficient to kill botulism spores; putting a food item into 250 degree oil at one atmosphere will still leave the boiling point of water at 212 degrees, meaning the interior of the food will be unable to rise beyond that until all of the water in the food is gone(and likely disintegrated).
The pressure canner works because it can raise the food in question to these temperatures while still maintaining your moisture content.
Tomato sauce depth of flavor question
tomato paste, and/or a slightly caramelized vinegar/sugar reduction (i've usually heard this called a gastrique or an agrodolce depending on who was talking) would be fast ways to infuse some flavor.
If you are not too pressed for time, you can sort of treat them like you do onions when making french onion soup; cook them until they brown heavily, deglaze(with tomato juice, most likely) and repeat until rich flavor develops.
Waffles!
Most electric waffle irons are 1500-1800W, which means you would need a set of pretty beefy batteries or a generator to keep it going. Generators are very loud.
if you wanted to be as portable and unplugged as possible you could get a few cast iron or cast aluminum waffle irons (Cook's Illustrated recommended the nordicware cast aluminum one) and use a portable gas cooktop or a gas or charcoal grill(don't get it too hot(!)).
Getting rid of (most) cast iron
I agree with pretty much everything here.
The problem is especially pronounced in larger pieces because they diffuse heat so slowly that you can't keep the areas far away from the burner hot without turning the burner up to the point where the areas on/near the burner overheat.
Cast iron really shines in the oven though, where the omnidirectional heat heats everything evenly. I usually only use my large cast iron skillet if i am making cornbread or upside-down cake or some other stovetop-to-oven dish.
my 9" cast iron skillet heats pretty evenly, though.
This site has some very visual information on how even cast iron heats.
http://www.cookingissues.com/2010/02/16/heavy-metal-the-science-of-cast-iron-cooking/
I do bacon in the oven as well; perfect, flat, and crisp. Every time.
good recipes for young fava beans/broad beans/butter beans/lima beans?
I actually use the larger frozen lima beans(when i can find them :( ), which are generally less grassy and more creamy than the smaller lima beans.
good recipes for young fava beans/broad beans/butter beans/lima beans?
i've mashed up lima beans before and passed them off to kids as 'green mashed potatoes'
Can't clean my cast iron grill - I've tried everything!
you can put it through the self cleaning cycle of an oven, but you will need to reseason it again.
Vegetarian burger help
I don't think vegetarian food should try to directly imitate meat products; it is only setting you up for failure.
If you are truly craving a burger, I've had success feeding vegetarians and vegans a bunch of my homemade clove-spiced pickles on a toasted bun with all of the general burger accompaniments (ketchup, onions, etc). The sizing of pickles adapts better to smaller buns than large ones. Sometimes I make them as a quick snack for my non-vegan self.
It's much better to make the star of a dish something good that isn't meat than trying to simulate it.
Ideal set of Cookware, Ala Carte?
I dunno, seems like you have a complete collection as it is, the only marginal gaps are the occasional need for a 3.5-4 qt saucepan, but your 3.5qt dutch ovens could probably do that well enough (assuming they are enameled). Stock pots don't really need to be fully clad, simmering or boiling water does a decent job of circulating itself (at least for pasta).
I don't think much new cookware will make your cooking experience much different compared to some other things( except maybe a pressure cooker).If it were me, I would probably spend the money on things that make cooking easier overall.
How are your cooking utensils?; I can't tell you how many more vegetables I started eating once I finally bought a vegetable peeler, or how many more chickens I've roasted since getting a good pair of kitchen shears. Also, I don't think it's possible to have too many prep bowls, if the urge to cook 3 messy meals in one day arises, you can get it all done without running the dishwasher.
Don't overlook storage; a chest freezer, a larger/better fridge, and a large pantry full of diverse items make it much more likely that you will have the necessary ingredients on hand when the impulse to cook something arises.
Ideal set of Cookware, Ala Carte?
The sizes you want will depend on the number of people you are expecting to cook for.
general fry pans:
I would probably get a 10 or 12 inch fully-clad stainless pan, preferably one with rolled edges for easy pouring. a 10 inch cheap nonstick skillet, and a 10" or 12" cast iron skillet(unenameled). You may occasionally find yourself wanting a lid for these, but foil will work in a pinch , and usually one of your stockpot lits will fit.
If you have an aversion to using teflon, I would replace the cheap nonstick skillet with a comparably sized carbon-steel skillet, I find they work better for eggs than the cast iron skillets i've tried, plus they are not usually as heavy. 2-3mm seems to be the ideal thickness, less is apparently prone to warping, and more is not responsive enough.
saute pans:
I think a 12" fully-clad saute pan is ideal; any job that needs a smaller amount of sauteing can be done well in the skillets above. Even heating is key, if you are going to spend the money on copper core anywhere, this would be the spot.
sauce pans:
I prefer fully-clad saucepans, one that is 2 qt and one that is 3.5-4 qt; rolled edges or pour spouts are a big bonus here. All saucepans should have a lid.
paella pan:
I would just use a bigger skillet or saute pan.
grill pan:
I bought a grill pan 5 years ago. I used it once. Now I use it to hold fruit; your mileage may vary.
Omelet pan:
see fry pan section
stock pot:
You should definitely have a 7 to 8 qt wide dutch-oven-style (by that i mean, wider than it is taller) pot for all the versatile work it can do; the material should either be enameled cast iron, or fully clad stainless. Wide handles are preferred to ensure you can get a good grip with oven mitts on.
A 12 qt narrow stock pot will do well if you want to make large batches of stock or cook pasta for a large crowd, also large steaming batches. material doesn't really matter much here; weight does, 12 qts of water is heavy, a heavy pot on top of that can make it unmanageable. Thin stainless or anodized aluminum are ideal. You can go with bare aluminum if you don't imagine yourself cooking anything reactive in here.
braising pots:
pretty much the same as the stock pot section, minus the 12 qt one. You may also want a smaller ~5qt dutch oven for smaller jobs, the oval-shaped varieties tend to fit some foods better.
General notes:
avoid glass lids on anything you may conceivably expose to high oven temperatures (which , for me, means no glass lids on anything but a crock pot).
avoid plastic handles for the same reason.
Be sure to replace the plastic knobs on any dutch ovens or whatever with the metal ones (they cost about $10 a piece).
rolled edges or pour spouts are a much bigger help than you would imagine, this is why I don't like the standard all-clad saucepan line (the copper core and d5 lines have rolled edges).
riveted handles (for non-cast iron pieces, at least) are generally more durable than the welded or glued-on variety.
you are missing bakeware (!)
as far as bare essentials, you really can do 95% of stovetop cooking tasks with two skillets, two saucepans, and a dutch oven.
Is there a SIMPLE digital meat thermometer out there?
every one of the leave-in consumer thermometers I've found has a fairly low temperature limit, the one posted above tells you not to use it at temperatures over 400F (which both an oven and grill can easily hit).
The only thing I've been able to find that can take high temperatures is the "Smoke House Penetration Probe - Stainless Armor" listed here:
http://thermoworks.com/products/probe/tc_penetration.html
sixty-five dollars -- just for the probe(!). an actual unit to get a temperature from it will run you another $50-$100
Meat don't wanna cook
it's possible that some of the meat was exposed to either nitrites or carbon monoxide.
In normal, raw, meat myoglobin is bound to oxygen which produces a red color. When meat is cured with nitrites, nitric oxide bonds to this point instead of oxygen setting a pinkish color that will not change significantly when cooked. It is also possible for carbon monoxide to bond to myoglobin to produce a stable pink coloration.
Most likely what happened is that your ground beef contains bits of corned beef or maybe even ham or bacon. A butcher shouldn't really be adding cured cuts to the ground beef scrap pile (!)
source: on food an cooking, harold mcgee
Baking dishes for Breville/comparable convection toaster ovens (9"x13" or smaller)
I have the BOV800XL model breville; It easily fits my 9x13" aluminum quarter-sheet pan. I assume a normal 9x13" baking dish or pan would fit if it lacked large handles(or you could just put the pan in on a diagonal, depending on its shape) . Amazon seems to have some nordicware aluminum pans that come with plastic lids that should fit in the oven.
I can also fit my 9" lodge cast iron skillet (L6SK3) and 10.5" lodge round griddle; both would obviously be able to take high temperatures. I suspect the 10" lodge skillet will fit as well, but it has that helper handle that might get in the way. The 12" lodge skillet(L10SK3) does not fit.
One way to be sure the cookware can handle the temperature is to see if it says "Broiler-safe" on it somewhere; Not all broiler-safe cookware will tell you though.
Also, the old pyroceram corningware can handle the temperature and thermal shock. Most modern corningware is just porcelain but there do seem to be a few pyroceram pieces still in production.
Using a LC Cast Iron Skillet to Burn Rings into Pancakes
The oven temperature really doesn't matter much; I just stick it in when the oven is preheating for something else. It probably wont make it all the way to your target temperature in the oven anyway so it'll still need a bit on the stovetop to hit your ideal zone, the heat will just be much more even.
nonstick spray oils should be fine, I usually use either olive oil or peanut oil as that is what I usually have on hand.
I'm not a big fan of canola oil as it sort of smells and tastes 'fishy' when it gets near its smoke point. Some of the high heat sprays contain no canola oil; I'm using "pam for grilling" which contains cottonseed oil(check the ingredient list ,some sprays have multiple oils).
Cast Iron with Non-Stick Coating?
According to ikea's website it has a matte black enamelled interior; so it would be non-reactive.
If you have never used the pot before it could be the interior is coated with a protective wax or some other material and you scratched that. (the instructions your pot came with probably recommend either a hot hand-wash or possibly even baking it in the oven for a few minutes before first use for this reason)
It's also possible that the scratch was not a scratch into the enamel, but whatever you were using rubbing off on top of the enamel.
Taking steel wool to it was a bad idea as you have probably damaged the interior enamel.
Stainless or Anondized Aluminum: Which is easier to care for?
That's always a dilemma; and it really depends on the kind of cooking you do. You should be able to combine cooking tasks into a single piece of cookware though.
There is not much difference between a saucier and a chef's pan and it works decently as a saucepan, though you get more evaporation.
a saute pan is a skillet with straight sides(for more bottom area), a larger skillet can take its place almost every time.
a large dutch oven works well as a stock pot (as long as it's nonreactive like stainless, enamelled cast iron or anodized aluminum).
Faced with your setup i would probably get the following:
3 qt all clad saucier ($150 on amazon).
12" lodge skillet ($19 on amazon).
if i needed the skillet to be nonreactive yet still be oven-safe:
12" allclad skillet w/lid ($90 on amazon)
3-4 qt anodized aluminum saucepan (3.5 qt analon is $40)
But again, this all depends on the kind of food you like to cook. You mentioned two kids so I assume you will eventually be cooking for 2 adults and 2 ravenous teenagers so you might want to lean toward some of the larger items(if they are long-lasting, that is).
Stainless or Anondized Aluminum: Which is easier to care for?
The stainless set is not fully clad; It's only disc-bottom-type cookware.
While that is generally okay for a skillet or saute pan it can be an issue with a large stockpot or a saucepan where even all around heating is ideal.
The hard anondized set also has a disc bottom but that seems just to make it induction compatible.
Non-stick cookware generally cannot be taken to as high of a temperature as traditional cookware (neither can glass lids); also, the nonstick material will eventually wear off.
Honestly, if it were my $200, I'd skip both sets.
Using a LC Cast Iron Skillet to Burn Rings into Pancakes
Cast iron is a relatively slow conductor of heat so it can take a while for that heat to work its way to where you want it on the pan; If you preheat the pan over lower heat for a longer period of time you will probably see better results.
You really don't need much heat to maintain a target temperature for something like a pancake. It takes a bit of trial and error to find out exactly where a particular pan over a particular burner will maintain a particular temperature.
Some of my more ginormous cast iron pieces i occasionally preheat in the oven.
NYC - Century 21 Dept Store vs. Costco for Cookware - I'm looking to buy cookware!
don't forget a splatter guard (!)
NYC - Century 21 Dept Store vs. Costco for Cookware - I'm looking to buy cookware!
The main thing is that, on the grill, the direct conduction only happens along the grates (or on the ribs on a grill pan); which will generate those nice-looking grill marks.
In a flat pan (with a bit of oil) you get that along the entire surface of the meat; Essentially making your entire steak coated with one giant grill mark.
NYC - Century 21 Dept Store vs. Costco for Cookware - I'm looking to buy cookware!
Absolutely not; meat just gets a much tastier crust when well-seared in a flat pan. (to me at least.)
NYC - Century 21 Dept Store vs. Costco for Cookware - I'm looking to buy cookware!
I have the lodge square grill pan; It is the least used pan I've ever owned.
Sometimes I use it as a fruit bowl.
Boil water in cast iron removes a few layers of season?
Boiling water can strip off some seasoning. Also, it is doubtful your existing layers were very well developed
You should increase the temperature to at least 350 degrees; 250 degrees isn't hot enough. The purpose of seasoning is to carbonize the fat, which only happens after it exceeds it's smoke point.
My general oven seasoning procedure is this:
1) rub with softened(a few seconds in the microwave) lard or shortening, place pan upside down in oven.
2) set oven to 400 degrees.
3) wait until pan starts smoking; start 30-45 minute countdown.
4) 30-45 minutes later turn off oven, let cookware cool entirely in oven w/oven door closed.
If you want quicky superseason your pan you can try the stovetop method(you will need lots of paper towels):
1) melt several tablespoons of lard or shortening in the microwave in a small container
2) wipe a thin(as thin as you can make it) layer of fat on the pan and set the pan over medium-high heat w/ wadded up paper towels(use tongs please).
3) once the pan starts smoking heavily, turn the heat down to medium or even medium-low to maintain that temperature.
4) after the pan no longer looks wet wipe on another layer of fat.
repeat until multiple layers are developed.
the main risk with the stovetop method(other than being quite sacrilegious) is that the seasoning can flake off later if you didn't let each layer cook long enough(but you dont want it to go for too long either as it can break down). You dont want to use the stovetop method for an initial seasoning, I mostly use it to fix spottily-seasoned pans I screwed up by doing stupid things.
Long handle fry pan vs loop handle multi-function pan
The main issues I've seen with handleless cookware that the handles get hot and you miss certain control aspects. The main advantage is that it can fit into smaller spaces like a toaster oven.
uh oh - my Le Creuset pan is broken
Assuming you are using one of their french ovens, you can buy a replacement knob.
I'm not a fan of their plastic knobs anyway. Get the stainless replacement knob; They are about $10 and let you take your cookware all the way to 500 degrees (the plastic knob is rated for ~375 or so).
Can't use cast iron, Won't use non stick, options for omelettes?
The aluminum cookware/alzheimers thing is based on fairly shaky science.
Also, aluminum is the most common metal in the earth's crust so avoiding it entirely is quite impossible; You also absorb far more aluminum from eating antacid tablets and antipersperant than you do from cookware
Can't use cast iron, Won't use non stick, options for omelettes?
Your best bet is likely going to be a decent but cheap teflon/PTFE coated pan;
carbon steel will probably have the same iron leeching problems for you as cast iron.
porcelain-enamled cast iron isnt really non-stick.
clad stainless is definitely not non-stick.
If you still really want to avoid teflan pans, you *might* want to try lining a stainless steel skillet with parchment paper and baking a fritata in it at low or medium temperature (probably 300-325). That would take the low-heat control issues out of the way and give you something omlettey
Does Anyone Have a Cookware Pet Peeve?
eight-inch skillets,
They are too small for all but the tiniest tasks; nine and ten-inch models are significantly more versatile without taking up much more room.
