Comparing Skillets

[SacDuc]

Hooligans. All of you.

make the beast with two backs off! I will anally rape you with a chafing dish while pouring sabayon in your gas tank.

sac



/

[DaniD]

Do you know of any good brands that are less expensive than Le Ceuset?

sac

Martha Stewart @ Macy's

[Triple J]

Really just depends on what you're cookin.  Cast iron rocks for a variety of stuff though.

+1  

Cast iron is great, and I use my cheap ass Lodge pans all the time. I also have a cast iron wok that probably weighs 20 lbs. However, good luck cooking a crepe, swedish pancake, french omelet, or anything very delicate in a cast iron pan...even a well seasoned one.

I have some Caphalon non-stick pans that are about 15 years old. I've had to replace 2 of them. I like them, and you can find good deals on them. The non-stick coating isn't much, if any, better than some of the cheaper brands. However, be careful and really inspect the cheaper brand pans. Where high quality pans excel is in materials of the pan itself, how heavy they are, and how evenly heat is transferred. Any non-stick coating will probably work well and last (if you take care of it)...but nicer pans transfer heat more evenly, and therefore cook much nicer.

Personally, I buy nice pans...but not too nice.  I'd love a set of Le Cruset...but DAMN! 

[NorDog]

This thread has both "Martha Stewart @ Macy's" and "Hooligans" in it.

What a great melting pot (cast iron of course) is this great country we call DMF.

[SacDuc]

This thread has both "Martha Stewart @ Macy's" and "Hooligans" in it.

What a great melting pot (cast iron of course) is this great country we call DMF.

Martha Stewart is a felon, I don't see the disparity. 

sac

[RAT900]

Can we please move this dialogue to Fondue Pots and cheese dip recipes?

[SacDuc]

Can we please move this dialogue to Fondue Pots and cheese dip recipes?

We could.

sac



/if this was 1973 and we had all just received nonreturnable wedding gifts 

[JEFF_H]

i've also got some 10yr old caphalon that is starting to not work well

i have cast iron but i just use those on the barbeque 

[NorDog]

Martha Stewart is a felon, I don't see the disparity. 

sac

I have this recurring nightmare in which I'm in prison and I become Martha Stewart's punk.  She makes me use napkin rings that I've been forced to make from toilet paper rolls.

Then we dance a la Sprockets.

[KnightofNi]

i love my cast iron.

my g/f hates it because i won't let her scrub it 

i like it because as sac mentioned, it can go from stove to oven very easily.
i have also cooked with it over a wood fire as well as on the grill.
it's a must have for fajitas.

Yep, cast iron is the first choice for everything from head bashing to frying bacon but this is more typical of the Chinese home cook'n I've experienced.  No big cast iron wok but it's amazing what can be done with a little electric wok.

ohh hsit heman, i think he called you out on your chineseness 

[Vindingo]

The only cast iron I use is my Le Creuset grill/griddle.  I don't like using cast iron fry pans.  I prefer a copper/stainless or an aluminum fry pan.  They get hotter faster and you can control the heat better in my opinion.   Most good ones don't have plastic handles and can go into the oven as well. 

I do have a small calphalon nonstick that I use for eggs and a crepe once in a blue moon.  Because the coating goes on all of them, Im not sure I would spend $$$ on a nonstick.  

After using my grandmother's over Christmas, this will be my next big purchase

[Howie]

I have this recurring nightmare in which I'm in prison and I become Martha Stewart's punk.  She makes me use napkin rings that I've been forced to make from toilet paper rolls.

Then we dance a la Sprockets.

Nightmare or fantasy?

[superjohn]

I'm with Vinnie on this one. I like copper and or aluminum for cooking most quick things. Cast iron takes a long time to heat up, but I do like it for cooking chicken. I think I'd like cast iron better if I had a gas stove.

[WarrenJ]

Lodge has a line of enameled cookware like the French stuff.  The quality seems real good and its not so expensive.
I love my Lodge Dutch Ovens.

Another advantage of cast iron is that eating a meal a day cooked in a cast iron pan gives a person their total daily intake of dietary iron. 

[victor441]

love cast iron in general....but FWIW picked up a commercial grade nonstick wok awhile back and it is REALLY handy for all sorts of things, the high sides mean much less mess on the stove too, complements my cast iron pans well