Comments on: Pan of Steel

By: Coleman Molt

Coleman Molt — Sun, 12 Sep 2010 13:45:09 +0000

Cast iron is hands down the best. I used non-stick pans for years, but a nice steak fried in a cast iron skillet is on a completely different level. Besides, you can buy a great pan for maybe 80 dollars and it will last you a lifetime. The non-stick stuff may last 4 years if you are very lucky. If you dig around a bit, you can often find a quality pan on sale. There are always some awesome offers on cast iron cookware listed on the cast iron pots website. Ok, that did it, now I'm salivating. I'm off to the kitchen to fry up some steak and eggs.

By: psu

psu — Mon, 19 May 2008 18:04:39 +0000

For the soup pots the trick is to control the heat. You really never want to cook in these pans with the heat above medium to medium high unless you are boiling water.

This works well for most soups, sauces, some brown then braise things and so on, which is what you use a soup pot for.

Given this problem, the frying pan is more limited in utility.

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 19 May 2008 16:32:28 +0000

We love our Le Creuset pots (they are very heavy, true) and baking dishes, but are totally baffled by the All-Clad stainless pan we received as a gift. Forget cleaning, how do you cook on the thing without half your food sticking to it and then burning? More grease? This whole carbon steel thing makes much more sense to me, thanks for the tip.

By: psu

psu — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:45:29 +0000

I need to pick up the pan for various reasons…

Cleaning.

Flipping the stuff in the pan around instead of using a spatula (I love doing this).

Moving it around on the stove to free up burners.

Move the pan from stove to oven and back.

All of these are easier with a lighter pan. That’s why I started using All-Clad soup pots and stopped using the beautiful, yet horribly heavy Le Creuset enamel-on-cast iron dutch ovens.

By: jeff

jeff — Fri, 16 May 2008 19:31:21 +0000

I clean my All-Clad pans with baking soda. Put water in the pan, nearly to the rim, and add bakcing soda. Turn on the heat so it simmers, adding more baking soda as you go. (I use maybe 1/3 of a box if the pan is really dirty.) Let it simmer for 15-30 minutes, and then wipe the pan out with a rough sponge. (The baking-soda water mixture generally spatters on my stove, but wiping that up gets my stovetop clean for a two-fer.) It’s incredibly easy and cleans 90% of the gunk off immediately.

By: Benoit

Benoit — Fri, 16 May 2008 17:28:13 +0000

I don’t completely understand why the weight of the pan matters: when do you move it?

I tend not to heat-dry my pans anymore, after an unfortunate incident where I forgot I was heat-drying a pan. Just putting them on the stove upside-down keeps mine from rusting. I suppose hanging them would work, if you have a place to hang your pans.

By: Jonathan Shewchuk

Jonathan Shewchuk — Fri, 16 May 2008 01:54:42 +0000

I’ve heard it from a trustworthy source that the “right” way to season a pan is to use lard or bacon grease, not vegetable oil. The former is said to be less sticky.

By: psu

psu — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:58:54 +0000

The skillets also have the wrong shape. I like the more gentle slope of the french-style pan… rather than the deep sides of the skillet. I think you can find iron pans in different shapes. But it’s a bit of work.

By: peterb

peterb — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:47:58 +0000

Fundamentally, I think a good cast-iron skillet is the right tool for this job. But I sympathize with your not wanting to lift them.

By: psu

psu — Fri, 16 May 2008 00:25:41 +0000

I might be safe from his wrath because when I went back to actually buy the pan they had moved the stuff into the back room after some reorganization, so I am not sure if the Sur La Table is still planning on carrying the line.