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rami_m

rami_m

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Haven't been commenting much these days, but still following along. I have been using a circulon pan from Costco to saute veggies, cook steaks, shallow fry stuff ( rarely). We have a gas stovetop at home.

I am looking for something decent. Easy to care for and reasonable $$. What should I look out for?
 
Go to a restaurant supply store. I use Vollrath mostly. They have lines that are comparable to top home brands for half the cost. This includes Teflon, stainless, aluminum, and multi-ply.
 
Thanks. But which type should I go for for my applications? Any idea the pros and cons of the various options?
 
dwalker said:
Go to a restaurant supply store. I use Vollrath mostly. They have lines that are comparable to top home brands for half the cost. This includes Teflon, stainless, aluminum, and multi-ply.
Click to expand...

Which line would you recommend?
 
I'm liking de Buyer a lot for your application. Not dime store cheap but not prohibitive either. And induction ready when you move into big leagues[emoji41]
 
These days I find myself using a cast iron skillet for frying meats, Lodge, A carbon steel de buyer for sauting eggs etc (have to reason as I cooked something on to it and had to scrub it clean, silly me) and a scanpan ctx non-stick fry pan for when that is needed.

My principle these days tend to be if it is high heat where I am likely to get oil burning on I will use the carbon or cast iron where that is a benefit rather than an annoyance.

I should add I would love to use stainless pans but I just suck at them. Cannot cook on one without sticking. No ides what I am doing wrong.
 
Mucho Bocho said:
The only issue I have with cast iron it’s hard to work with acidic sauces. The pan that has been an excellent balance of ultra high heat capable can handle a finishing sauce is these Spring USA BLACKLINE https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VXC2LME/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Click to expand...

Aw chit Dennis. You're always costing me money. How does the Spring compare to the de Buyer Min B? I have a Spring fondue set from when family lived in Sweden - 55 yrs ago. Best ever for meat (frying) fondue.
 
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Mucho Bocho said:
The only issue I have with cast iron it’s hard to work with acidic sauces. The pan that has been an excellent balance of ultra high heat capable can handle a finishing sauce is these Spring USA BLACKLINE https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00VXC2LME/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20
Click to expand...
I’ve looked at those for a long time never ran into anybody who’s used them. Are they nice and smooth inside?
For a heavy carbon pan I have a couple of Dartos from Argentina. They’re stamped out in a single piece so there are no rivets to contend with. Nothings going to hurt these not even Jethro's head, I love these pans although they’re limited in size. Free shipping for $100usd orders!
For the op... I just replaced a mixed bag of stuff with Volrath pots and pans from the Optio series to use with a couple of induction hobs. So far so good, the sidewalls are thin so you do get flame lick from a gas burner using the smaller sizes. These are a great value imo.
 
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I’m super impressed with the Spring USA pans. They actually have smoother bottoms than debuyer. No need to season them either. Plus their induction comparable. Also they have s nice shape. Conical sides but taller than debyuer. No rivets either.
 
Mucho Bocho said:
I’m super impressed with the Spring USA pans. They actually have smoother bottoms than debuyer. No need to season them either. Plus their induction comparable. Also they have s nice shape. Conical sides but taller than debyuer. No rivets either.
Click to expand...

And can't be found in Australia [emoji35]
 
Lots of good advice here already.

i use au carbone for about 80%
other/ usually stainless lined for acids

(And when i need to see my reflection in the pan :))

In all seriousness, sometimes the colour/contrast sometimes
is quite useful. Also, simply sometimes I want a different conductor.
 
daveb said:
Aw chit Dennis. You're always costing me money. How does the Spring compare to the de Buyer Min B? I have a Spring fondue set from when family lived in Sweden - 55 yrs ago. Best ever for meat (frying) fondue.
Click to expand...

I had both and both are great. Both with heavily bow-out if the size of the coooktop is not sufficient (I am talking about simple glass-ceramic cooktop). Also - the taller the sides of the pan, the more likely that the pan will bow in use. With that said - both pans take a good seasoning. The deBuyer I had (carbone plus, 32cm) was way too large for our cooktop (unfortunately), so I gifted it to my friend who uses it in a pro kitchen and loves it. The Spring in 28cm size has a bit smaller bottom, but still bit too large - thus bows again, but untill it cooks well I will keep it. I like the shape with taller steeper sides. I only used these 2 pans for frying - never to make a sauce or similar. For anything else I have 28 cm Falk copper pan which is fantastic (and which can actually handle a fair amount of stirr frying itself).

And with all that said - my all time favourite is a much cheaper pan from Turk in 24 cm size (bottom is slightly smaller than the heated area of our cooktop). It has low sides and a coarse 'ridge mesh'. It was about 20 or 25 €. It remains super flat even at temperatures that are too high to cook (when seasoning, etc). It took the best seasoning of the 3 pans and I use it mostly for steaks (one at a time) and eggs.

If I ever buy a "large staining pan" again, then most probably a cast iron (so that it keeps shape) from Skeppshult. I got a pancake pan from them and LOVE it to bits. Non-sticking from the very first pancake. This just reminds me that I need to send that thank you note to Skeppshult :)

There you go, my $0.02 :)
 
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i'm not at the place where i can recommend DuBeyers carbon..yet. (i did fry Spam last night for musubi in it..but a shovel could have sufficed)

here it goes. Cuisinart Multiclad Unlimited. i have two sauce pans. my friend has the Saute. talk about "under the radar" bad ass pans. not that expensive and i think they rock perfectly on the stove top just like the AllClad i have cooking next to it. as a home cook,i could have done 100% without the all-clad. just saying..but i do love them all.
 
Demeyere Industrial Allclad ... best allround pan I know :D
 
You might be fishing in the wrong pool Rami, you've heard the saying about cooks being knife people or pan people? No prizes for guessing which camp everyone here falls into. Having said that I use a mixture of non stick, stainless and cast iron. Anolon non stick for low heat applications, stainless for most everything else and cast iron for high heat searing. I'm not super familiar with Sydney suppliers but places like Myers, DJ's, Harris Scarfe, Robins Kitchen etc tend to be overpriced unless they're having one of their 50% off sales.

TBH if I was replacing all my pieces nowadays I'd just be going cheap. My Anolons were an expensive set at the time but some are losing their coating in places even though I've been careful with them. They're about 5 years old. I've got a few stainless pieces from Robins and Costco which are good but not especially cheap. Probably the best value pieces are some cast iron pans I got from Chinatown about 30 years ago for about 10 bucks. Totally indestructible.

A lot of it comes down to personal opinion too. Do you want flashy or workmanlike? Have a look at Nisbets. They're a restaurant supply store. I get a fair bit of stuff from their Brisbane store. Cheap, utilitarian, if I had to be rebuild my kitchen today that's where I'd be going.

Oh, and they've got blue steel pans too if that's your thing. I bought a couple years ago, spent hours seasoning them and have never used them. They look great though.....if I could find them.
 
So much good information!

I will take a different approach! Wont focus on brands, there are enough good suggestions already, I will focus on process....

All I can say is that there is no perfect all around pan, period. One thing I’ve learned after cooking for decades is that with practice you understand how different materials react, conduct heat, stick, etc. Therefore you need to have different pans in the same way that you need a wrench and you also need pliers because they work for different purposes and situations.

Sure you could use stainless for non stick optimum situations but the results would not be optimum, So, start cooking and find the right pan for the dish, say... cast iron. Find dishes that work for that pan... make mistakes and then find the right pan for another dish, research, borrow, sell, do more research and before you know it you will have a very well crafted set of tools and you will know exactly how and when to use them!!

Understand variables, limitations of pans and how burning temperatures of oils work, then try cooking the same ingredient in different pans, now change the temperature in the same pan... fine tune until you can tell the material, characteristics of the tool given the task.

Good luck!
 
OliverNuther said:
You might be fishing in the wrong pool Rami, you've heard the saying about cooks being knife people or pan people? No prizes for guessing which camp everyone here falls into. Having said that I use a mixture of non stick, stainless and cast iron. Anolon non stick for low heat applications, stainless for most everything else and cast iron for high heat searing. I'm not super familiar with Sydney suppliers but places like Myers, DJ's, Harris Scarfe, Robins Kitchen etc tend to be overpriced unless they're having one of their 50% off sales.

TBH if I was replacing all my pieces nowadays I'd just be going cheap. My Anolons were an expensive set at the time but some are losing their coating in places even though I've been careful with them. They're about 5 years old. I've got a few stainless pieces from Robins and Costco which are good but not especially cheap. Probably the best value pieces are some cast iron pans I got from Chinatown about 30 years ago for about 10 bucks. Totally indestructible.

A lot of it comes down to personal opinion too. Do you want flashy or workmanlike? Have a look at Nisbets. They're a restaurant supply store. I get a fair bit of stuff from their Brisbane store. Cheap, utilitarian, if I had to be rebuild my kitchen today that's where I'd be going.

Oh, and they've got blue steel pans too if that's your thing. I bought a couple years ago, spent hours seasoning them and have never used them. They look great though.....if I could find them.
Click to expand...

Well. I found a stainless all- clad d5 10 inch at Myer for 145, not sure if worth it. Nisbits are around the corner from me at castle hill so may be worth a visit. All their stuff is the one brand vuume so not sure if any good?
 
Customfan said:
So much good information!

I will take a different approach! Wont focus on brands, there are enough good suggestions already, I will focus on process....

All I can say is that there is no perfect all around pan, period. One thing I’ve learned after cooking for decades is that with practice you understand how different materials react, conduct heat, stick, etc. Therefore you need to have different pans in the same way that you need a wrench and you also need pliers because they work for different purposes and situations.

Sure you could use stainless for non stick optimum situations but the results would not be optimum, So, start cooking and find the right pan for the dish, say... cast iron. Find dishes that work for that pan... make mistakes and then find the right pan for another dish, research, borrow, sell, do more research and before you know it you will have a very well crafted set of tools and you will know exactly how and when to use them!!

Understand variables, limitations of pans and how burning temperatures of oils work, then try cooking the same ingredient in different pans, now change the temperature in the same pan... fine tune until you can tell the material, characteristics of the tool given the task.

Good luck!
Click to expand...

Yea. I don't cook consistent enough to work it out. Best I can hope for is the tool doesn't make my life harder than it has to be.
 
rami_m said:
Well. I found a stainless all- clad d5 10 inch at Myer for 145, not sure if worth it. Nisbits are around the corner from me at castle hill so may be worth a visit. All their stuff is the one brand vuume so not sure if any good?
Click to expand...

I'm pretty sure all their stuff is Chinese which keeps the prices down. I've bought oversize stock pots and stew pots from them and they're fine. I haven't bought any domestic size sauté pans from them but I would expect them to be ok as well.
 
Matus said:
And with all that said - my all time favourite is a much cheaper pan from Turk in 24 cm size (bottom is slightly smaller than the heated area of our cooktop). It has low sides and a coarse 'ridge mesh'. It was about 20 or 25 €. It remains super flat even at temperatures that are too high to cook (when seasoning, etc). It took the best seasoning of the 3 pans and I use it mostly for steaks (one at a time) and eggs.
Click to expand...

Just ordered this. Good thickness (2.5mm from what I have read) and price. Do you think the ‘ridge mesh’ offers any advantage or disadvantage over a plain finish?
 
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Still have not made up my mind. May drop it for a little bit.
 
Choppin said:
Just ordered this. Good thickness (2.5mm from what I have read) and price. Do you think the ‘ridge mesh’ offers any advantage or disadvantage over a plain finish?
Click to expand...

I was not sure about the grooves first, but they do not seem to interfere in any negative way. I will be curios to hear how do you like the pan :)
 
Matus said:
I was not sure about the grooves first, but they do not seem to interfere in any negative way. I will be curios to hear how do you like the pan :)
Click to expand...

Thank’s. I’ll definitely post my impressions here. I’m also curious to try these Turk pans:

https://www.kaufmann-mercantile.com/product/149000043458/turk-one-piece-forged-iron-fry-pan

It’s discontinued by this retailer but can be found in other sites (easier in Europe). Seems like an interesting alternative to cast iron.
 
Those more expensive Turk pans are forged from one piece. I have not used one - I do not know how flat the bottom is going to be. But they look great and I was tempted when I was buying mine.
 
Matus said:
Those more expensive Turk pans are forged from one piece. I have not used one - I do not know how flat the bottom is going to be. But they look great and I was tempted when I was buying mine.
Click to expand...

I found a German seller on eBay selling these for a reasonable price and shipping WW. Will get a 20cm small one to try and get back here with my impression!
 
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