Pics: Kitchen Gear! Cookware, Dining Ware, Utensils, and more

[WCV]

Who makes the pretty copper saucier?

That’s a Falk 24 cm. As far a thick copper goes, their stuff seems to offer the best bang for the buck, especially if you catch one of their sales.

 

[Justinv]

Ikea sells something similar under the name Ostbit. These also work nicely for sharpening stone storage.

Also work for cutting boards:

This one has 8 wood pegs and I put 3-4 cutting boards on it.

 

[Jovidah]

I use this one: https://www.ikea.com/au/en/p/variera-pot-lid-organiser-stainless-steel-40164075/

It also doubles up as a rack for sous vide when cooking a bunch of steaks.

Also works for baking sheets...

 

[Michi]

Also works for baking sheets...

Nice idea!

PS: I don't think you have enough cutting boards

 

[Jovidah]

Nice idea!

PS: I don't think you have enough cutting boards

1 of the plastic ones is in the dishwasher and there's 2 more on the countertops...

BTW this idea does work better in drawers, where you can sort of 'wedge' them in there and it'd be much easier to put them in and pull them out from the top... I just don't have drawers.

 

[Jovidah]

And Ikea Ostbit stone storage (probably works with a lot of plate / lid holder designs as well):

 

[Michi]

BTW this idea does work better in drawers, where you can sort of 'wedge' them in there and it'd be much easier to put them in and pull them out from the top... I just don't have drawers.

We have a small dedicated space for them under the counter:

 

[Jovidah]

We have a small dedicated space for them under the counter:

View attachment 301689

I've considered that but I'd probably still need an entire cabinet worth's of space...

 

[Jovidah]

So this is what's... basically my almost-entirely-finished-and-now-I-won't have-to-buy-pans-for-another-30-years collection. I slowly cobbled this together over the last 10 to 15 years, waiting for a great sale on pretty much everything.
The cabinet is all beat up (it's some hand-me down Billy bookcases from Ikea, and clearly you shouldn't use the top for longterm storage of liquor bottles), and it's a bit of a mess... been reorganizing a lot lately so the cabinet layout has also kept shuffling... but at least it shows pretty much everything I actually use in one picture.

Top to bottom:
2x Ikea 365+ cheap ass 5 liter pot (with 1 steamer insert, 1 pasta insert).. cheap but works. I don't actually use these all much since most of the time I just use what's in between. It's a shame they don't sell those inserts anymore.
3x Demeyere Atlantis 24 cm saucier; these are my go to daily drivers... if it's not going into a frying pan, there's a very good chance it'll go into these.
2x Ikea...I think it was also 365+ 2 liter sauce pans. These might actually dissapear since I recently acquired the 20 cm sauciers. Who knows they might still find some use.
2x Demeyere Atlantic 20 cm saucier.

Then the Frying pans.
De Buyer, all from the cheap carbonne plus 3mm series: 2x 24 cm, 2x 28 cm, 1x 32 cm. Main reason I have so many is I bought most of these years ago when I was completely broke before I got into proper stainless stuff. I still use them, but I probably wouldn't buy this many of them if I had to start from scratch today.
Demeyere Proline 24 & 28 cm. Great for meat, but for veggies and other stuff I usually go for the multiline and ecoline.
Demeyere Multiline 24, 28 and 32. The 28 here is probably my nr 1 most used frying pan.
Demeyere Ecoline 28. This is the budget line... saw a screaming deal a while back and mostly got it because I found I used the multiline 28 so much that I kinda wished I had 2. This was the compromise solution... still evaluating but on a gas stove the performance difference seems negligible.
Then there's a Darto 35 paella that I mostly use as an oven pan.

Then there's a line of bowls I generally use for non-cooled perishable food storage, stuff like bread, oranges, pineapple, whatever, currently a complete mess.

Then the enamelled stuff.
A cheap BK Fortalit 28 cm. I still have this because I used it for confit. Thermal performance is irrelevant when it's only going into the oven at low temp, and it means I won't have the proper big boys occupied for like a week on end. It's also a lot lighter so easier to empty fat from it.
Staub 26 and 28 cm Dutch oven. Generally speaking I use these for braising, stews and soups. Stuff which I'll usually leave in the pan for days (I just put the entire pan in the fridge), so enamelled is perfect here.
Staub 28 cm braisier. Actually my go to pan for stuff like risotto, pilav, etc.

Then there's a cheap thin 28 cm Debuyer tall frying pan. This is my deepfryer. Still kinda wished I had forked out the little bit of extra money for a 3 mm Mineral B.
There's a 26 cm Staub oven pan I got cheap on a sale at some point. It's actually somewhat convenient because it actually does well on a stove... contrary to the cheap Ikea roasting pans below.

Those still serve me well though; it's the Ikea koncis series, 2 sets of all 3 sizes.
And then there's a cheap 10 liter soup pan in the bottom right that I honestly rarely ever use.. I mostly use it as a sous-vide vessel actually.

Beyond this there's some oven trays in some other cabinet but other than that I think this will hold me over until the end of my life. The only thing I have left on my wishlist is a 28 cm saucier; sounds a bit weird but it's a very useful shape as a 'tall frying pan'.

 

[Brian Weekley]

Still getting to know the software, but very happy with this recent addition.

 

[Michi]

Still getting to know the software, but very happy with this recent addition.

Those Bluetooth thermometers are really useful. I use mine mainly for charcuterie because it is water-proof, which is great when I make cooked ham and the like. I can seal the thermometer with the meat in a sous vide bag without the meat juices doing any harm, and I no longer need to guess at the core temperature.

But BT thermometers are generally useful. No annoying wires. Last week, I used mine with a chicken that I smoked on the charcoal grill.



Mine is a MeatStick (review here).

 

[HolyDiverScallop]

I've been looking at the Combustion, Inc predictive thermometer, but haven't yet pulled the trigger. Chris Young is legit, and it looks like a good product.

 

[9mmbhp]

We have a small dedicated space for them under the counter:

Those tall, narrow cabinets are useful

 

[HolyDiverScallop]

3x Demeyere Atlantis 24 cm saucier; these are my go to daily drivers... if it's not going into a frying pan, there's a very good chance it'll go into these.
2x Ikea...I think it was also 365+ 2 liter sauce pans. These might actually dissapear since I recently acquired the 20 cm sauciers. Who knows they might still find some use.
2x Demeyere Atlantic 20 cm saucier.

[snip]

Beyond this there's some oven trays in some other cabinet but other than that I think this will hold me over until the end of my life. The only thing I have left on my wishlist is a 28 cm saucier; sounds a bit weird but it's a very useful shape as a 'tall frying pan'.

I've referred to your comprehensive assessment of the cookware landscape a couple times. This is a hell of a collection. I've been looking to replace my All Clad since the aluminum core is all eroding from being cleaned in the dishwasher, and those edges are SHARP.

I'd love to see a few more shots of the sauciers and saute pans and get a sense for size and capacity. As a Merkin, I'm used to thinking in non-metric volumes. How many quarts (or liters) is a 24 cm saucier?

 

[rickbern]

Pressure cookers and enameled cast iron

They’re kinda together by coincidence, I braised pork shanks yesterday, I’m gonna make a broth from the bones today. What they do show is the beauty of an oval shaped pot. These are four big pots, they fit perfectly on a four burner stove together. They’re also great because something like a veal roast or a chicken fit in them more snugly than a round pot.

The big pressure cooker gets tons of use around here, I make all my stocks in it, I’m sure I use it 2-3 times a month. I used the little one far more often before I retired, indispensable when you hear at the last minute you’ve got three extra people coming for dinner and you need to make a pot of lentils fast!

 

[Hockey3081]

Still getting to know the software, but very happy with this recent addition.

View attachment 301692

Love mine. Has come in very handy.

So this is what's... basically my almost-entirely-finished-and-now-I-won't have-to-buy-pans-for-another-30-years collection. I slowly cobbled this together over the last 10 to 15 years, waiting for a great sale on pretty much everything.
The cabinet is all beat up (it's some hand-me down Billy bookcases from Ikea, and clearly you shouldn't use the top for longterm storage of liquor bottles), and it's a bit of a mess... been reorganizing a lot lately so the cabinet layout has also kept shuffling... but at least it shows pretty much everything I actually use in one picture.

This is an amazing setup!

 

[pleue]

Those tall, narrow cabinets are useful
View attachment 301705

What cabinets? That lacanche stove tho

 

[Jovidah]

Those Bluetooth thermometers are really useful. I use mine mainly for charcuterie because it is water-proof, which is great when I make cooked ham and the like. I can seal the thermometer with the meat in a sous vide bag without the meat juices doing any harm, and I no longer need to guess at the core temperature.

But BT thermometers are generally useful. No annoying wires. Last week, I used mine with a chicken that I smoked on the charcoal grill.

View attachment 301698

Mine is a MeatStick (review here).

I always thought BT thermometers were a useless gimmick, but I have to admit that being able to vacuum it inside the package actually does sound quite smart and useful.
I'll just have to get a chamber vacuum first...

 

[HolyDiverScallop]

I always thought BT thermometers were a useless gimmick, but I have to admit that being able to vacuum it inside the package actually does sound quite smart and useful.
I'll just have to get a chamber vacuum first...

That's useful. What's also sometimes useful is the history of temperature throughout the cook, which isn't usually something you can get with your average to above average wired probe.

 

[Jovidah]

I've been looking at the Combustion, Inc predictive thermometer, but haven't yet pulled the trigger. Chris Young is legit, and it looks like a good product.

The predictive part might actually be useful if it works. I've always found going low and slow in the oven to be a wild guessing game when it comes to how much time is needed. Not a major problem when you have a thermometer, but it could be useful to know an exact time for the planning of the other components of the meal.

I've referred to your comprehensive assessment of the cookware landscape a couple times. This is a hell of a collection. I've been looking to replace my All Clad since the aluminum core is all eroding from being cleaned in the dishwasher, and those edges are SHARP.

I'd love to see a few more shots of the sauciers and saute pans and get a sense for size and capacity. As a Merkin, I'm used to thinking in non-metric volumes. How many quarts (or liters) is a 24 cm saucier?

Exposed aluminium is a problem on a lot of brands, even with most Demeyere lines. If in doubt, check with them first, but up until now Atlantis was their only line of sauciers that doesn't have an exposed rim; their other lines, including Industry, have the same problem.
A problem that admittedly only is a problem if you want to throw them in the dishwasher... but personally I preferred to keep that option open.

I can imagine that other brands might catch up on this at some point. I ended up with Demeyere Atlantis simply because it was the only one that ticked all my boxes (at least 3mm clad construction, folded over pouring rim, encapsulated rim, welded handle). If another brand ticked the same boxes, or if I had different preferences I might have ended up with something else. The perfect saucier for me would actually be the Atlantis saucier with all the bells and whistles, but with the cheaper and lighter hollow tube handles from the Apollo series.

Demeyere has all the imperial measurements on the US webpage, including internal volumes. While the frying pans always go in 4 cm increments, at least in Europe the sauciers also go in 2 cm increments, so between the 20 and 24 there's also a 22... I just skipped that one because it's easier to standardize on fewer sizes for lid commonality. It might not even be sold in the US.

https://www.zwilling.com/us/demeyer...stainless-steel--25924-41524/40851-228-0.html
I'm fairly certain that's the 24; it's shown in Europe as 3,3 liter, so 3,5 quart would be correct. However that 5,10 lbs weight is the weight of pan + lid. The pan itself is is 1,7 kg - 3,75 pounds.
The 2 quart is probably the same as the 20 cm version (shown as 2 liter in EU), but again 4,18 lbs is the weight including lid. Without lid it's just 1,23 kg / 2,71 pounds.
In Europe the sauciers are all sold without lids. Still haven't gotten around to ordering those but I'm actually planning to go with the cheaper glass lids on those; they're significantly cheaper and I actually like being able to see what's going inside.

Size wise the most important thing to keep in mind is that for a given size they measure rim to rim on the insize, so they run rather on the big side. They are noticably bigger than De Buyer, that runs a bit small.
Also, they are quite heavy, and in that regard that cast steel handle doesn't help. They are the kind of pan where it really wouldn't hurt to hold them in a shop before pulling the trigger; some might find them too heavy. This is even more true for the Proline pans...those are really quite heavy. Heavy enoguh that if I don't need the heat capacity I'll grab the thinner multiline instead...which unfortunately they don't sell in the US. That's really a shame, since the Industry they sell instead has exposed aluminium on the rim.

Also if you're spending this much it is also at least worth considering copper, the price gap isn't that much of a stretch anymore... but that comes with its own pros and cons. It's also always worth looking into other brands that might have more attractive pricing in your region, just make sure you check your 'requirement list'.

Just tell me what you want me to throw together for comparison shots and I can oblige.

 

[Jovidah]

Pressure cookers and enameled cast iron

They’re kinda together by coincidence, I braised pork shanks yesterday, I’m gonna make a broth from the bones today. What they do show is the beauty of an oval shaped pot. These are four big pots, they fit perfectly on a four burner stove together. They’re also great because something like a veal roast or a chicken fit in them more snugly than a round pot.

The big pressure cooker gets tons of use around here, I make all my stocks in it, I’m sure I use it 2-3 times a month. I used the little one far more often before I retired, indispensable when you hear at the last minute you’ve got three extra people coming for dinner and you need to make a pot of lentils fast!


View attachment 301710

I never considered buying a pressure cooker in the past... until people on this forum started mentioning how useful it is for making stock... Thanks for that.

 

[rickbern]

I never considered buying a pressure cooker in the past... until people on this forum started mentioning how useful it is for making stock... Thanks for that.

Yeah, the kiss of death is stating publicly that you have all the pots and pans you need for the next thirty years!

Seriously though, I’ve saved a ton of money by effectively using up what I used to discard after dinner. Plus, the stock is waaay better than store bought. Toss that leftover stuff in a plastic bag in the freezer until you have enough

 

[HolyDiverScallop]

The predictive part might actually be useful if it works. I've always found going low and slow in the oven to be a wild guessing game when it comes to how much time is needed. Not a major problem when you have a thermometer, but it could be useful to know an exact time for the planning of the other components of the meal.

Exposed aluminium is a problem on a lot of brands, even with most Demeyere lines. If in doubt, check with them first, but up until now Atlantis was their only line of sauciers that doesn't have an exposed rim; their other lines, including Industry, have the same problem.
A problem that admittedly only is a problem if you want to throw them in the dishwasher... but personally I preferred to keep that option open.

I can imagine that other brands might catch up on this at some point. I ended up with Demeyere Atlantis simply because it was the only one that ticked all my boxes (at least 3mm clad construction, folded over pouring rim, encapsulated rim, welded handle). If another brand ticked the same boxes, or if I had different preferences I might have ended up with something else. The perfect saucier for me would actually be the Atlantis saucier with all the bells and whistles, but with the cheaper and lighter hollow tube handles from the Apollo series.

Demeyere has all the imperial measurements on the US webpage, including internal volumes. While the frying pans always go in 4 cm increments, at least in Europe the sauciers also go in 2 cm increments, so between the 20 and 24 there's also a 22... I just skipped that one because it's easier to standardize on fewer sizes for lid commonality. It might not even be sold in the US.

https://www.zwilling.com/us/demeyere-atlantis-3.5-qt-conic-sauté-pan/saucier-with-lid-18/10-stainless-steel--25924-41524/40851-228-0.html
I'm fairly certain that's the 24; it's shown in Europe as 3,3 liter, so 3,5 quart would be correct. However that 5,10 lbs weight is the weight of pan + lid. The pan itself is is 1,7 kg - 3,75 pounds.
The 2 quart is probably the same as the 20 cm version (shown as 2 liter in EU), but again 4,18 lbs is the weight including lid. Without lid it's just 1,23 kg / 2,71 pounds.
In Europe the sauciers are all sold without lids. Still haven't gotten around to ordering those but I'm actually planning to go with the cheaper glass lids on those; they're significantly cheaper and I actually like being able to see what's going inside.

Size wise the most important thing to keep in mind is that for a given size they measure rim to rim on the insize, so they run rather on the big side. They are noticably bigger than De Buyer, that runs a bit small.
Also, they are quite heavy, and in that regard that cast steel handle doesn't help. They are the kind of pan where it really wouldn't hurt to hold them in a shop before pulling the trigger; some might find them too heavy. This is even more true for the Proline pans...those are really quite heavy. Heavy enoguh that if I don't need the heat capacity I'll grab the thinner multiline instead...which unfortunately they don't sell in the US. That's really a shame, since the Industry they sell instead has exposed aluminium on the rim.

Also if you're spending this much it is also at least worth considering copper, the price gap isn't that much of a stretch anymore... but that comes with its own pros and cons. It's also always worth looking into other brands that might have more attractive pricing in your region, just make sure you check your 'requirement list'.

Just tell me what you want me to throw together for comparison shots and I can oblige.

Thanks, @Jovidah. Having the mapping between metric size and imperial volume is super helpful to orient me.

In terms of requirements, your checklist is similar to mine in a lot of ways. I'm looking for all of the things everyone looks for., I'd guess. Even and responsive heating, durable, high quality user experience (flared rims for pouring on sauciers, for example), pretty. Fully encapsulated rims are a hard requirement

I'm honestly sort of quietly pissed off about the erosion because I bought all of my All Clad, albeit on sale, at a time when money was much tighter than it is now, I thought I was buying lifetime cookware, and it was billed as dishwasher safe. I'll probably never buy another All-Clad item again as a result.

I've got enough fussy-ish cookware that truly dishwasher safe is a thing I'd like to have with any All Clad replacement, though the idea of some induction-compatible copper cookware is, honestly, tempting.

I'd like to see the two sauciers together, maybe with something else of a standard size for scale. (Maybe a wine bottle? I have a 25cm and 27cm Darto, if you have either of those, but they're not on your list so...)

And maybe a shot of the sauciers and saute pans together?

Thanks for doing that.

 

[Michi]

ImpI never considered buying a pressure cooker in the past... until people on this forum started mentioning how useful it is for making stock... Thanks for that.

You are welcome

 

[Michi]

That's useful. What's also sometimes useful is the history of temperature throughout the cook, which isn't usually something you can get with your average to above average wired probe.

I never saw the point of that. Why would I look at the curve of an earlier cook?

BTW, the MeatStick does prediction as well. That seems to be quite accurate. I looked at the Combustion thermometer, too. But, at least at the time, they didn’t guarantee that it would handle sous vide, which is why I settled on the MeatStick.

 

[HolyDiverScallop]

I never saw the point of that. Why would I look at the curve of an earlier cook?

BTW, the MeatStick does prediction as well. That seems to be quite accurate. I looked at the Combustion thermometer, too. But, at least at the time, they didn’t guarantee that it would handle sous vide, which is why I settled on the MeatStick.

I'm a gigantic nerd who loves data, and when I'm learning something new, hard measurements can be super helpful to me, which is why I'll do it.

It's not always something I do, but I've done it when I'm smoking meat, mostly brisket, to get a sense of when I hit the stall, and to help me dial in a smoker. Once things are settled in, I will look back less and less.

I also do it when I'm trying to dial in a new recipe or try to figure out how long it is likely to take to make something. Nice to know that N pounds of X meat will take Y minutes to reach my desired temperature when I'm trying to get everything to come together.

 

[Jovidah]

Thanks, @Jovidah. Having the mapping between metric size and imperial volume is super helpful to orient me.

In terms of requirements, your checklist is similar to mine in a lot of ways. I'm looking for all of the things everyone looks for., I'd guess. Even and responsive heating, durable, high quality user experience (flared rims for pouring on sauciers, for example), pretty. Fully encapsulated rims are a hard requirement

I'm honestly sort of quietly pissed off about the erosion because I bought all of my All Clad, albeit on sale, at a time when money was much tighter than it is now, I thought I was buying lifetime cookware, and it was billed as dishwasher safe. I'll probably never buy another All-Clad item again as a result.

I've got enough fussy-ish cookware that truly dishwasher safe is a thing I'd like to have with any All Clad replacement, though the idea of some induction-compatible copper cookware is, honestly, tempting.

I'd like to see the two sauciers together, maybe with something else of a standard size for scale. (Maybe a wine bottle? I have a 25cm and 27cm Darto, if you have either of those, but they're not on your list so...)

And maybe a shot of the sauciers and saute pans together?

Thanks for doing that.

Metric to imperial isn't that difficult. An inch is 2,54 centimeters, a kilo is 2,2045 pounds, a quart is 0,946 liters.

Even and responsive aren't necessarily things that go together though. Using the same material, thicker will be more even but less responsive. You could get around this by using a more conductive material (so for example going to copper instead of aluminium), but there's no real 'magic' here. If something heats up and cools down fast that also means it won't have much heat capacity.

I'm surprised how rare encapsulated rims are, especially considering the 'eroding aluminium' problem already starts to become noticable after just a few years of use. That's probably also why Demeyere only advertises the lines with an encapsulated rim as truly dishwasher proof.

I'm not sure to what extent the same problem does or doesn't occur with copper. For some reason most of the copper core cookware (Falk recently introduced a line) has exposed copper on the rim. No clue how that works in the long term if you want to dishwash it.

I'll throw some pictures your way in PM later today when I have some time... if anyone else is interested just ask, but I probably already did enough Demeyere hijacking of this thread.

 

[HolyDiverScallop]

Metric to imperial isn't that difficult. An inch is 2,54 centimeters, a kilo is 2,2045 pounds, a quart is 0,946 liters.

Yeah. The conversion wasn't so much the issue as the mapping from metric diameter to imperial diameter, and from that to volume. There was enough potential for confusion or imprecision on my part, alongside possible differences in product line spec from EU to US market that I wanted to be sure I knew which pans you had so that I was looking at the right pans. Once I have a survey stake in the ground, so to speak, it is easy to go from there.

It's possible I'm a little, er, special in the head.

Even and responsive aren't necessarily things that go together though. Using the same material, thicker will be more even but less responsive. You could get around this by using a more conductive material (so for example going to copper instead of aluminium), but there's no real 'magic' here. If something heats up and cools down fast that also means it won't have much heat capacity.

I'm surprised how rare encapsulated rims are, especially considering the 'eroding aluminium' problem already starts to become noticable after just a few years of use. That's probably also why Demeyere only advertises the lines with an encapsulated rim as truly dishwasher proof.

I'm not sure to what extent the same problem does or doesn't occur with copper. For some reason most of the copper core cookware (Falk recently introduced a line) has exposed copper on the rim. No clue how that works in the long term if you want to dishwash it.

I'll throw some pictures your way in PM later today when I have some time... if anyone else is interested just ask, but I probably already did enough Demeyere hijacking of this thread.

I'm honestly surprised that encapsulated rims aren't more common as well, except that I suspect it's difficult to do in such a way that you don't end up with an accidental pressure vessel in the case of a small void in the rim.

The copper, I think, is more durable, but will certainly patina very quickly. Thanks for the future photos. I think some Demeyere is in my future.

 

[noj]

My pizza and bread baking stone; a 14" x 14" x 3/4" sheet of silicon carbide.

 

[rickbern]

I'm not sure to what extent the same problem does or doesn't occur with copper. For some reason most of the copper core cookware (Falk recently introduced a line) has exposed copper on the rim. No clue how that works in the long term if you want to dishwash it.

Falk says no

https://service.falkcoppercookware.com/index.php?/Knowledgebase/Article/View/24