What pans are you guys personally using?

[Michi]

As such, I’m considering buying several pans / a set in the spring.

I’m considering going full carbon steel but a bit hesitant on the investment of time and energy to get them fully seasoned

It's a matter of what you need versus what you want

Ignoring sauce pans and pots for now and just thinking about fry pans.

What you need if you can have only one pan: stainless steel or enamelled pan. (Fissler Pro for stainless steel, Le Creuset for enamelled are my preferred picks.) Those pans don't excel at anything, but can do everything.

What you want:

In addition to stainless steel, one cast iron or carbon steel pan, or preferably one of each, or two of each. Lodge 12” cast iron and DeBuyer 11” Mineral B Pro are my preferred ones. Add a Mineral B Pro omelette pan and a small Lodge cast iron to round things out.

I don’t use it often but, when I do, a non/stick pan is essential. Buy cheap and plain, such as Tramontina restaurant version. The expensive ones are no better and don’t last any longer.

That’s the core setup. Beyond that, add more specialized stuff, such as a crepe pan, cast iron griddle, etc.

 

[Michi]

As to your problem of 'not being able to rapidly change the heat'

If you want something really responsive, stainless lined copper is the way to go. Falk make very nice ones.

 

[More_Gyutos]

Would love a thread or more comments about pans that play nice with electric ranges. Mostly using all-clad d3/copper core, very interested in demeyere and debuyer after so many mentions.

Edit; the issue I run into with my electric range is it’s very difficult to rapidly drop or increase the heat

Same. I am used to gas and still adjusting to my apartment’s electric stove. One thing I have learned is if there is a free burner, set that at a backup temperature so you have somewhere to go with your pan rather than waiting for the stove to cool down or heat up.

 

[Nemo]

What sort of cooktop do you have? Seasoning on a ceramic cooktop is probably not going to be much fun. Otherwise, maintaining a season is pretty easy: Use the pan, hopefully sometimes with fat in it. Avoid acidic ingredients (this will deglaze the season), use stainless instead. After use, scrub it in hot water with a coarse bristle (NOT plastic) brush. No detergent. At all. Dry it by heating on the stove. Any residual fat will burn off, replenishing the Seasoning.

I often use carbon steel. DeBuyer is probably my favourite of the ones easily available to me.

For acidic ingredients, I use Demeyere Proline. Great heat distribution and retention. A bit heavy for tossing.

My saucepans are a mixture of Fissler (very thick 6.5mm aluminium disc), Esstele Per Sempre (~2mm aluminium clad) and Esstele Per Vita (Moderately thick Cu and Al disc). They are each good at different things. Also depends heavily on your cooktop. The Esstele seems common in Australia. Not so much the US. It's a kind of premium brand for the Meyer group I think. I think the Fissler has a slightly better disc than Per Vita, but there is not much in it.

If you must have Teflon based nonstick, please don't cook in it at high temperature. If you oil smokes in it, it's too hot. You'll ruin the nonstick and release PFOAs into your food. They are definitely not for searing meat.

Your wok should be carbon steel.

Enamelled cast iron is great as a casserole dish.

 

[NickMinton]

What sort of cooktop do you have? Seasoning on a ceramic cooktop is probably not going to be much fun. Otherwise, maintaining a season is pretty easy: Use the pan, hopefully sometimes with fat in it. Avoid acidic ingredients (this will deglaze the season), use stainless instead. After use, scrub it in hot water with a coarse bristle (NOT plastic) brush. No detergent. At all. Dry it by heating on the stove. Any residual fat will burn off, replenishing the Seasoning.

I often use carbon steel. DeBuyer is probably my favourite of the ones easily available to me.

For acidic ingredients, I use Demeyere Proline. Great heat distribution and retention. A bit heavy for tossing.

My saucepans are a mixture of Fissler (very thick 6.5mm aluminium disc), Esstele Per Sempre (~2mm aluminium clad) and Esstele Per Vita (Moderately thick Cu and Al disc). They are each good at different things. Also depends heavily on your cooktop. The Esstele seems common in Australia. Not so much the US. It's a kind of premium brand for the Meyer group I think. I think the Fissler has a slightly better disc than Per Vita, but there is not much in it.

If you must have Teflon based nonstick, please don't cook in it at high temperature. If you oil smokes in it, it's too hot. You'll ruin the nonstick and release PFOAs into your food. They are definitely not for searing meat.

Your wok should be carbon steel.

Enamelled cast iron is great as a casserole dish.

Currently have a gas stove

 

[NickMinton]

This thread took off a lot more than I was expecting. Thanks for all the opinions and perspectives everyone, keep’em coming!

 

[blokey]

What sort of cooktop do you have? Seasoning on a ceramic cooktop is probably not going to be much fun. Otherwise, maintaining a season is pretty easy: Use the pan, hopefully sometimes with fat in it. Avoid acidic ingredients (this will deglaze the season), use stainless instead. After use, scrub it in hot water with a coarse bristle (NOT plastic) brush. No detergent. At all. Dry it by heating on the stove. Any residual fat will burn off, replenishing the Seasoning.

I often use carbon steel. DeBuyer is probably my favourite of the ones easily available to me.

For acidic ingredients, I use Demeyere Proline. Great heat distribution and retention. A bit heavy for tossing.

My saucepans are a mixture of Fissler (very thick 6.5mm aluminium disc), Esstele Per Sempre (~2mm aluminium clad) and Esstele Per Vita (Moderately thick Cu and Al disc). They are each good at different things. Also depends heavily on your cooktop. The Esstele seems common in Australia. Not so much the US. It's a kind of premium brand for the Meyer group I think. I think the Fissler has a slightly better disc than Per Vita, but there is not much in it.

If you must have Teflon based nonstick, please don't cook in it at high temperature. If you oil smokes in it, it's too hot. You'll ruin the nonstick and release PFOAs into your food. They are definitely not for searing meat.

Your wok should be carbon steel.

Enamelled cast iron is great as a casserole dish.

The Vita is available as Anolon Nouvelle in US

 

[MowgFace]

Speaking of finding out something new everyday, this thread gave me the inkling to browse some for some new pans.

Does anyone actually use these?

All of my sh!ts is just stacked up on each other.

 

[Cliff]

If we're going to include things like sheet trays, I'll throw in sizzle plates

 

[Jovidah]

If you want some really responsive, stainless lined copper is the way to go. Falk make very nice ones.

Yes but all of the copper in the world isn't going to fix the problem of a slow responding electric stove. At best you're only adding less delay.
If you really wanted to invest to solve this problem I think you'd be best off investing in induction coils instead.

 

[Jovidah]

Speaking of finding out something new everyday, this thread gave me the inkling to browse some for some new pans.

Does anyone actually use these?

View attachment 292217
All of my sh!ts is just stacked up on each other.

Not for carbon steel or stainless, but I have used them in the past when I still had non-stick pans. Makes sure the coating doesn't get scratched by the bottom of other pans.

In general though I'm really not a fan of stacking pans like that, the extra work of unstacking / reorganizing is just too inefficient.

 

[Michi]

Does anyone actually use these?

View attachment 292217
All of my sh!ts is just stacked up on each other.

I absolutely don’t see the point. If I have to baby a pan, there is no point in having it.

You might want to protect a non-stick pan if you need to stack another pan or pot on top of it. But for that, any kitchen towel or rag will work just as well. No need for another contrived single-purpose accessory.

 

[pgugger]

Currently, I have…

Le Creuset enameled Dutch ovens:
round 5 quart
oval 6.75 quart

All Clad D3:
1.5 quart sauce pan
4 quart sauce pan
3 quart sautee pan
12 quart stockpot
12” fry pan

All Clad D5 10” fry pan

Darto 30 cm carbon steel fry pan (replaced a Matfer that warped)

Iwatetsu 26 cm cast iron (thin)

Tramontina 10” nonstick fry pan

 

[ian]

Most used:

12” Lodge cast iron, sanded smooth (for basically everything for the family)
10”, same (usually for fried eggs or something quick for my lunch/breakfast)
Dutch oven for bread
Winco Rondeau (soups, stews)
Cuisinart 11” saute pan (wet stuff in smaller quantities than with the winco)
Tramontina nonsticks in 10 & 12” (scrambled eggs, omelettes, fish)

and a few other small random pots and pans.

 

[rickbern]

Would love a thread or more comments about pans that play nice with electric ranges. Mostly using all-clad d3/copper core, very interested in demeyere and debuyer after so many mentions.

Edit; the issue I run into with my electric range is it’s very difficult to rapidly drop or increase the heat

Fisslers are great on electric ranges. Sitram too, they’re lighter weight discs so they’re more responsive but I’d put up with the heat retention and use the fisslers.

I never thought any of the multiply pans were any good on coil electric, but I never tried demeyere (I was pretty broke in those days!)

I had a tin lined copper saucepan that I hated using on electric. The tin would melt too easily. If you consider copper, make sure it’s stainless lined.

 

[DoYoon Kim]

I'm honestly surprised how little Staub and Demeyere are represented. I used to think All clad was the be all end all, but TBH I like my Demeyere's a lot better....

Baking sheets are all Staub for me.

 

[DoYoon Kim]

Also, Creusets dutch ovans make some mean bread

 

[Cliff]

They do, but I worry about putting them in such a hot oven so often. I love my old cast iron Lodge for that.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Would love a thread or more comments about pans that play nice with electric ranges. Mostly using all-clad d3/copper core, very interested in demeyere and debuyer after so many mentions.

Edit; the issue I run into with my electric range is it’s very difficult to rapidly drop or increase the heat

Same. I am used to gas and still adjusting to my apartment’s electric stove. One thing I have learned is if there is a free burner, set that at a backup temperature so you have somewhere to go with your pan rather than waiting for the stove to cool down or heat up.

I have an electric coil stove. With these stoves the heat is very concentrated to the coil area and doesn't spread well to the outer edges of wider pans. Because of this, whenever it's practical, I like using 10" pans as more of the cooking surface is in contact with the coil.

It also means that thin sucks. You'll get much wider temp swings in the bottom of the pan. So I stick to ply. This is also one of the main reasons I like a higher end non-stick pan. I understand there may debate about the coatings themselves but better quality pans won't be as given to super hot spots and also resist warping better which also helps the longevity of the coating.

Ply pans (or at least a disc bottom) and cast iron have always served me well as they distribute heat across the pan better. No matter what type pans you use, electric will be slower to respond in both heating up and cooling down than gas. Just something you need to get used to and learn. After years of use I don't find it an issue.

I don't know if any of that helps...?

 

[stringer]

Speaking of finding out something new everyday, this thread gave me the inkling to browse some for some new pans.

Does anyone actually use these?

View attachment 292217
All of my sh!ts is just stacked up on each other.

This is the way

I have an electric coil stove. With these stoves the heat is very concentrated to the coil area and doesn't spread well to the outer edges of wider pans. Because of this, whenever it's practical, I like using 10" pans as more of the cooking surface is in contact with the coil.

It also means that thin sucks. You'll get much wider temp swings in the bottom of the pan. So I stick to ply. This is also one of the main reasons I like a higher end non-stick pan. I understand there may debate about the coatings themselves but better quality pans won't be as given to super hot spots and also resist warping better which also helps the longevity of the coating.

Ply pans (or at least a disc bottom) and cast iron have always served me well as they distribute heat across the pan better. No matter what type pans you use, electric will be slower to respond in both heating up and cooling down than gas. Just something you need to get used to and learn. After years of use I don't find it an issue.

I don't know if any of that helps...?

Disc bottom is massively under appreciated. Gotta love a disc butt on electric ranges for even slow to medium heat. It renders the cycling heat source inconsequential. Work with your heat source not against it.

 

[DoYoon Kim]

Speaking of finding out something new everyday, this thread gave me the inkling to browse some for some new pans.

Does anyone actually use these?

View attachment 292217
All of my sh!ts is just stacked up on each other.

I use cut up old towels.... does that count?

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

For the general pan discussion, two pans I wish I would've bought yeeeeaaaaaarrrrrssssss ago are a saucier and an actual saute pan or preferably rondeau. I use these type pans often and they excel at what they do.

Also, I have to support @MowgFace's love the Made In butter warmer. I use the hell out of that thing. From a quick boil of a single cup of tea water to toasting spices to small compotes and all sorts of things. I think I may have even melted butter in it a couple times.

 

[HumbleHomeCook]

Speaking of finding out something new everyday, this thread gave me the inkling to browse some for some new pans.

Does anyone actually use these?

View attachment 292217
All of my sh!ts is just stacked up on each other.

I buy dollar store pot holders and toss them between pans. I have a couple pan holders but I still stack a lot of them and that's how I do it. Works just fine.

 

[Justinv]

My two faves for gas range: all clad MC2 and French copper. I have many MC2 that I have never considered upgrading to copper. Tried all-clad d3 and d5 and always prefer mc2.

Best pan I own is bourgeat 11” copper rondeau. I’m often impressed by performance.

I hate cast iron and bourgeat carbon steel. I use carbon steel for some things but disposed of bourgeat carbon many years ago. Phasing out non-stick and rarely use it anymore. I occasionally use creuset, but rarely as I pick copper or MC2 whenever appropriate.

 

[Simply]

Same. I am used to gas and still adjusting to my apartment’s electric stove. One thing I have learned is if there is a free burner, set that at a backup temperature so you have somewhere to go with your pan rather than waiting for the stove to cool down or heat up.

Haha I do the exact same, will use the front burners for med-high heat and set the rears lower in preparation. Miss my gas stoves

 

[themobilesharpaner]

Hey all,

Checking what you guys personally use for pans at home.

I got a great set of hand me downs that lasted a long time but the overall coating on them is wearing thin and I’m having consistent sticking problems

As such, I’m considering buying several pans / a set in the spring.

I’m considering going full carbon steel but a bit hesitant on the investment of time and energy to get them fully seasoned

Let me know about your favorite pans!

Allclad, Ruffoni (my preferred) and DeBuyer fry pans.

 

[themobilesharpaner]

Has anyone tried the HexClad Hybrid cookware, they have a very clean look to them and seem to get good reviews.

 

[Taurahe]

I have a mix , but everything is high quality . I have several carbon steel pans ( matfer, de buyer, merten stork, lodge, made in ) several SS pans ( Hestan , LC, all clad ) cast iron. You don't have to spend a ton of money to get good stuff. My suggestion is to get a good try-ply set as a base set , ( tramontina makes a killer bang for the buck set ) , and add in a carbon steel skillet . You can go 5 ply if you wish , but it is not necessary. Full try ply is a minimum though ( not bonded base) . Quality cookware is a long term investment

 

[Taurahe]

Has anyone tried the HexClad Hybrid cookware, they have a very clean look to them and seem to get good reviews.

I have , and it was great. But It wasn't amazing , and not worth the price to convert to, when I already have a kitchen full of top tier cookware. If I was just starting out I would be inclined to invest in it

 

[user 16756]

if I had a ****** range Id probably just buy a Control Freak and keep my cheap pans if that was really what I had to do.