What pans are you guys personally using?

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My most used cookware:

12" Sautee All-Clad D3. Definitely my most used. It's basically the only sautee pan I ever use.

2 Qt Saucier All-Clad D3. I love this pot. Highly recommend a saucier, the rounded bottom really helps when whisking up roux.

9.5 qt Le Creuset Oval dutch oven. Total workhorse, used all the time. If I had to do it again I'd probably get round vs. oval.

Stock pot for boiling stuff. Mine is Cuisinart I think. Doesn't need to be fancy, but heavier bottom is nice.

T-fal non stick, for the occasional times I want non-stick.

I have a lot of other pots and pans, but I could live with just these five.
 
Carbon pans took a bit to get used to, but love them now. The debuyers and matfers aren’t too expensive. Buy one and see how it works. Once you get it seasoned it’s not as much work as you’d think. I second @ashy2classy Debuyer mineral B 12.5" it's bit heavy, but it's great and is less warp prone.
 
HHC is right; if you dump a load of charcoal in your grill and then hit it with the leaf blower you can get it silly hot.

Also I must reiterate, anything marketed as "non-stick" almost always has some PFAS constituent in it. They are carcinogenic, and no matter what their marketing says it will flake off into your food at some point. Do not buy this crap and just cook with a little fat.
 
SwampDonkey said:
HHC is right; if you dump a load of charcoal in your grill and then hit it with the leaf blower you can get it silly hot.

Also I must reiterate, anything marketed as "non-stick" almost always has some PFAS constituent in it. They are carcinogenic, and no matter what their marketing says it will flake off into your food at some point. Do not buy this crap and just cook with a little fat.
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Im all for cooking with fat, but to your point that's why Im curious re the Hestan stuff. It's listed as heat tolerant up to 1050F. The state it's completely PFAS free which the temperature range supports.

Ultimately I think that as time marches on we will eventually get to a non-stick solution that is actually durable/wont give you cancer. Hard for me to a see downside to non-stick if they can solve those issues.

But I dont know ANYONE with a nanobond pan and I hate being the first one to have to try stuff out tbh.
 
tcmx3 said:
Hmm, I think I have the opposite opinion.

The ability of carbon steel pans to hold seasoning appears to vary a bit. DeBuyer was so much better than the previous ones I had (Matfer, MadeIn) that I had basically given up on the material until a sale happened. Big step up though hardly an "expensive" pan.
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I guess we Europeans are blessed because when it comes to carbon steel, DeBuyer is the 'default' cheap option here. I bought all of mine for 20-25 euros. Never bothered with anything else, especially since the 'other options' would all be a lot costlier.
 
Two things actually come to mind on that subject:

-I sincerely wonder how long it'll take before someone finds out that 'coating your pan in polymerized oil' comes with its own negative health effects.

-Everyone's always seasoning bare cast iron / carbon steel that has mediocre thermal performance... but can't you just season a proper stainless clad pan that has some proper aluminium inside? Or alternatively... a carbonsteel-clad pan with an aluminium core?
 
NickMinton said:
Just curious for those with Carbon steel, has anyone taken their pans to a fast food Chinese place with some cash and asked them to season them like the woks / dragons breath?
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Hahah, this brings some very good memories when I used to do it often for my friends. I seemed to be the only person they can find uses a traditional carbon wok. If you have a favorite shop or familiar with the owner/chef, I'm sure they'll do it for free. :D

Edit: Should add current daily pans-
A carbon wok that has been ~10yrs
A Le Creuset dutch
A few Dartos that were enabled by fellow forum members
A steam pot for Dimsum etc.
A non-stick cheap pan from supermarket for acid stuff.
 
tcmx3 said:
Im all for cooking with fat, but to your point that's why Im curious re the Hestan stuff. It's listed as heat tolerant up to 1050F. The state it's completely PFAS free which the temperature range supports.

Ultimately I think that as time marches on we will eventually get to a non-stick solution that is actually durable/wont give you cancer. Hard for me to a see downside to non-stick if they can solve those issues.

But I dont know ANYONE with a nanobond pan and I hate being the first one to have to try stuff out tbh.
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Yeah I don't have any experience with the Hestan stuff either. From the manufacturing process at a glance I don't see anything that would be an obvious indicator of PFAS use. Really my bigger question would be, is it as non-stick as they claim? Guess you'll have to guinea pig ;)
 
11 7/8" Matfer carbon
8" De Buyer carbon
~12" All Clad stainless saute pan
14" Imusa Carbon steel wok
14" stainless steel wok (mostly for steaming)

Never really need non-stick stuff. Got rid of it all about 4 years ago. I have a 12" ikea stainless pan that I let guests use because I don't care about it.
 
I use:
  • A full set of Demeyere Atlantis/Proline, including their stock pots
  • 3 sizes of DeBuyer (heaviest line…something commercial I think) for my carbon steel
  • Staub cocottes (3,5,8qt)
  • Some cheap wok from the Chinese grocery store
  • Giant stock pots from 8 gallons up to 20 gallons for brewing beer or cooking lobsters for a crowd.
I could buy a lot of knives for the cost of all this, but I think my priorities are perhaps different, cooking for a family of five and having friends with many kids as well.
 
Mostly All-Clad copper chef (discontinued line), picked up most of them after we moved to Pittsburgh in '05 from the twice-yearly factory seconds sale they have which is just south of where I live, most for 70% off due to some minor scratch that you can hardly perceive. Santa brought me a new carbon skillet, Mauviel, I must have been a good boy last year, haven't used it much, but I really like it. There is one nice Straub I picked up when I lived in Stockholm, a big heavy cast iron skillet, and a carbon wok of unknown origin that all make it into the rotation occasionally. I rarely use nonstick, but have a couple Swiss Diamond skillets that have held up really well over the years, but I baby them.
 
2qt, 3qt 5qt Zwilling Sol stainless pots (very much like the all Clad d3)
8", 10" all Clad non stick fry pans
10" old cast iron.

These are backed up by:
A variety of Le Creuset/Staub enameled cast iron (from 1.5qt to 7qt)
20qt stock pots
a small non-stick wok

We have other stuff, but they are barely used and not worth listing.
 
Matfer black iron frying pan is my most used. Think it’s 11”? Good for two people for most things.

10” lodge gets a decent amount of use.

Picked up a few dartos. The skillet has seen no use, the paella gets used as a roasting pan fairly often.

Slowly transitioning to all clad to replace Walmart sauce and stock pots, buying on their sales which is the only way I’d buy them. If you’re getting at MSRP I’ve heard better things about other brands. That being said, I’m on an electric range, my limiting factor isn’t my cookware sadly 😭
 
NickMinton said:
Just curious for those with Carbon steel, has anyone taken their pans to a fast food Chinese place with some cash and asked them to season them like the woks / dragons breath?
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Please if somebody know how to hook this up please tell. I need to season my wok badly but the stove isn't cutting it.
 
Cast iron:
Skeppshult 26cm. Made in Norway
Comes seasoned - plug and play and a wonderful pan!

Carbon:
No. 27 Darto. Made in Argentina
Easy to season. Took me 10 min. still non-stick and have never let me down.

And a Scanpan IQ Pro 28
Meh… it’s an okay frying pan. It’s my back-up, and I only use when the wife is acting up 😉
 
If I didn't already have a full set of De Buyers I might have a hard time deciding between De Buyer and Darto. The Darto is more expensive but I do quite like the one-piece rivetless design. And they're not so expensive that they get into ridonculous territory.
 
But! And hear this! Darts’s are heavy and that flat handle gets HOT and is a bit of a pain if you lift the pan a lot.

I’m actually considering modding my handle with some wood
 
NickMinton said:
@dabes you might think I’m joking but I think I saw on Reddit that a guy made all of his carbon steel pans super super non-stick by taking them to a fast food Chinese place with $50 cash and they happily obliged.

I mean I’d pay $50 to get a few pans in great shape!
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Nick, start this video at the 16:50 mark, he talks about how he maintains his wok. He’s using a wok but it’s exactly the same for all carbon steel. I keep my oil in a squeeze bottle, I actually use less than he did

 
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All Clad Master Chef
2qt Sauce
4qt Sauce
10” Fry
12” Wok (via @parbaked )

All Clad Master Chef 2
10”/12” Fry Pan

All Clad Encore (Factory Seconds)
10”/12” Fry Pan

All Clad D3
2qt Saucier
.75qt Butter Warmer
7” Fry Pan
8” Fry Pan

#10 Cast iron Skillet inherited from my Wife’s Grandparents
#0 WagnerWare Cast Iron

Misen
12” non-stick
10/12” Carbon Steel

Madein
.5qt Butter Warmer

Le Cruset
3/5.5qt Dutchys
 
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Uncle Danny said:
But! And hear this! Darts’s are heavy and that flat handle gets HOT and is a bit of a pain if you lift the pan a lot.

I’m actually considering modding my handle with some wood
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Just use a towel. That's the recommended way to grab debuyer handles as well.
I don't think there's much weight difference between darto and debuyer in the same size / thickness?
 
MowgFace said:
All Clad Master Chef
2qt Sauce
4qt Sauce
10” Fry
12” Wok (via @parbaked )

All Clad Master 2
10”/12” Fry Pan

All Clad Encore (Factory Seconds)
10”/12” Fry Pan

All Clad D3
2qt Saucier
.75qt Butter Warmer
7” Fry Pan
8” Fry Pan

#10 Cast iron Skillet inherited from my Wife’s Grandparents
#0 WagnerWare Cast Iron

Misen
12” non-stick
10/12” Carbon Steel

Madein
.5qt Butter Warmer

Le Cruset
3/5.5qt Dutchys
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Eerily similar to what I have sans the butter warmers. I didn't know that was a thing. You learn something every day.

I will add a couple to the list. I highly value quality restaurant supply half sheet pans. I honestly use them ten times as much as stovetop pots and pans.

The other thing I use more than any other in my collection is my Thunder Group 7 quart flat sided flat bottomed saute pan.
 
Main pots&pans:
Lodge cast iron fry pan
Matfer Bourgeat 11" carbon steel fry pan
All clad 12" d3 fry pan, d5 saute pan and some nonsticks
Le creuset dutch oven

Been using my stainless pans for almost everything except frying eggs lately. Anyone have experience with viking stainless pans? Have seen them for pretty cheap at home goods and they look nice
 
Oh lordy...if we're adding oven trays... yeah... too much. Still kinda figuring out what works and what to standardize on for that. We don't really have something as convenient as the US sheet pan system. Commercial GN style trays aren't really ideal for consumer sized ovens.
My most used set is probably the Ikea Koncis series. I actually have 2 of those sets (set of all 3 sizes). Cheap thin stainless steel, but they work well.

I don't particularly use the glass stuff much (I have some Pyrex / pyrex knockoffs), but that's largely because I haven't done any oven casseroles or lasagna in ages. Still have a handful of non stick items (simply because I already have them) but I'm not buying any new ones; they never last.
 
stringer said:
Eerily similar to what I have sans the butter warmers. I didn't know that was a thing. You learn something every day.

I will add a couple to the list. I highly value quality restaurant supply half sheet pans. I honestly use them ten times as much as stovetop pots and pans.

The other thing I use more than any other in my collection is my Thunder Group 7 quart flat sided flat bottomed saute pan.
Click to expand...

Love these tiny guys

IMG_1833.jpeg


+1 on the Sheet tray game. Half, Quarter, and 8th trays are super useful in my home kitchen.
 
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
 
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Demeyere will vary per line (since they vary in thickness) but from what I've seen they're all thicker than All-Clad. So expect them to have better heat distribution and retention, at a cost of being slightly slower in heating up / cooling down.

Carbon steel's okay but not great in the heat distribution department. Debuyer is 3mm and should perform similar to other 3mm carbon steel pans and IMO 3mm is also the lower bar for carbon steel pans. But a 3mm carbon steel pan performs noticably worse in heat distribution than a 3mm stainless clad aluminium pan like Demeyere multiline / industry.
 
As to your problem of 'not being able to rapidly change the heat'. I was in a similar situation with the crappy stove in a previous appartment.
The fancier pans don't really solve that problem. If anything a heavier pan will make the process even slower. The only solution is to really 'plan ahead'.

What you can get out of a heavier pan is more heat capacity / thermal mass, which solves the problem of the pan going cold after you throw in meat. You'll still have to give it time to come up to temperature, but at least you won't lose all the temperature after the meat goes in. For that situation 'more mass is more better'. So you either go for a heavy cast iron or a Demeyere proline - which is pretty much like a 'stainless version of a heavy cast iron with much better heat distribution and better response on induction'. 4mm Darto would probably also work reasonably well; it definitly goes into that 'cast iron' direction.
 
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