Finally moving out and in need of some pots and pans.
Anything specific I should be going for?
Stainless or non-stick?
How do I avoid that black residue after cooking other than not burning your meal?
The pots and pans at my folks house were scraped during cleaning so much that some of the coating has come off and I'm sure cooking on them has drastically reduced my life expectancy.
All my pots and pans are from goodwill.
Just use non stick spray.
Also all my appliances and couches are too.
Feels poor man.
>>7528657
>Stainless or non-stick?
Different tools for different jobs.
>How do I avoid that black residue after cooking other than not burning your meal?
You don't. Stop burning your food.
>>7528657
Straight stainless and a good cast iron skillet. Non-stick is horribly overrated if you properly oil your pans first.
2 stainless steel pots (large and small)
2 stainless steel pans (large and small)
2 non stick pots (large and small)
2 non stick pans (large and small)
2 cast iron skillets (large and small)
1 stock pot
1 dutch oven
1 crockpot (optional)
Ceramic dishware (as many as you want to use)
Oh and pro tip for non stick cookware, don't fucking scrape the bottom. There's no reason for it, they don't stick. If you must, use a rubber spatula so it doesn't scratch off the coating. Clean with a soft sponge instead of hard shit like steel wool. When flipping food use tongs instead of a spatula.
>>7528833
>>29459606
[spoiler] SPIKE DIES! [/spoiler]
>>7528832
>no tin lined copper
what are you even doing on the food and cooking board
inb4 I can't afford it so it sucks
>>7528953
He's moving out not starting a fucking restaurant. Get the hell out.
what is non-stick even for? I've been using stainless and cast iron since I moved out and everything works fine.
>>7528657
Start with a stainless set - I like sets that have fully metal lids (not glass) without any little vent holes. This means they are basically never going to break, and can actually produce a good seal to keep steam in. The set should have a thick bottom with a layer of aluminium or copper. Having multiple layers is mostly just for fancy and doesn't make that much difference. Super cheap sets don't have an extra layer and are just thin stainless steel - they are shitty to cook with.
If you want to do steaks, pancakes, fried eggs, then add a cast iron or carbon steel pan and learn to season it properly.
Non-stick is pretty much just for eggs, pancakes or crepes, which can also be done with cast iron or carbon steel - non-stick is less maintenance because you never have to season, but they wear out faster and are damaged more easily.
Are there any reviews that compare copper core versus aluminum core pans? Most reviews focus on cheaper equipment.
>>7529031
Copper heats more recently
Aluminum heats quicker
>>7529036
Evenly
>>7529036
wrong, copper heats more quickly and more evenly
>>7528657
I did this exact thing a year ago, got my own place and moved out. Here's what I've learned:
Stainless will fit the bill for most applications, but obviously it's not nonstick.
Non-anodized aluminum will react with tomatoes, as does cast iron. Cooking acidic foods in either of them makes everything taste like metal.
Non-stick pans won't brown food as well as others. If you like eggs or pancakes you'll want one, but treat it like a baby. Don't stack pans in it. Don't use metal utensils in it. Even if you do all the recommended shit the coating will scratch EVENTUALLY, but if you take really good care of it, it'll go some 5-10 years.
The heavier the better, thinner pans are more likely to warp over time.
Different materials fit different purposes, so I recommend having a little of everything:
- Stainless steel stock pot
- Stainless steel sauce pan
- 10" cast iron or carbon steel skillet/saute pan
- 8" non-stick frying pan
>>7529036
>>7529040
That makes no sense at all. Both properties (speed, evenness) are related to the same property of the metal: thermal conductivity. Copper has a higher thermal conductivity than aluminum, so if all other things are equal a copper pan will heat both faster and more evenly.
However, copper is expensive so copper pots (or layers) tend to be thin, whereas aluminum is much less expensive so the pots tend to be thicker. That increased thickness could make up for (or even exceed) aluminum's lower thermal conductivity compared to copper.
>>7529031
I have used All-clad in both aluminum and copper core. I can't tell any difference between them as far as cooking performance goes, so I would buy the aluminum core as it is less expensive.
>>7529058
I agree 100% with your discussion, but I disagree with the sizes you recommend.
I would go with 12" size pans. You can always cook a little bit of food in a a large pan, but the opposite is not true. That extra diameter of a 12" pan really helps for many common cooking tasks. Cooking burgers, chops, or chicken in a pan? A 12" pan can accommodate 3 or 4. You'd be lucky to fit 2 in a 10" pan. Bacon? You can fit 8 full strips easy in a 12" pan. With a 10" the bacon is longer than the pan. Fish fillets? Two large ones or four smaller ones fit well in a 12". A large fillet won't even fit in a 10", and you can only do 2 smaller ones. Etc.
An 8" fry pan is so small it's nearly useless. What are you going to cook in there? A single piece of chicken? Fried eggs one at a time? It's simply not large enough to be practical outside of specialty uses. For a typical home cook a larger pan is much more practical.
>>7529092
I probably shouldn't have put sizes. I'm horrible at guessing and didn't want to pull out my pans to actually measure them.
>>7529059
Copper is 3.4 times as dense as aluminium but aluminium stores 2.3 the heat energy per unit of mass. Copper is 1.7 times as conductive as aluminium per unit of mass, so the thermal diffusivity of copper is only 20% higher than that of aluminium
Can anyone confirm how trustworthy America's Test Kitchen is for equipment reviews. They seem similar to consumer reports but they don't seem as neutral.
>>7529092
8 inch nonstick is a good size to make 2-3 egg omelettes for yourself. If it's bigger it gets too thin.
>>7529139
Have you ever watched the show? They're pretty scientific in their reviewing methods.
>>7528832
This is a nice list and pretty close to what I currently own. If you're not going to go all out and buy 10+ pots and pans now, start with a decent sized stainless pot, a decent sized stainless frying pan and a decent sized non-stick frying pan. switch the stainless pan with a cast iron pan if you like to sear meats on your stove top.
>>7529147
I've watched more than enough of the series but I was intrigued by comments on their videos of them not testing certain brands and that they have tracked coupon codes on their website for certain brands. I'd like to just search using one website and call it a day.
>>7529172
It seems really redundant, though. Why do you need one of EVERYTHING when most items serve multiple purposes?
What's the point of having a stock pot AND a dutch oven AND a crock pot? Why would you have non-stick pots period?
>>7529092
Personally I don't like 12" pots/pans because they are much larger than the standard heating elements on a stove, making them tend to heat less evenly, regardless of the materials they are made with.
