| Pots
& Pans |
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This
page is here to help you find the best pots and pans and to help
you save money by knowing a little about the wide variety of materials
pots and pans are made of. They also come in a wide variety of prices
as well. |
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There are several serious considerations to take into account when
buying pots and pans. Keep in mind ease of use and the ease of taking
care of them. |
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What's
available (A list of cooking pots by the metals they are
made of.) |
Materials
to choose (What to buy for practicality and everyday use.) |
Handles (Handles make a big practical difference.) |
Weight (How heavy is a good heavy sauce pan.) |
Prices(Read
this it could save you big money over time.) |
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For
a list of pots and pans that I would recommend see The
Decently Equipped Kitchen |
What's
Available
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Aluminum stock pot |
Heavy
aluminum has become popular and the best reason
to consider them is that they are very good at conducting heat
evenly. That stops hot spots from developing in the bottom of
the pots causing what you are cooking to burn. They were also
a inexpensive alternative to more expensive stainless steel
pots and pans. Their popularity and new designs seems to have
driven up prices.
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Anodized aluminum non stick. |
The
introduction of anodized aluminum pots and saute pans have
been nothing short of a revolution for aluminum pots. The
advent of new technologies has made them as easy to care for
as stainless steel without any of the old problems.
I
do own an entire set of inexpensive non-stick aluminum saute
pans from France, which I purchased at Cordon Bleu in Stockholm.
They are heavy and do a really good job of sauteing and frying.
I couldn't live without these and they were very inexpensive.
I have also had no problem with the non-stick coating they
still look and work great.
The
down side of aluminum is that it reacts with foods of high
acid content, changing it's taste and causing discoloration
of foods. So although a good heat conductor the reaction problems
with it doesn't really put it at the top of the list. It also
will over time discolor and look pretty miserable. It works
just fine but looks pretty horrible. Oh yes! It absolutely
cannot go any where near your dishwasher.
Click
here for more info about buying and caring for aluminum pots. |
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Copper sauce pans |
Copper Pots
& Pans are a luxury item and when cooking
with gas or electric they have terrific properties for conducting
heat evenly. The best copper pots have a thick and heavy bottom,
tin lined and are clean and shiny (yes, they conduct heat
better when polished), so unless you like to spend a good
deal of time polishing pots they are not advisable for the
average modern cook.
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Copper hand hammered
brazier/brazing pot |
I
should also add that if I could afford copper pots and have
a big beautiful kitchen with a housekeeper to polish them,
copper would be my first choice.
The
most expensive copper pots and pans come with stainless steel
or nickel linings which are preferable to tin because of tins
low melting point. There are several French brands available
on the market.
Absolutely
nothing looks as beautiful but they also come at a premium
price (over 100 dollars for a small sauce pot), and after
several years of constant use you need to deal with having
the linings (tin) redone. This can be an expensive process
and difficult to find someone to do it.
I
have put up some very good and important information that
you should know about using and caring for your copper pots
and pans.
Copper pots
are lined with tin, click here for more info on taking care
of your copper pots and pans. |
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Sauce Pan |
Stainless
Steel is the easiest to clean and keep up. They don't have any of
the problems other materials have reacting with foods. A good
heavy pot with a "clad", layered bottom of copper
or aluminum is what to look for.
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Brazier/Brazing Pot |
Stainless
steel is not the best heat conductor but by using layers of
copper or aluminum in its bottom they become for cooking and
ease of care the best choice for the average cook. Mine see
the inside of my dishwasher all the time, stay shiny and new
looking, giving the impression that I actually spend time
cleaning and polishing my pots.
Click here
for more info about the care and purchase of stainless steel
pots. |
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Le Creuset Enameled coated cast iron |
Cast
Iron is inexpensive and terrific for many uses
in cooking, especially in the slow cooking of stews and as
pans for things like pancakes, southern fried chicken, it's
when you need the properties that only iron gives.
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An
excellent conductor of heat there are problems with food reacting
to it, so never leave cooked food in a cast iron pot/pan.
If
you have a ceramic/glass top stove, cast iron should be avoided
or you need to use a heat diffuser between the pot and the
stove top. Cast iron will scratch the surface and direct contact
between the cast iron pan and stove top can cause the glass
to crack or break. Cast iron should never be put into a microwave
oven or into your dishwasher.
Well
seasoned cast iron pots and pans are easy to keep clean. They
do rust easily if you do not keep them well seasoned and can
be extremely heavy to deal with. I have 2 old Kockums roasting
pans I inherited (at least 55 years old), that I use for stews
and one iron frying pan that I use for pancakes and frying.
I wouldn't give them up for anything.
Everyone's
grand mother had at least one of these, so if you are wondering
where they have all gone - they are hiding in the backs of
you mothers closet waiting to be gotten out and used again.
There is one extra benefit and that is that they can be regularly
found very cheap in second hand stores.
More
modern versions of these can also be bought that have enamel
linings, Le Creuset is probably the most well know brand.
They are extremely expensive and are a major investment but
over the long term can pay off. The down side of these is
that you need to careful when using metal utensils. You should
never clean them with abrasive cleaning pads such as steel
wool.
Click
here for more info and how to care for, clean and season cast
iron pots and pans. |
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Steel is pretty much only used in the making of saute pans and woks.
These are the thin looking, black pans you see restaurant chefs
using for sauteing and browning foods. They are extremely good
for conducting heat, sauteing and/or frying. These are to be
highly recommend
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Steel saute pans |
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a professional kitchen you would find a small mountain of steel
pans like the ones illustrated above. Restaurant chefs use small
ones because each dish is cooked to order and often finished
in the same pan. If you are considering these you will need
to by one medium and one very large pan for sauteing. |
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Glass baking trays are poor conductors of heat but do have a place
in my kitchen. I have 2 long Pyrex baking trays for the past
25 years and they still look pretty good. They can also look
very pretty decorated on a buffet table.
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Pyrex baking dish |
You
do need to be careful cleaning them, do not to use steel wool
and utensils that will scratch them. They do scratch and can
chip so buy the best quality trays you can.
But
in general they are pretty easy to keep up and come in handy
for big trays of baked macaroni or a gratin dish. I don't
use them for baking cakes or tarts. Metal is best for that. |
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Ceramics such at terra cotta are only used in the over for the most
part. In Spain I have seen them used directly on a gas stove. I
have a few that I collected on my travels to Spain and use them
more because I think they are attractive. Many other ceramics will
do the same job just as well.
I
was out shopping recently and found Villeroy and Boch has introduced
a new line of ceramic bake ware that is non stick. It looks exactly
like your average prettily decorated baking dish but they claim
nothing sticks to it. |
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Non
Stick these days has gotten pretty terrific. When I was
young it wasn't uncommon to find bits of Teflon in your scrambled
eggs. Today there are several coatings that would need a nuclear
catastrophe to make them peel. I have several frying pans all with
non stick surfaces. They get used almost everyday. One complaint
about non stick surfaces is that it is difficult to brown foods
in them. I really haven't found that a problem.
I
also think that everyone should have a 2 liter non stick pot for
heating milk which is famous for burning to the bottom of a traditional
pot and does require a nuclear catastrophe get it off the bottom
of the pot. |
Material
to choose
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When
choosing pots the most practical and most available are good quality
stainless steel pots with heavy bottoms, layered with either copper
or aluminum. You won't see these layers you need to ask questions
and read the information from the manufacturer. Be sure that all
pots and pans come with lids. You may not need them all the time
but it beats using a plate and burning your fingers off.
I
think they can be found at reasonable prices and are something that
you can collect over a period of time so you don't need to go into
the poor house buying an entire set at the same time.
For
saute/frying pans I have joined many TV chefs and gone for an inexpensive
french aluminum set with a non stick coating. I collected them over
the past couple of years now. They are available at Cordon Blue
on Wasagatan in Stockholm and the largest of them costs around 700
kronor. There are about 6 sizes, the most useful costing about 380
kronor and the smallest around 250, so they are very affordable.
I have not had any problems with the non stick coating (scratching/peeling)
they still look quite new.
I
have put up pictures of these, I think that they are the best buy
you are going to find. Unfortunately they don't come with lids,
but I use them mostly for frying and sauteing. |
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Handles |
The
beauty of roasting pans and baking tins with metal handles are that
they go into the oven without melting. Many recipes ask that you
start something in a pan on the stove and finish it in the oven,
so pots and pans with metal handles I think are a lot more useful.
You just need to invest in a good pot holder. I think metal handles
are just more practical.
Pots
larger than 4 liters should have 2 handles to make moving them around
when full easier. Handles should also be heat resistant so that
you can touch them without burning yourself when used on top of
the stove. Pick them up and imagine them full of something. Make
sure the handles are comfortable and large enough so you can get
a good grip on them for safely reasons? |
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Weight |
When
you are thinking about buying pots and pans another big consideration
is their weight. I was shopping downtown and saw the most beautiful
small saute pan (1.5 liters), I ever saw. I picked it up and it
weighed at least 6 kilos - and that was empty. What a waste of design,
it's weight made it totally useless for serious cooking. It would
take too long to heat up and when full I would need 2 hands to pick
it up.
All
sauce pans, and pots should have at least a few millimeters thick
flat bottom for the best contact with the heat source and even heat
distribution. Remember what I said about stainless, there should
be a layer of copper or aluminum in the bottom and that alone will
be 2 to 3 millimeters thick. Aluminum pots should be about 3 to
4 millimeters thick. steel saute pans should be about 3 millimeters
and cast iron is usually about 4 millimeters. Don't waste your time
with the IKEA or ICA special extra cheap buy them cheap frying pans.
They are in reality a waste of your time and money.
So
keep in mind pots and pans do need to have good thick heavy bottoms
for the best performance but there are limits concerning the weight. |
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Prices |
I
have become a firm believer in the Internet and shopping on-line.
Everything in Sweden costs 30 to 50% more than it should. Find the
brand of pots and pans that you think you are interested in buying.
Use Pricerunner.se or some other online price finding program to search out the items
you are looking for. You can save a small fortune by buying things
over the internet. (tip: using product id numbers
can be very helpful finding exactly the pot what you want). Also
keep in mind that almost every manufacturer has a web site.
My
big savings on the net.
An
example is that I purchased for my Kitchenaid mixer, 3 attachments
from Amazon.Com in America that cost 68 dollars (510. kronor) all
together with free postage, mailed to my brother in New York city.
Amazon, America won't ship Kitchenaid products to Europe. He sent
them on to me, the postage was 26 dollars (195 kronor). So the total
was 705 kronor. If I bought them here in a retail outlet they would
have cost 1995 kronor. I had to wait a couple of weeks but I saved
1290 kronor. I also bought the meat grinder attachment on a recent
trip to New York for 40 dollars or 300 kronor. It sells here retail
for 1200 to 1400 kronor so I saved another 900 kronor.
So
I ask you - If someone said that they would pay you 2000 kronor
for a half a days work surfing the net would you take it. I would! |
