[Sca-cooks] pans

[Philip & Susan Troy]

Marion MacGregor wrote:

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> Hello, its Marion again with another questions to the list
>
>  Hunny and I were watching TV the other night and there was a local cooking show on.  The Chef wanted to use a "non-stick" pan to cook portabela mushrooms.  I have been in quite a few kitchens and have never used a "non stick" in a proffesional kitchen before (or in a SCA one)   Is this just "by chance?"  Is there a difference between using a non-stick vs a metal pan?   willl it enhance flavor?  or is it just personal prefence?


There's not much I can add to what's already been said on this subject.
I have a wide spectrum of cookware, ranging from cast iron to thin
steel, both stainless and stainful, some rather nice, seasonable heavy
aluminum and on through nickel-and-tin-lined copper. What I use most
often is the cast iron, followed by a fairly small, thin, mild steel
Japanese wok with a flattened bottom, which is good for just about any
saute job you could imagine. I also have two old non-stick pans that I
use very rarely. One advantage to them might be that for foods such as
the mushrooms referenced, you can lift _all_ of the food right out of
the pan with minimal effort, and this would include the caramelized
juices, which in the case of mushrooms, is a significant portion of the
flavor.

In restaurants, however, what I've seen most often is heavy aluminum,
with a couple of more expensive pans for various types of non-reactive
work. The heavy aluminum has several distinct advantages: they're
relatively cheap, they last pretty much forever, they're very forgiving
if you need to scrape or scour them (just reseason them), they're
relatively lightweight, and get fewer "hot spots" than all but the most
expensive alternatives.

This is not to say that people wouldn't want something else for use at home, it's just that they're a common choice, it seems, in restaurants where the considerations are slightly different. I've also encountered non-stick pans in restaurants; there, the general attitude is, "Don't ever let me see that in [insert dishwasher's name here]'s hands."


Adamantius
--
Phil & Susan Troy

troy at asan.com

"It was so blatant that Roger threw at him.  Clemens gets away with
things that get other people thrown out of games.  As long as they
let him get away with it, it's going  to continue." -- Joe Torre, 9/98