[Sca-cooks] NON-STICK COOKWARE

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Sunday, July 6, 2003, at 09:19  AM, Phlip wrote:

>
> Ene bichizh ogsen baina shuu...
>
>> Hi Folks.
>> I have recently been converted to the wonderfulness of non-stick 
>> cookware
>> and am now on the look out for a non-stick set.  Does anybody have any
>> opinions or favorite non-stick cookware lines they favor?
>
> Well, in my opinion, non-stick (teflon-type) cookware sucks. It's very
> fragile and just doesn't stand up to heavy use. IMO, you're much 
> better off
> getting good, heavy stainless or cast iron. For one thing, with heavy
> stainless or cast iron, you're a lot less likely to burn anything in 
> the
> first place.
>
>> Also, how about Cafalon (sp) that particular line of cookware.....
>> What is the difference in it's commercial grade or anodized or 
>> whatever
> they
>> call it?
>>
>> Many thanks for your opinions....
>> Phillipa
>
> I haven't used the actual Calphalon, but I've used some of the 
> knock-offs,
> and was very happy with them. I've also been very happy with plain old 
> mild
> steel, if it was heavy enough- keep track of it, and it's almost as 
> good as
> cast iron, but lighter.
>
> Just depends on what you like, and what you're cooking. Nothing, 
> though,
> substitutes for good weight in a pot or pan.

I'm another one of those who tend not to place a huge importance on 
non-stick cookware.

Calphalon is a good product, though, if you're doing something like 
low-fat cookery, as long as you realize you're just not going to get 
the kind of brown crust on, say, a piece of sauteed chicken, or an 
omelette, as you would with all that heart-killing fat and a cast iron 
pan.

And for some jobs, there's really very little point to non-stick. For 
something like sugar-cooking, you're probably more likely to burn than 
in a copper or even iron or aluminum pan, and cleanup isn't that much 
easier. When you balance that against the expense and the maintenance 
(which not only includes different cleaning methods but also plastic or 
wooden utensils to clean), it may not be worth it to everybody. It 
isn't to me.

Probably the best indicator that I've seen of the overall usefulness of 
even good-quality non-stick cookware is that all of the restaurants 
I've worked in, of those that used any non-stick cookware at all, they 
generally had one or two non-stick pans out of dozens or hundreds, they 
were for very specific jobs (we used them for frittatas, and for when 
people came in with low-fat diet requests), and the dishwashers were, 
for practical purposes, not allowed to touch them. Generally they were 
Silverstone.

My recommendation would be, unless you're deeply concerned about having 
a lot of pretty pots and pans that match (and that's an issue for many 
people), would be to think about what you want to do with your 
non-stick pieces, and get one or two pieces suited for those purposes. 
If nothing else, that should take care of your needs, and if a piece is 
ruined, it's easier and cheaper to replace one piece than an entire set.

BTW: it should be noted for the record that Calphalon is (or at least 
was the last time I checked) not regarded as non-stick cookware. 
Rather, it is stick-resistant. As far as I know, the company makes no 
claims about fat-or-cooking-spray-free cookery, or not needing to get 
in there with a good [plastic or wooden] spatula. Unless things have 
changed in this regard.

Adamantius