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What are your go to pans?

3,123 Views | 21 Replies | Last: 5 yr ago by keysercade
The Catfish
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AG
We have a set of nonstick pans that we use for most of our daily cooking. I also use my cast iron alot on the weekends.

I'm interested in possibly adding something new to the mix - we don't have any stainless steel stuff, but not sure if we'd use it, what it would replace, etc.

Include brands if you can.
Bruce Almighty
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AG
Don't be afraid of stainless steel. It's superior to non-stick and better for sauteing than cast iron. My 12 inch 3 quart All-Clad saute pan is my go to for weekday cooking.
Bruce Almighty
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AG
Also, I don't own one myself, but a lot of people on this board recommend owning a wok.
HTownAg98
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I'll second recommending a wok. I do a lot of stir-frys using it on my turkey fryer, and it's outstanding because you can get it white hot and cook with it outside without filling your house with smoke. Once you get it seasoned well, it's slicker than Teflon.

I have a 10" cast iron skillet that I use primarily for searing steaks using that same turkey fryer burner.

I have an 8" and 10" nonstick pan, along with an 8" all-clad stainless skillet and a 10" all-clad saute pan. Those six pans are all I need.
Vernada
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AG
The majority of my cooking is on my le crueset 12"cast iron. I use it at least 3-4 times per week.
rlb28
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AG
Huge copper pot. As seen on TV
jtp01
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AG
I use Wagner and griswald cast iron for our primary weekday meals. I have a 6" ceramic coated skillet for fried eggs. For building sauce/gravy, I like a stainless that can be deglazed to get the good stuff from the bottom. I have a 15 year old set of emeril's stainless cookware. It has served me well with the heavy bottom although one ended up failing after 12+ years.
Joe Exotic
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AG
Bruce Almighty said:

Don't be afraid of stainless steel. It's superior to non-stick and better for sauteing than cast iron. My 12 inch 3 quart All-Clad saute pan is my go to for weekday cooking.


Love all my all-clad stuff. Seems like people shy away from it because they don't know how to use it and scorch everything. I love cast iron too but it has its place. My dad used to say that a good cast iron skillet was like a restored muscle car and a stainless saut pan was like a Ferrari.
Milwaukees Best Light
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AG
Ask him what the equivalent of a Toyota camry is, please.
FtBendTxAg
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AG
Milwaukees Best Light said:

Ask him what the equivalent of a Toyota camry is, please.


Calphalon nonstick I believe
dummble
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AG
If you have space and money buy them all

We use a couple of 12" cast iron skillets (a lodge and cuisinart), a 4 quart enameled light cast iron braiser that I love. We have some cheap nonstick from when we got married that we are phasing out in favor of stainless. I keep an avalon 10" nonstick for eggs. We have a round bottom wok that we use at least once a month. Before my stove had a griddle, we had used a cast iron griddle and a nonstick griddle. 8qt stock pot for pasta, 6 quart enameled dutch oven for soups, stews and chili, 3 gallon aluminum stock pot for stocks and menudo. Paella pan that has been used once.
BigAg95
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AG
Echoing much of what is said above, but we cook multiple meals every day and we pretty much only use:

Two 12 inch Lodge Cast Iron Skillets
12 inch Ozeri non-stick skillet
10 inch Ozeri non-stick skillet
6 qt Le Creuset dutch oven

We also have a giant all-clad stainless wok and a big all-clad stainless saute pan, and they are great pans but we rarely make anything that calls for them. I make a lot of stuff in the dutch oven that I should probably make in the saute pan just because the dutch oven is always sitting on our stove.

The Ozeri skillets are cheap (from Amazon) but they last longer than any other non-stick pans I've ever bought. I'm hard on them and use them multiple times daily, so most last us 1-2 years. We've been through two sets of the Ozeris and they've both lasted 3-4 years.
OaklandAg06
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AG
For eggs or other sticky, delicate items I use a stainless steel ceramic green pan from sur la table

For higher heat, non acidic, all around use I use lodge cast iron

For searing steaks, or really high heat, etc I have a Matfer Bourgeat Carbon Steel Pan- that one is probably my favorite to use.

I wouldn't mind adding another stainless pan to the mix for high heat acidic cooking, like tomato sauces etc. Those always take off more seasoning than I would like from my carbon steel and cast iron pans.
Maximus_Meridius
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AG
For eggs, an All-Clad non-stick. If it's something small (like sauteeing mushrooms or just a chicken breast or two) I've got an 8" Calphalon stainless pan. We have a couple cast iron pieces that we use when I feel crazy.

Everything else pretty much goes on the 12" Wagner Magnalite. One of these days I might replace it with a new stainless, but it gets the job done so I don't sweat it.
ensign_beedrill
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AG
So what is the secret to not scorching everything? I would really like to know.
HTownAg98
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Turn the heat down.
'03ag
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Bo Darville said:

Bruce Almighty said:

Don't be afraid of stainless steel. It's superior to non-stick and better for sauteing than cast iron. My 12 inch 3 quart All-Clad saute pan is my go to for weekday cooking.


Love all my all-clad stuff. Seems like people shy away from it because they don't know how to use it and scorch everything. I love cast iron too but it has its place. My dad used to say that a good cast iron skillet was like a restored muscle car and a stainless saut pan was like a Ferrari.
guilty. I have a set of Calphalon tri-ply that I hardly use except for the pots. Help.
Vernada
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AG
Oil?

I'm not sure I've ever scorched anything in my SS pans.
Joe Exotic
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AG
ensign_beedrill said:

So what is the secret to not scorching everything? I would really like to know.

As mentioned above, turn the heat down. Stainless conducts heat well and almost instantly. The reason my dad said they were a Ferrari is because they are nimble and quick to heat unlike the brute heat retention of the "muscle car" cast iron. So people tend to heat stainless at the same setting as cast iron and nonstick. The pan simply gets too hot. My mother in law used one of my alclad pans and warped it because she set it too hot and the pan conducted heat way better than what she was used to. Start out with medium. You often won't need to go higher than that. If you do it will respond quickly to added heat.

Second, use the right fat in the right amounts. Use something with a high smoke point. When combined with issue number one the wrong fat can itself scorch quickly in a SS pan. My go to fat in stainless is avocado oil. Imparts no flavor on its own and the smoke point is 520 degrees. In my opinion it's perfect and you can get it cheap at Costco or Aldi. You could also use clarified butter or peanut/safflower oil. Heat the pan first then make sure you use enough to lightly coat the surface. When you see a slight shimmer to the oil it's ready.

Those are the two most important issues. After that let the food cook at the pace needed to brown and cook the food through out. Remember, you aren't trying to sear it. Steady even heat is the goal. You'll get some burnt bits here and there stuck. This is your friend. Where stainless shines is making reductions or sauces out of these bits.

People say they have a nonstick for an egg pan. I routinely use my SS skillet for omelets and never get anything stuck.
Joe Exotic
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AG
Not sure how true this is but I've also thought stainless don't work as well on electric ranges. Their main draw is the ability to heat and reduce heat quickly. Electric ranges don't do this well and the pan will reflect it. My all clad stainless didn't really shine until I replaced my electric range with an induction unit.

Then again, maybe I just got better with them. Who knows.
HTownAg98
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You can use stainless on an electric stovetop just fine. The trick is that you have to remember to move the pan off the burner when you want it to stop cooking.
ensign_beedrill
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AG
Thank you. I don't feel like I use too high heat, but I'll try turning it down some.
keysercade
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AG
Calphalon from Amazon for stainless... my bad
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