Sticky pans

One trick I have for cleaning the stainless is - as soon as the food in it is cooked, remove the food to a separate plate or container, fill the pan with water and put it back on the (now turned off but cooling) burner. The residual heat from the burner and the pan helps to loosen the cooked-on stuff. I use a copper scourer (Chore Boy) with impunity on my stainless stuff as well as (gently) on the cast iron, but it's probably not recommended. Bar Keeper's Friend sounds like a good option!

I'm almost able to keep my cast iron seasoned to the point of being non-stick, but not quite good enough for omelets without a lot of oil.

Never buy or use a pot or pan that you don't mind replacing.

I hesitated all of 14 seconds. They won't arrive until February. Amazon is a dangerous place.

Isn't Bar Keeper's Friend basically baking soda? I use the latter for all my degriming and it keeps me shiny and happy, but maybe I should compare them head to head.

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/product.asp?order_num=-1&SKU=13349258

i'm expecting that i have said goodby to nonstick worries!

Ha! I found the MSDS on their website - it's got 10% oxalic acid, so has to be kept away from chlorine and other alkalies.

what's strange is that they say you can use metal utensils on it, unlike the regular nonstick-coated pans. but man, im not taking any chances with this one!

1 cast iron
2 enamelled
3 blue!!!!!
4 oval!

For cornbread, heat the skillet up with the oven. When both are hot, take out the pan, throw a lump of butter in, let it melt, then pour in the batter. To die for.

Sorry, I really am all about cast iron these days.

Paul, holy shite re the cracked pot! Did you mail it back for a replacement??

I have an beautiful old orange Le Creuset 12" skillet that I don't use at all. After 20 minutes on the burner it's still all unevenly hot. I think they made it a little thinner-bottomed as a concession to the user who may want to lift it, but spoiled its conductivity in the process.

Eggs and dairy products will always be easier in a nonstick unless you're willing to use a ton of butter. The Teflon cited above in reference to tobacco is Teflon NXT 70 (used to make seal rings, valve seats, bearing pads, linings, and as a base resin for filled compounds). The workers in the manufacting facility smoked cigarettes infused with this substance. I wouldn't reccomend smoking anything infused with any sort of plastic. In terms of cooking with teflon, just don't burn the pan and you should be fine.

Many Calphalon cookware lines are made of an anodized aluminum and the lye used in dishwashing detergent literally eats through the anodization on the exterior. If the pan is truly nonstick on the interior it won't adversely affect that surface (I am unsure as to the "infused" surafce really is on the Calphalon One). If you have inadvertently run the pan through the dishwasher and it has discolored on the outside, at least be comforted that the cookware may look horrible, but should cook just the same.

I still prefer well-seasoned cast iron, these days.

Once you cure it (easy to do) it is totally non-stick and unlike cast iron you don't have to reseason to keep it that way. It retains heat twice as long as cast iron and conducts heat as well as copper - I like my dutch oven better then my Le Creseut.

My new favorite piece is a griddle which stays hot for so long that you can even cook table top - Really Cool!! It can also be chilled and used to keep apetizers cool for hours.

Naturestone (www.brazilonmymind.com) has the largest selection - A great web site for more information on soapstone cookware is www.fantes.com

But my Le Creuset are to be delivered today!

1) how do the denizens of I Love Cooking cure their cast iron cookware?
2) If you, uh, ha ha, didn't bother to cure it first before using is it...too late? We've only got like one or two items but Tom used them without curing first so I've just followed suit because I figured, oh well, what the hell, and have only just realized this is possibly an asinine thing to think.

Seasoning a pan is actually creating a polymerized coating of oil on it, which adheres between the metal molecules. It will eventually become more non-stick, but if you cook anything acidic or too liquid in it, you'll need to reseason. We cook every day with the cast iron skillet and I reseason it once a month or so, when I've already got the oven heated up for something else.

Also, some of the Lodge brand pieces come preseasoned. They're a dark, oily-looking finish as opposed to the duller medium gray of the raw iron.

but it will take a beating. they say you can use metal utensils, but i dont want to mar the appearance, so i wont (even if it wont harm its functionality). but you can scrub it with plastic scouring pads, so that's cool. barkeepers friend works wonders on it, restoring the finish to pretty much brand new appearance.

AaronK - would it be non-stick enough to easily cook eggs in? The teflon in my egg pan is starting to chip and I'm considering replacements.

Bob

Heat the oven to 250o - 300o
Coat the pan with lard or bacon grease. Don't use a liquid vegetable oil because it will leave a sticky surface and the pan will not be properly seasoned.
Put the pan in the oven. In 15 minutes, remove the pan & pour out any excess grease. Place the pan back in the oven and bake for 2 hours.
Repeating this process several times is recommended as it will help create a stronger "seasoning" bond.

Also, when you put the pan into service, it is recommended to use it initially for foods high in fat, such as bacon or foods cooked with fat, because the grease from these foods will help strengthen the seasoning.

I want to buy a really excellent, long-lasting pan as a birthday gift. Something medium-sized and really versatile that will deal with everything from risotto to frying steaks. Upthread someone recommends the calphalon ion-infused anodized series, which apparently is non-stick'ish' but leaves a few bits to deglaze. Pretty damn expensive, though. Any other recommendations at similar or lower prices?

idk about that but i wanna talk about sticky pans. i love my le creuset dutch oven so so much, but it's like the stickiest surface to cook on but at the same time you can get it 100% clean very easily. on the other hand i got myself a kitchen aid stainless frying pan that's now my favorite cooking surface for non-stick qualities (when properly pre-heated) but it's got a film of carmelized gunk on it since i used it to make pancakes. what is this about?

I think it's baked on oil.
I've had pretty good luck getting that off by making a paste of baking soda, letting it set and scrubbing it off.

oh scratch my question, I found that calphalon ion-infused anodized stuff a lot cheaper somewhere else so I think I'm going with that.

i was going to buy a new nonstick pan today. the only thing i use nonstick for is eggs. but when i got to macy's i liked a stainless omelette pan so much better than any of the nonstick ones and i got the stainless one instead. then when i came home and thought about it i was like why did i get a stainless to cook eggs. is this the worst idea? am i never going to have scrambled eggs again? it says it's for omelettes so it should work, right? i really want to throw out my old nonstick pans.

I'd return it.

i can't decide. i used a coupon today that expires tomorrow but i will only lose a few dollars if i wait anyway. my le creuset skillet is getting better seasoned so i might be able to use that to scramble. sucks you can't try out a frying pan and return it!

Sur la Table has some new fangled pan that is supposed to be non-stick sans Teflon. It has an odd name that is escaping me at the moment--eco-something, maybe? I will try and track it down with the google.

Scanpan! With ceramic titanium technology! http://www.scanpan.com/about.html

i made the exchange today. but i got the one thing i didn't want which is a pair of nonsticks (one 8" one 10"). i was trying to have fewer frying pans! i got calphalon.

Why do you keep doing what you didn't mean to do? I thought lawyers were analytical and methodical. #trolling

i was tired of shopping yesterday (i was in macys for 20 minutes!!!) and then today i was just tired. but i just used the 8" one and i really liked it. so i'm ok.