Yall are obsessed. Love it lol.
I gave up on stainless steel. Years ago bought some very expensive all-clad skillets with the intention of metamorphosing into a world class chef. Didn’t happen, and no matter what I tried, food stuck and it was a pain to clean. I recognize that the problem was probably me, but I did research the subject and tried all the suggestions. Finally came to the conclusion that I just didn’t have the skill to handle those pans, and god forbid if my wife tried to use one.
I’m currently starting a learning curve with a Made In carbon steel skillet. This one is showing some potential.
Love/hate relationship with Made In and probably any carbon steel.
I've fully converted to carbon steel and cast iron for 5+ years at this point. I use a De Buyer Carbon Steel 11" practically every day, though I'll pull out some antique (1900~) cast iron occasionally too.
The carbon steel pan is more user friendly all-around. It is significantly less weight than an equivalent sized cast iron and the long handle rest against your forearm for support. If you want to get something ripping hot though, the extra thermal mass of the cast iron pans are hard to beat. All of them are oven safe too.
Cleanup is pretty damn easy as well. Generally just requires a light scrub with a green or blue Scotch-brite pad, followed by a quick dry on the stove and a wipedown with vegetable oil, literally 30 seconds of work. Even really stuck foods (think browning several lbs of cubed meat) doesn't require too much extra work. For that I'll fill it with a half inch of water and bring to a simmer first, which does a pretty good job of breaking it down.
The big caveat is I never really cook delicate fried eggs, especially "healthily" without a bit of bacon grease. For 95% of cooking though carbon steel crushes and will last past your children's children's lifetime. For that last 5%, a single ceramic non-stick pan does the job. Ditch the cancer causing Teflon.
FWIW Teflon hasn’t had the cancer causing PFOA in it for 15 years or so…
I know we all want to brag about how awesome we are at using uncoated cookware - having a 10” nonstick in the arsenal is pretty useful.
Bringing it back to Costco… Their nonstick 2pack (6” and 10”) is money well spent….
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Squaw Valley, USA
We have the medium and large whatever that means in diameters. The large warped a little and it's annoying on a glass cooktop where the weight of the handle always creates a low side for oil to pool. Don't think it was anything we did; no ultra-hot cooking. Wouldn't be an issue on a gas cooktop or something with grates.
My biggest gripe is I can't get eggs to stop sticking in the center of the pans. I've seasoned with olive oil, seasoned with the Made In brand beeswax stuff, tried a single layer of seasoning, two layers of seasoning, different temps, and letting the eggs cook longer before moving. Nothing works for the center. Sides of the pans are fine. Never any soap. Not even water until recently when I said fuck it to make cleaning easier. It's probably still me. They are still primary drivers. Just not be-all, end-all I was hoping.
FWIW, while I like the cookset I posted, they aren't the only pans I use. They are the daily drivers for sauteing/pan frying, soups, sauces, and most braising. The consistency of heat and retention is nice for soups/sauces -- preventing hot-spot browning / scolding. They are as non-stick as my ancient, milled, seasoned cast-iron. One thing is that due to the clad construction, you want to avoid extremely fast heat changes to prevent warping. i.e. tell your spouse not to take it out of the oven and immediately douse in cold water. Simple cleanup, no worrying about seasoning, wash in the dishwasher. If you want full luster back, 3 minutes of scrubbing with Bartenders Friend.
Cast iron gets used for grilling, baking (corn bread just belongs in cast iron) and other super-high heat things.
For me there's no replacing a non-stick coated pan for eggs and similarly supra-sticky options. Will always be one in my arsenal.
Pass on the lutefisk but kimchi on pickled herring is delicious
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Try the quesadilla cheese that Costco has for enchilada casserole. The hatch green chili in jars is pretty good for green chile, pork or chicken casserole too.
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Yeah the Utah Costco has the YUGE green Chile jars and I grabbed a couple this week. Only place around to get the big jar for low price.
I just made a morning snack. Small avocado plus Korean kimchi! Added a little habanero hawt sauce to jack it up a bit. [emoji48]
I usually use Costco's "mexican style 4 blend shredded cheese", is "quesadilla cheese" something different?
And yeah, I use the chopped green chile from there, this stuff:
to amp up my enchiladas (and lots of other things, I love it), but my daughter prefers milder enchilada sauce, so the green chile only goes on my half (in addition to the milder sauce). Is there some other stuff you're referring to?
"fuck off you asshat gaper shit for brains fucktard wanker." - Jesus Christ
"She was tossing her bean salad with the vigor of a Drunken Pop princess so I walked out of the corner and said.... "need a hand?"" - Odin
"everybody's got their hooks into you, fuck em....forge on motherfuckers, drag all those bitches across the goal line with you." - (not so) ill-advised strategy
^^Love the Hatch stuff but my family thinks it's a bit spicy. I eat it like salsa with chips, yum.
They think that's spicy?
Anyway, I mentioned the 505 green chile salsa quite a ways back in this thread. Love that shit.
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