Trying to rid myself of Teflon and micro plastic junk. Hit me with your best. All Clad D3 vs. All other recommendations for light duty home chef

  • Moosemouse@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 year ago

    My collection has been picked up over about 25 years and is about 10 different companies and quality levels. If I had to rebuy pots and pans, here’s what I would do for minimum coverage of most of my cooking:

    • 3 frying pans, 8-10-12 inch. The 8 would be hard anodized, the 10 a cast iron, and the 12 a stainless steel.
    • 2 pots: 2-quart sauce pot and a dutch oven. The sauce pot would be anodized and the dutch oven would be either cast iron or ceramic-coated cast iron
    • 1 wok, carbon steel

    Calphalon “Select” or “Premier” Hard Anodized

    pros:

    • Good non-stick coating
    • Durable enough to throw in the dishwasher
    • Stacking flat lids are weird until you realize you get 2x as many pots and lids in your pot cabinet
    • Pretty heavy and heat evenly

    cons:

    • Not induction compatible

    Alternate: All-Clad HA1, which is more expensive but induction compatible.

    All-Clad D3 Stainless

    pros:

    • Basically indestructible
    • Very heavy
    • Induction compatible

    cons:

    • Not cheap
    • likely will take the most effort to clean if they get stuck-on food (but see below)

    Lodge cast iron

    pros:

    • Inexpensive for the features
    • Extremely heavy
    • Nonstick gets better with use and is fixable
    • Induction compatible

    cons:

    • Don’t put it in the dishwasher
    • Requires the most care and feeding
    • Cheaper ceramic coated dutch ovens will chip and stain

    Alternate: Le Creuset ceramic dutch ovens if you want better ceramic durability and can afford them.

    Basically anywhere I would be making “sticky stuff” like eggs, caramel, jam, or similar I want anodized. I am one of those cast-iron elitists but even I don’t always want to take care of it afterwards, so I would get a 10" cast iron skillet for general-purpose use. the 12" stainless is great for almost everything saute/pan fry and searing, and if it gets covered with stuck-on food a spray of Dawn Powerwash (if you haven’t used this stuff, I worry that it’s made from radiation and small children but it is nearly magical) and a steel wool pad and you’re clean again. Cast iron pans are good for sear-to-oven steaks, pan pizzas and cornbread outside of regular stovetop duty.

    Saucepots often get sugary/sticky stuff in them so anodized is the way to go there. If I had to get one large pot it would be a dutch oven. I would prefer an anodized stock pot and a dutch oven, but dutch ovens are extremely versatile. I have an enamel-coated cheap one and a large “regular” cast iron one that’s a family heirloom and use them for soup/baking/bread and even another pan in a pinch. If you get lids that can go in the oven they are a bread-baking machine.

    Since I have an outdoor gas eye and I recommend if possible you get one if you like anything remotely Asian, I have a large carbon steel wok for stir fry type dishes. These, like the cast iron, take some care and feeding but like cast iron they just keep getting better with age. This is one time I don’t get the heaviest thing, since there’s so much heat involved it’s less important and you’re throwing the pan around a lot so lighter can be nice. I recommend one with a removable wooden handle so you can throw it in the oven at 350 wiped with oil a few times to build up a starting coat.

    Everything else is bonus, really. I tend to look for the heaviest induction compatible stuff I can as I have an electric stovetop but I have one portable induction “eye” and it’s so useful I will likely get an induction cooktop when I upgrade. Cast iron is not hard to take care of and can be extremely non-stick, as well as being totally safe for cooking with zero possibly dangerous chemicals, but it does take more work than just throwing it in the dishwasher. One of those little chainmail pads will usually solve the problem though as they get slippery once used, but you have to dry them after washing unlike everything else that I can drip-dry on a rack.

    If I was only allowed one pot material it would be cast iron, but like I said I know I’m biased since I have a couple heirloom pans and am spoiled. Since heavy pan = more thermal mass = less temp drop when you put food in, you get better browning so whatever you get, just the overall weight compared to other pans of the same size is important.

  • slander@lemm.ee
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    1 year ago

    All-clad is nice, but the $150 Tramontina set (on sale) from Costco is going to be 93% of the same experience… IMO

    Get a Le Crueset enameled cast iron dutch oven. That’s BIFL and you will use it a lot.

    I suggest at least 1 carbon steel pan - De Buyer or Matfer, probably the 9.5 inch. This is your workhorse. Carbon steel is more versatile IMO than cast iron.

    Personally I’m fine with Lodge cast iron for a 12 inch. I use this often for smash burgers or a big stir fry. Lodge doesn’t make the smoothest or best cast iron pans but they are great with a little work, and will last forever like any other.

    Keep one 10 inch nonstick. Use it rarely, like for eggs and stuff.

    • eatfudd@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I have a similar tramontina set from Sam’s club that includes an extra 12" skillet. Absolutely worth the price twice over and it would be my suggestion to anyone looking for a stainless set. I use all of the pieces and an equivalent allclad set would be well over $1k. I also use a 10.5" lodge cast iron, a 12" nonstick from tfal, and a le creuset dutch oven.

    • Anticorp
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      1 year ago

      The Matfer carbon steel pan is America’s Test Kitchen’s recommendation. I have one and it’s a good pan. Idk if Test Kitchen would still recommend it, now that they doubled the price after the review by ATK, but it’s still a solid choice. I like that the carbon steel is lighter, heats up faster, and requires less heat.

  • mertn@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    A Scanpan set of cookware has lasted me a decade with no signs of wear. I can’t cope with the frypan though, everything gets stuck. I have a cheap no-name stone coated frypan which works much better.

  • XIIIesq@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    I bought some procook professional granite pots and pans which are really nice without breaking the bank.

    If money is no object, Creuset is probably the best you can get, you won’t just be buying it once, you’ll be leaving it in your will!

    • CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      I’m not a huge fan of granite/stone cookware. I find them to be heavy and slow, which is fine if you’re cooking meat but terrible for vegetables.

      Stainless steel offers a good weight to heat ratio and it’s relatively inexpensive.

      For the love of God, stay away from aluminum. Learned that removed the hard way.

      I’ve been slowly transitioning to stainless steel and ceramic cast iron, the latter being more pricey.

      • Moosemouse@lemmy.sdf.org
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        1 year ago

        Aluminum (hard anodized) is ok if and only if it’s super thick and heavy. The biggest problem with most aluminum pans is that they’re flimsy so they get hot spots and warp and generally are garbage. All-Clad, Calphalon, and others make very high quality aluminum pans.

        I always recommend finding somewhere that has pans for you to pick up and look at then maybe go online to buy them, that way you don’t get garbage that photographs well.

    • Moosemouse@lemmy.sdf.org
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      1 year ago

      If you want a dutch oven, I have empirical evidence that their ceramic coating is better than the cheap (Tramontia, Lodge) coatings as I have all three. You pay for Le Creuset but they are close to gold standard for “buy it for life”