blonde poker forum

I was planning on buying a new set for the new year and had decided to get some Procook Titanium after some recommendations only to have my plan foiled by them being discontinued...

Does anyone have any recommendations for a decent set?

Not got any recommendations but I'd not bother with Titanium, it doesn't transfer or hold heat well.

I use an old set of revere-ware copper bottomed pots - they're great but I'm not sure if you can get them now.

Cant believe Im replying to this....but Ive just bought a great set of heavy duty bad boys and big matching caserole style dish from John Lewis (Cole Brothers ) in Sheffield Town Centre...Not the cheapest but their motto is "Never knowingly undersold "

Please dont tell Anybody Im discussing saucepans

Thx

I spent £45 on a frying pan of awesomeness a month or so back.

It's awesome.

No one is allowed to touch my egg pan. Not even to wash it up.

I don't think they're made of it, just they fire some at them to make them slippier or something.

Ah right. I'd still rather spend the cash on stainless steel with copper bottoms.

Pans:

http://www.johnlewis.com/230418209/Product.aspx

Frying pans/ skillets (always by ones with metal handles):

http://www.cookshop.uk.com/shop/Cookware/Frying+Pans/A48-76  

Roasting dishes:

http://www.johnlewis.com/18046/Product.aspx

They are the bad boy pans that I purchased

What, the secret ones that you don't want to mention?

Oh if you want to do some baking get these:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cooking-Marvellous-Bake-O-Glide-Baking-Cook/dp/B001S8H9XO/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1325631122&sr=8-7

Then just get any old baking tins and sheets as long as they are thick enough not to buckle.

Ermmm,,yes  of course they were not for me...a christmas present you understand

gg my money

Le Creuset are the dogs imo

http://www.procook.co.uk/?gclid=CJCXnoWHtq0CFWIntAodRBTdlg

Not that pricey on here...and quite nice. Saw these guys give a demo at the BBC Good Food show in Glasgow (Yeah I went to the Goodfood show...what of it???!)

they also still do one or two Titanium ones.

My egg pan cost £4.99 from Asda but I have to say I've never regretted it.

We are all he men here  :)

I guess I'm more interested in the frying pans than the sauce pans.... any specific recommendations?

Why are metal handles better?

The Le Crueset ones at the bottom are good as non stick ones.

If you want to go pro, however, get pans made of black Iron. They are the best conductors and will stay non-stick forever, providing you season them properly first.

You can transfer food directly into the oven to finish cooking (ideal for steaks) when you have a metal handle.

Black Iron Pan, try this:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Iron-Frying-Pan-professional/dp/B002OSDOPY/ref=sr_1_6?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1325705109&sr=1-6

more info:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasoned_pan

this is correct

Yep, I got this one after Xmas - they were doing free delivery then, don't know if they are now:

http://www.ronniesunshines.com/index.php/bushcraft-1/cooking-dutch-ovens/dutch-ovens/12-cast-iron-skillet.html (http://www.ronniesunshines.com/index.php/bushcraft-1/cooking-dutch-ovens/dutch-ovens/12-cast-iron-skillet.html)

Can you elaborate on the seasoning process please Del?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seasoned_pan

A bit like your egg pan?

How I was taught is as follows.

1. Wash pan
2. Cover pan with about 1cm of salt and place on a very low heat for about 45mins (This will take any excess moisture out of the pan.)
3. Wipe pan clean of salt with kitchen paper
4. Cover pan with a thin layer of (un-flavoured) vegetable oil and place on a low heat for about 15 mins (the pan will start to change colour*)
5. Dispose of excess oil and wipe with clean kitchen paper
6. Repeat 4. & 5. twice more.
7. Brush (with kitchen paper) a very thin layer of oil on the pan inside and out and place upside down in an oven.
8. Bake at at about 150degs for 1 hour and turn off oven
9. Once cooled the pan is seasoned.


After cooking: Wash and rinse and burn off excess moisture on the stove. Once completely dry brush a very thin layer of oil on to help prevent rust.
Once washed and rinsed

*as the pan changes colour it will look like this
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_IF5HK3Sqp7M/Rkg7a1qhdpI/AAAAAAAAA3Q/IxYZpOMjIXk/s320/IMG_0973.JPG)

Recommend Woll. Not cheap but the best pans I have seen.

http://www.woll-cookware.com/mediathek/defaultScripts/PHP/index.php?lang=4&sn=noNav&sel=1&c=/export/English/doc/90.html

Cheers Del.

We have a similar sort of 'Burning in' ritual for the pans we use on the camp-fire. 

Nothing ever stuck to our old cast iron outdoor frying pans and they were never washed after use. They were just re-heated and wiped clean.

True, a good seasoned pan will last a lifetime, literally.

I have seen chefs that are quite obsessive about their favorite pan. Its usually the first one they ever seasoned and has stayed with them for decades. The pans, by then, are jet black and more than twice as thick, due to hundreds of layers of burnt on oil.

My sister Kelly, when she was about ten, took my Granny's old black greasy roasting tin and spent about 3 hours scrubbing it, soaking it, scraping it with a knife and finaly giving it a good going over with a brillo pad til it was gleaming.

Then she walked into granny's trailer with it held out before her in her poor little red raw hands, beaming from ear to ear.
Granny takes one look and starts screaming, snatches it of of her, runs outside and throws it over the hedge. I lolled.
I think of her poor little face sometimes and loll more.

Oh and I recommend Stella saucepans btw. They are expensive in department stores but if you keep your eyes open you can pick them up at tkmaxx. They have a lifetime guarantee. Mine are thirteen and in daily use, still look like new, and
my mother in law has some that she's been using for over twenty five years

My Mum's got a set of Stellar pans and they're quite nice although some aspect of the design irks her (something to do with the lid and a lip I think). In all honesty I think I've realised I don't care too much about the pans and just want an awesome frying pan, so maybe I've saved myself some cash (probably buy another knife instead!).

Liking the idea of a cast iron pan a lot now though.

Is there anything special you should do with a seasoned pan when washing it? (not use soap etc?)

Wikipedia said something about not cooking tomatoes etc, is that an issue or only for freshly seasoned pans?

Do any of them come with lids, or are there any you can buy?

Don't wash it. Just heat it and wipe it clean. (Use a little lard or oil if necessary). It will eventually build up a lovely black non stick finish.

by cooking anything acidic in it you dissolve the layers of oil built up. This shouldn't make much difference after a couple of years as the layers will be deep and engrained, but until then avoid tomatoes etc.

You can use water with a nylon brush (no detergent) then wipe with paper towel and dry over heat. coat with oil and store.

whats wrong with a wok

You shouldn't need a lid, but you can get them, as the pans come in pretty standard sizes.

Good point. get a good Carbon Steel one and season (remove wooden handles before putting in oven) in same way, they often come with lids too.

My mate got a Le Crueset wok for Christmas, that was seriously chunky.

Went to a John Lewis yesterday and the Le Creuset seemed to be about the best for what I wanted - they didn't have any in stock though so I came home and found them cheaper with a free steamer too, so happy about that.

Also bought a black iron frying pan as it seems like the exact thing I wanted (after a bit of effort seasoning it).

Thanks Del :)up

get a black or purple one, the white ones are a bitch to clean.

Pleasure

sigh kinda want to buy one now even i will rarely use it and

Just stumbled accross this and it is brilliant they have a ladies only board!

Keep up the good work babes!

Pans are the new guitars  ;adamm;

I suggest Guvnor as a beginner's guitar. Good quality steel strung acoustics in both Right and left handed models. I think they now come with integral tuners.

The best value replacement strings are available from amazon (use the blonde link).
practice chords by learning different well known songs, there are many lessons on youtube!
get a scales book and practice the basic scales.....

....get yourself an electric, join a band, shag a groupy or 1000, snort 1/2 of Bolivia, congrats you're a rock star!!!!!

Bought a nice frying pan a couple of years ago, it was an instinct buy, i was walking through Bentalls in Bracknell and just decided to buy it and a bit pot.  Not sure why but they are great pans.  Well, the frying pan would be if I realised you have to season it :D   I have a habit of getting rid of the non stick part after a while! 

Helpful thread, will do it properly next time :)

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nr0BMqsftE







.

Happy to answer any other cooking related questions people have.

Here's one: how do you fit a pan with a 12" inch handle into the oven to season it? ;marks;

You can also use a bbq with a lid, or else ask someone with a bigger oven....

lol Get a bigger oven :D


Just go through the heating and oiling cycle a couple more times on the stove top.

don't forget to oil the underside aswell and heat gently.  (you may wish to open windows and disable your smoke alarm for this bit)

Well if I tilt it a bit it fits in, so should be OK on that front.

Would ground nut oil be OK? I don't have any veg oil around atm.

If anyone feels inspired to try a cast iron skillet I saw on another forum that you gan get an 8" cast iron frying pan from Home Bargins for £3.99

should be ok providing its not a strong taste

Seasoning cast iron explained with pics:

http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44173 (http://www.bushcraftuk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44173)

That bloke seems to have "seasoned" the inside of his oven too, with about five years worth of grease. urrgh.
Jealous of his pan though.

You're missing an 'o'  ^

So want to go to home bargains now!

Ground nut has no taste so should be fine :)up

What are you, the spelling police? You should have made me go to school ;D

well played

 rotflmfao rotflmfao

Sigh....

could there be a more middle class problem?

 rotflmfao rotflmfao  Between the pair, that's my Friday morning giggles sorted.

Either groundnut oil isn't good for seasoning pans or I'm really bad at heating oil up. :dontask:

My mother bought me a jolly expensive set of pans from John Lewis for Xmas. Yet I still feel cheap. She'll be gutted. I'm not sure the frying pan is even suitable for the seasoning process. I will investigate.

Cheers.

themisery

Add another coat of oil and run through the oven again at a low heat.

The more you use it the better it will become

Pics would help.

(http://i43.tinypic.com/c8d1l.jpg)

Nothing sticks to this....

(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7019/6695017697_7673d8a6f6_m.jpg)

Nice - cracker of a bill-hook there as well.

I have been promised a wok for christmas so now need to choose one to buy. Does anyone have any recommendations? Am I best getting one that needs seasoning?

Xmas is soooooooo last month.

Depends on price - looking on Amazon you can get a chasseur cast iron wok for  £51, or Le Creusset for nearly £90 - neither one needs seasoned as they're enamelled - so you get the benefit of cast iron without having to season them.

Personally I'd buy the £7.95 untreated one and season it, the pan is more yours if you've worked on it IMO. Wok stand, tools etc to make up to the budget.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/35-5cm-round-base-Guaranteed-Quality/dp/B003UCFGZE/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1326633519&sr=1-1 (http://www.amazon.co.uk/35-5cm-round-base-Guaranteed-Quality/dp/B003UCFGZE/ref=sr_1_1?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1326633519&sr=1-1)

this

YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGXGJD2xTzQ

Cheers for that reccomendation. I ended up getting it and am in the process of seasoning :)

It started as a silver colour but is now a more black/brown colour :)

I'll try and get a pic when I'm done.

A bit late I know but my old mum's le creuset cast-iron set of pans are still going strong after twenty+ years.

Please do, I'm tempted to get one if I can think of a way round the 'No more kitchen crap' ban....

And should do for years to come. Top notch stuff with prices to match unfortunately. Also enameled so no seasoning required - one day - better check the lotto ticket...