Gravy's Cooking Thread

Crone

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Nah, can just use those right out the box.
Nice, just purchased. You get commission or anything? Lol

Looking forward to doing big Christmas meals with them and seeing how that all turns out. Thanks again for the recommendation!
 

Ninen

Ahn'Qiraj Raider
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Nice all metal handles on those. My set has rubber/plastic handles and I'm always leary of throwing them in the oven, since I can never remember what they're rated for. Once you have a nice set you'll find out which ones you really do end up using week in and week out (you thought you wanted X, but it turns out your burners are the wrong size, or cans of stuff just always fit so nice in pot Y), and what you're missing (maybe an egg pan, maybe a mid sized cast iron or carbon steel skillet, some flavor of dutch oven or roaster); and then you can pick those up.

At some point 5, 10, 15 years down the line when you've used the SHIT out of the ones you actually use, you'll start buying higher quality one-of's to replace them, and will eventually just donate or sell the remnants of the set so they quit gathering dust. Or throw them the kids way as part of their first apartment GTFO gift.
 

Lanx

<Prior Amod>
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For Stainless Steel, do you have to season it just like cast iron?

no, you can be super rough w/ it too and even use the scour pads.

also if you want your stainless to shine like new again, get some bartenders friend, should get rid of the black burnt spots easily w/o elbow grease.

what you have to learn w/ stainless is how to create a thin film of grease for the food to sit on try fat + oil.

I use half butter and half veg oil (can't use olive oil, smoke point is too low). you know you have it right when you can cook an egg on it w/o it sticking.
 

Crone

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no, you can be super rough w/ it too and even use the scour pads.

also if you want your stainless to shine like new again, get some bartenders friend, should get rid of the black burnt spots easily w/o elbow grease.

what you have to learn w/ stainless is how to create a thin film of grease for the food to sit on try fat + oil.

I use half butter and half veg oil (can't use olive oil, smoke point is too low). you know you have it right when you can cook an egg on it w/o it sticking.
Have barmaids friend on its way from Amazon.
And I hear sprays like Pam don't do it? I hope I can adjust.
 

Lanx

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Have barmaids friend on its way from Amazon.
And I hear sprays like Pam don't do it? I hope I can adjust.
just start getting used to the idea that your gonna burn some shit the first week, like it'll be black and ugly, thats why you have bartenders friend.

i don't know about spam, i haven't used those sprays in forever, but i just remember it's just atomized canola oil, so like i said oil alone won't be enough (unless of course you're fucking deep frying or purposefully cooking w/ oil), so try the oil + fat 50/50 mix. advice is to put in a dab of butter first, let it liquid down and start cooking away at the water, then add in the same amount of oil and you should have a nice surface to cook on.
 

Adebisi

Clump of Cells
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10 hours on Saturday produced this. Homemade ramen featuring homemade: broth, tare, noodles, ajitsuke tamago, and chashu.

Anyone need my leftover kombu and katsuobushi?

46524140_10161162757705597_6091653386950672384_n.jpg
 
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BrutulTM

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no, you can be super rough w/ it too and even use the scour pads.

And you will need to because everything sticks to that shit.

I have a couple Calphalon pieces and they are great, but fuck stainless steel frying pans.
 

Noodleface

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Have barmaids friend on its way from Amazon.
And I hear sprays like Pam don't do it? I hope I can adjust.
I cook pretty exclusively with oil. You just have to respect the smoking point (whatever the fuck it's called) of different oils. I've used butter and oil before too.

Also can confirm when I started using stainless steel I burnt the fuck out of chicken. You have to realize sometimes you have to turn the heat down after awhile.
 

mkopec

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With stainless and any protein its not really about the oil, its about the heat of the stainless pan, that shit has to be hot enough not to stick but not hot enough to burn your shit. Tough trick to pull off usually for plebs like us, this is why man invented non stick pans.

The food kind of rides on a cushion of water thats being boiled off the protein. Kind of like if you ever dropped a bead of water on a super hot pan and it just kind of rides on the pan on a layer of steam.
 

BrutulTM

Good, bad, I'm the guy with the gun.
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It's harder to sear in a non-stick pan because it's so thin it doesn't hold heat very well, and you're probably afraid of melting the teflon if you get it really hot.

The obvious answer to all of this is cast iron. It's got the heat holding capacity of a big heavy pan and the non-stick surface as well, maybe not quite as good as teflon, but way better than stainless steel. I guarantee you will spend less time maintaining the surface on a cast iron skillet than you will trying to keep a stainless pan shiny.
 
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lurkingdirk

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I have some ceramic coated pans. Easier than teflon and stainless to get a sear in, a pain in the ass to clean up. They stain easily. When they wear out, I'll likely never get them again.
 

Lanx

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I have some ceramic coated pans. Easier than teflon and stainless to get a sear in, a pain in the ass to clean up. They stain easily. When they wear out, I'll likely never get them again.
yea i treat ceramic the same way i used to treat teflon, limited life span, will wear out, just that you won't be injesting super science.
 

Noodleface

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It's harder to sear in a non-stick pan because it's so thin it doesn't hold heat very well, and you're probably afraid of melting the teflon if you get it really hot.

The obvious answer to all of this is cast iron. It's got the heat holding capacity of a big heavy pan and the non-stick surface as well, maybe not quite as good as teflon, but way better than stainless steel. I guarantee you will spend less time maintaining the surface on a cast iron skillet than you will trying to keep a stainless pan shiny.
Absolutely, I love my cast iron
 
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Crone

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You guys have me scared of my stainless steel that's coming in. :(

Wife and I had a discussion and we are pretty sure we want to return them and go cast iron. We already have some cast iron, but a few pieces off Amazon like Dutch Oven and the big round pancake/quasadilla griddle.

Or do I man up, and suffer with stainless steel?
 

Deathwing

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I almost always use stainless steel in a dish that requires deglazing to make a sauce or soup base. It's almost criminal to waste good pan fond.