(no subject)
I've been doing a fair amount of research into kitchen goods and cooking techniques for the past couple of months and I've come up with a few favorite items I thought I might take a moment to talk about. So far I've been most interested in stove-top cooking methods, and haven't looked too closely at baking at all, so if I leave some things out that you think are indispensable, let me know!
Cookware:
One of the things they tell you to look for in a pot or pan is its construction. The types of materials used, and their thickness, are the main factors in determining whether it will evenly disperse heat throughout the cooking surface, and certain methods of construction are more reliable than others. You often hear people recommend "a heavy-bottomed pan" in cookbooks for just this reason. Ideally, what you are looking for is a pan that is constructed of three or more layers, with a layer of aluminum sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel. This type of construction is referred to as "tri-ply" or "clad". Be sure to pay close attention to the description of any pan you might be looking at though, as some only feature a "tri-ply" bottom, with solid stainless sides. What you want will be called "fully clad" or "all clad" or "multi clad". Also, keep in mind that just because a pan is fully clad doesn't guarantee that it will heat evenly: it must also be sufficiently thick in order to avoid hot and cold spots.
I prefer to avoid most non-stick coatings, as there is evidence that they contribute to cancer, and because they invariably wear out after two to three years and need replacing, while quality untreated cookware can last upwards of 30 years if not abused.
Anyway, the accepted leader in the industry is a company called All Clad which more or less invented the process I described earlier. They manufacture most of their products in the USA, and charge some unbelievably high prices for them. We're talking $200 for a sauce pan. If it weren't for the price they charge I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them, but I just don't understand why anybody would pay that much.
So, my pick is a line of pots and pans made by a company called Tramontina, which has been in the business since 1911 and is located in Brazil. They make several different lines of cookware, but only one of them gets my recommendation: The "TriPly-Clad" range that is sold at ... Wal Mart... which hurts, but you can completely outfit your kitchen with these for less than it would cost to buy a single piece of All Clad. If it were me, I'd get a 10 inch "saute pan" (what I would call a frying pan), a 12 inch "Jumbo Cooker" (what I would call a saute pan), a 2 quart sauce pan, a 3 quart sauce pan, and a 12 quart stock pot. You could always just buy the 10 piece set they offer, but you'd end up with two "saute pans" and no "jumbo cooker". I've got a set of these, and they are amazing. One of my favorite features of these pans is that they are oven safe up to a pretty high temperature, so you can braise in them if you want!
In addition to the items above, I like to have a good cast-iron skillet around, and the best ones (without paying way too much) are made by a company called Lodge Logic. I'd get the 12 inch pre-seasoned skillet, so as to be sure to have enough room for a couple of steaks.
Many people recommend keeping a non-stick frying pan specifically for eggs, but I've had good results cooking eggs in the stainless Tramontina pans that I have, so I wouldn't consider it to be a necessity.
Knives:
You really only need 4 knives and I've never seen a kit that came with all four of them, unless it also threw in all sorts of other stuff you don't need. So, my recommendation is to skip the sets and just buy them individually.
Not too long ago knives only came in carbon steels that were very susceptible to rust. They were very easy to sharpen to an incredibly fine edge, but they were so soft that they required lots of sharpening, which removes steel every time you do it. So, they didn't last long and needed lots of maintenance to keep in good condition. Then, they introduced stainless steel, which wasn't as fussy as carbon steel, but which was basically impossible to put a good edge on. However, there have been lots of improvements in metallurgy in the past 30 years and now you can get what are called "high carbon stainless" knives, which take and hold an edge, and don't rust under normal use. However, those plain-old stainless knives are still out there, and some companies use better alloys than others, so it's worth taking the time to research the knives you are looking at and making an informed decision.
I mentioned that you only really need 4 knives. Specifically, you will want to have a Chef's Knife (8"), a Paring Knife (3.5"), a Bread Knife (9"), and a Boning Knife (6"). If you do a lot of specialized cooking, like maybe you're a fisherman and you have to do a lot of filleting, you might want to add a knife or two to that list, but those four knives should cover 99% or more of all the tasks you'll have to use a knife for. Notice that the bread knife is the only serrated knife you need, and that it can pull double duty as a carving knife for large cuts of meat. Some people really like to have an offset blade on their bread knives, where the blade drops down to meet your cutting board without having to position your hand off the edge of the counter.
When selecting the knives you want, you should pay attention to a few design features that can affect how you will use them. For instance, most European knives have what's called a bolster between the handle and the blade. This is a throwback to daggers and is intended to help balance the blade, and to protect your hand from the sharp edge. Japanese knives usually leave this out and instead just drop the edge down past where your fingers are likely to be, which results in a knife with a blade that can be used all the way down to the grip. Also, Japanese knives tend to have thinner blades, which reduce their weight and can take a sharper edge. However, both of these Japanese knife traits are beginning to be integrated into newer lines from European makers. For an example of a European knife with Japanese features take a look at the Le Cordon Bleu series from Wusthof, while an example of the more traditional European knife design would be the Wusthof Classic line.
The final couple of details you might want to look at when choosing a knife is whether it is forged or pressed, and the grip. Really forging doesn't make as much difference as it used to, but forged blades tend to hold up better than stamped blades, while the stamped blades are less expensive. As for the grips, keep in mind that anywhere different pieces meet is a place where bacteria could hide, so you want to find a knife that is as seamless as possible. Probably the best example of a seamless knife would be those made by Global, which use a single piece of steel for both the blade and the handle. Global knives are particularly well thought of among professional cooks by the way.
It's worth mentioning that Japanese knives usually use a 15 degree edge grind, while most European knives usually use a 20 degree edge. This means that you should take care when selecting a sharpener so as to avoid completely re-grinding the edge when you try to sharpen it.
Really, this just scratches the surface of what's out there and what you might want to have in your kitchen, but I've already written too much, so I might as well save some for another post.
Cookware:
One of the things they tell you to look for in a pot or pan is its construction. The types of materials used, and their thickness, are the main factors in determining whether it will evenly disperse heat throughout the cooking surface, and certain methods of construction are more reliable than others. You often hear people recommend "a heavy-bottomed pan" in cookbooks for just this reason. Ideally, what you are looking for is a pan that is constructed of three or more layers, with a layer of aluminum sandwiched between two layers of stainless steel. This type of construction is referred to as "tri-ply" or "clad". Be sure to pay close attention to the description of any pan you might be looking at though, as some only feature a "tri-ply" bottom, with solid stainless sides. What you want will be called "fully clad" or "all clad" or "multi clad". Also, keep in mind that just because a pan is fully clad doesn't guarantee that it will heat evenly: it must also be sufficiently thick in order to avoid hot and cold spots.
I prefer to avoid most non-stick coatings, as there is evidence that they contribute to cancer, and because they invariably wear out after two to three years and need replacing, while quality untreated cookware can last upwards of 30 years if not abused.
Anyway, the accepted leader in the industry is a company called All Clad which more or less invented the process I described earlier. They manufacture most of their products in the USA, and charge some unbelievably high prices for them. We're talking $200 for a sauce pan. If it weren't for the price they charge I wouldn't hesitate to recommend them, but I just don't understand why anybody would pay that much.
So, my pick is a line of pots and pans made by a company called Tramontina, which has been in the business since 1911 and is located in Brazil. They make several different lines of cookware, but only one of them gets my recommendation: The "TriPly-Clad" range that is sold at ... Wal Mart... which hurts, but you can completely outfit your kitchen with these for less than it would cost to buy a single piece of All Clad. If it were me, I'd get a 10 inch "saute pan" (what I would call a frying pan), a 12 inch "Jumbo Cooker" (what I would call a saute pan), a 2 quart sauce pan, a 3 quart sauce pan, and a 12 quart stock pot. You could always just buy the 10 piece set they offer, but you'd end up with two "saute pans" and no "jumbo cooker". I've got a set of these, and they are amazing. One of my favorite features of these pans is that they are oven safe up to a pretty high temperature, so you can braise in them if you want!
In addition to the items above, I like to have a good cast-iron skillet around, and the best ones (without paying way too much) are made by a company called Lodge Logic. I'd get the 12 inch pre-seasoned skillet, so as to be sure to have enough room for a couple of steaks.
Many people recommend keeping a non-stick frying pan specifically for eggs, but I've had good results cooking eggs in the stainless Tramontina pans that I have, so I wouldn't consider it to be a necessity.
Knives:
You really only need 4 knives and I've never seen a kit that came with all four of them, unless it also threw in all sorts of other stuff you don't need. So, my recommendation is to skip the sets and just buy them individually.
Not too long ago knives only came in carbon steels that were very susceptible to rust. They were very easy to sharpen to an incredibly fine edge, but they were so soft that they required lots of sharpening, which removes steel every time you do it. So, they didn't last long and needed lots of maintenance to keep in good condition. Then, they introduced stainless steel, which wasn't as fussy as carbon steel, but which was basically impossible to put a good edge on. However, there have been lots of improvements in metallurgy in the past 30 years and now you can get what are called "high carbon stainless" knives, which take and hold an edge, and don't rust under normal use. However, those plain-old stainless knives are still out there, and some companies use better alloys than others, so it's worth taking the time to research the knives you are looking at and making an informed decision.
I mentioned that you only really need 4 knives. Specifically, you will want to have a Chef's Knife (8"), a Paring Knife (3.5"), a Bread Knife (9"), and a Boning Knife (6"). If you do a lot of specialized cooking, like maybe you're a fisherman and you have to do a lot of filleting, you might want to add a knife or two to that list, but those four knives should cover 99% or more of all the tasks you'll have to use a knife for. Notice that the bread knife is the only serrated knife you need, and that it can pull double duty as a carving knife for large cuts of meat. Some people really like to have an offset blade on their bread knives, where the blade drops down to meet your cutting board without having to position your hand off the edge of the counter.
When selecting the knives you want, you should pay attention to a few design features that can affect how you will use them. For instance, most European knives have what's called a bolster between the handle and the blade. This is a throwback to daggers and is intended to help balance the blade, and to protect your hand from the sharp edge. Japanese knives usually leave this out and instead just drop the edge down past where your fingers are likely to be, which results in a knife with a blade that can be used all the way down to the grip. Also, Japanese knives tend to have thinner blades, which reduce their weight and can take a sharper edge. However, both of these Japanese knife traits are beginning to be integrated into newer lines from European makers. For an example of a European knife with Japanese features take a look at the Le Cordon Bleu series from Wusthof, while an example of the more traditional European knife design would be the Wusthof Classic line.
The final couple of details you might want to look at when choosing a knife is whether it is forged or pressed, and the grip. Really forging doesn't make as much difference as it used to, but forged blades tend to hold up better than stamped blades, while the stamped blades are less expensive. As for the grips, keep in mind that anywhere different pieces meet is a place where bacteria could hide, so you want to find a knife that is as seamless as possible. Probably the best example of a seamless knife would be those made by Global, which use a single piece of steel for both the blade and the handle. Global knives are particularly well thought of among professional cooks by the way.
It's worth mentioning that Japanese knives usually use a 15 degree edge grind, while most European knives usually use a 20 degree edge. This means that you should take care when selecting a sharpener so as to avoid completely re-grinding the edge when you try to sharpen it.
Really, this just scratches the surface of what's out there and what you might want to have in your kitchen, but I've already written too much, so I might as well save some for another post.