CAST ALUMINIUM, FORGED ALUMINIUM OR STAMPED POTS AND PANS? WHICH ARE THE BEST FRYING PANS?

When we consider buying a new pan we pay attention to different things. The first one is price, of course. How is it possible that some pans cost 3 and some other 30? Why should I spend 30 if I could have 10 for this price and use a new one every day? Well, taking apart wasting pans is not very ecological; the truth is there are many reasons that justify big price differences. The following are the things you must pay attention next time to buy the best pan for you.

 

1. What is it made from and how is it made

 

Material and manufacturing process are two of the key quality and price factors. As you can read in our post “How to distinguish between a good frying pan and a bad one at a glance”, aluminium pans can be stamped, forged or die casted. Stamped ones are the cheapest, but they also offer bad useful life and performance. Forged are more resistant and better but the best ones are die casted ones. Yes, they are also the most expensive ones, but we really recommend you to choose these ones if you can. Learn how to distinguish them. Frying pans are not only made of aluminium, there are other common materials such as iron and stainless steel you can learn about.
 

2. How is it coated

 

If you have chosen an aluminium pan, non-stick coating is as important as manufacturing process. Buying a super wonderful cast aluminium pan with an awful non-stick coating is probably a waste of money. Let’s get into this step by step: the two basic non-stick coatings used in aluminium pans are ceramic and PTFE. PTFE is the most known and popular, the old one. But you probably know him as Teflon –although Teflon is a brand. It has had some bad press recently, but don’t believe everything you read because it is not always true. And then we have the ceramic one, whose use has grown a lot since somebody started speaking badly of PTFE. The truth is both have some pros and cons, but despite all said about him, if your goal is avoid food from sticking on the pan, we still recommend you choosing PTFE. Not any old one, a good one, the one used by a manufacturer you trust in.

 

3. Where can you use it

 

This is a basic and very important point if you have or are thinking about having an induction cooktop. You must remember induction pans are suitable for all cooking surfaces; but if your hob is an induction one you would need an induction pan for sure. Yes, they are more expensive than the other ones, but the other ones don’t work in induction cooktops, even the prettiest ones. Good news is you can easily distinguish them because it is clearly indicated in packaging, but it’s very important to know that not all induction pans have the same good performance because making pans work in induction cooktops is not as easy as it seems. There are also some other things you must know to cook comfortably and without problems with induction. Don’t worry, they are easy facts. Finally, if you don’t have an induction cooktop and no plans to have one in the future, don’t buy induction pans. You will save some good money!

 

4. Details, details, details

 

So far, so good – but, not good enough by far: details are still missing. Are details really important in a pan? Yes, because details stress the difference. Design is very important in a pan. Not only because it makes it beautiful, but also because good designed pans offer more useful advantages and if we are going to spend good money in a pan, we must demand everything. Good design improves heat distribution for an easier cooking. Weight is also very important: it must not be too much light because it could knock over, neither too much heavy to be easily handled. But maybe the most important detail is the handle. It must be comfortable and ergonomic and, as we are requesting everything, removable handles are better.

 

To summarize, pay attention even to the smallest details before buying a new pan: take it, shake it, move it and play a little bit with it. Make sure it’s practical and comfortable because if you do it well it will last many years.

BE CREATIVE, REMOVE THE HANDLE OF YOUR PAN. 8 REASONS TO DO IT.

The handle of my pan can be removed. Is it broken? No, it isn’t! Why should I need a pan with removable handle? Is it necessary? Well, from the get-go it may seem something not very important, but sometimes these small details are exactly the ones that make a difference and removable handles are the perfect example. Castey long handles can be removed and there are many reasons to do it. Some of them are detailed below, but if you use your imagination you will discover many other ways to make the most of them.

 

1. A better way to store your pans

 

As our kitchens are not as big as we’d like, we must do our best to have enough space to store all those kitchen appliances we love. Luckily removing handles saves a lot of space in our cupboards: we can store handles in a drawer and attach them in seconds any time we want to cook.

 

2. To clean pans easier by hand

 

Because when cleaning by hand handles knock against facet and sink or don’t fit in the sink. Rinsing them off is always annoying: as the water hits the pan it splashes everywhere, including us.

 

3. To save space in the dishwasher

 

Because many times the handle reaches the top of the dishwasher machine and the pan doesn’t fit, so we clean it by hand even though we hate doing it since we bought the dishwasher.

 

4. To place pans in the oven

 

Long handles are the reason why most pans can’t be used in the oven, as they take too much space and are not resistant to high temperatures. By removing the handle cook in the oven.

 

5. To take pans out of the oven without using mittens

 

Castey removable handles are very easy and fast to attach and remove and you can do it without touching the aluminium vessel. They get perfectly fixed and we can use them to take the pan out. We won’t get burned even if we don’t use mittens!

 

6. To use our fry pan as a casserole

 

Because the main difference between a fry pan and a casserole is the long handle. If we remove it we turn our fry pan into a casserole and we save ourselves having lots of pans and pots.

 

7. To turn our pan into a cake mould

 

Because we are tired of burned and stacked masses and there is nothing better than a good non-stick fry pan. 

 

8. To cook everything in the same pan and less clean

 

Because if we put together all the advantages previously described, we realize don’t need thousands and thousands of cookware pieces to do a good job.

 

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8 TIPS TO AVOID FOOD FROM STICKING ON NON-STICK FRYING PANS

 
Let’s take for granted you have already read chapters 1 and 2 of The Wonderfull World of Non-Stick Coatings and you already know which is the best non-stick coating for you and main trues and lies about non-stick components. It’s not necessary you read them before reading this post, but it would be useful, especially chapter one.
 
We are also going to take for granted you have finally decided to spend a little bit more to buy a good pan with a good non-stick coating. If given the choice we would be very happy if your pan is one of ours, but these tricks are also valid if not. Anyway, you must take into consideration they will not make low quality non-stick coatings last as the good ones.
 
We are finally going to take for granted when you read these kind of advices you usually get as bored as when you read instruction manuals –in case you read them, of course- so we will try to make it as entertaining as possible.
 

The 8 commandments of the non-stick coating

 

1. Wash it with a mild detergent in warm water and rinse clean before using for the first time.

 
This is not going to increase non-stick properties nor to make it last longer, but it will remove dust and stains, which is always nice when we buy something new, especially if we are going to cook with it. Old instruction manuals also recommended to condition non-stick coatings with oil to preserve and activate non-stick properties but, to be honest, we know hardly nobody did it, so technology has been improved so as this is not necessary anymore.
 

2. Being able to turn the heat on full doesn’t mean you should do it

 
As we explain in our post Instruction Manuals are Boring. I Never Read Them, we already know you love using all energy and power available because waiting until the fry pan is super-hot to cook anything seems more practical. But we can ensure this only wreaks pans and burns food, so let us suggest two alternatives instead:
 
– Stop doing it, man. Just get used to medium to low temperatures to preserve all nutritional properties and you will note food tastes even better.
 
– If there’s an extraordinary reason to do it, preheat the pan to a low temperature before turning the heat up so at least the non-stick coating will suffer a little bit less.
 

3. Do not heat empty cookware

 
Always be sure that oil, water or food materials are in the cookware prior to heating it. Heating empty cookware can overheat it which is not good if you want it to last.
 

4. Treat it as your skin

 
Non-stick coating is less delicate than it used to be. It can even stand up to rough treatment. If fact nowadays it can survive to scrubbing pads and metallic utensils abrasion –we know sometimes you use them even though you know you shouldn’t-. But don’t use them. We would never suggest this possibility in an instruction manual. You can neither use a pan as a dish because even the most reinforced non-stick coating can’t resist knife cuts and fork scratches forever.
 

5. A pan is not a tupperware

 
Do not use cookware as a food storage container although it seems a very practical and tempting idea. Fridge cold and food is not going to damage the non-stick coating, but we recommend keeping cookware clean when not in use so as not to encourage staining.
 

6. Allow cookware to cool before immersing in water

 
Water is not dangerous itself, temperature is the problem. This is just like when somebody tells us we have to wait two hours after eating before having a bath because we could suffer a stomach cramp. In fact we can have a bath if water temperature is not very cold. The same happens to non-stick coatings: it’s not good to heat up or cool them suddenly.
 

7. Non-stick is perfectly safe to put into the dishwasher but in fact it’s not necessary

 
As we have given for granted you have bought a good non-stick coating and food never sticks on its cooking surface, cleaning your pan is going to be really easy. Although you can clean it in the dishwasher with no risks, pans take up a lot of space in the dishwasher and any misplaced knife could damage the non-stick coating if you are not careful. For this reason handwash is usually the best option.
 

 

8. Our secret formula to remove the most extreme residues

 
Even the most faithful followers of these commandments can have a moment of distraction. Even though most residues can be removed with warm water and a mild detergent, in an extreme case, such residue can be removed by a thorough cleaning with this solution: 3 tablespoons of bleach, 1 tablespoon of liquid dish detergent and 1 cup of water. Apply to the cooking surface with a sponge or plastic scrubbing pad and it’s ready to go! You can also try one of these tricks to remove burnt Stains from non-stick frying pans.
 

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