Skip to main content

Featured Posts

Steak Recipe - How To Make Steak Tender

Steak Recipe - How To Make Steak Tender   You invest a lot of time and money into the steaks for a special occasion and when dinner time comes, they are tough. What happened? How can you cook steaks as tender as your favorite restaurant? The first step to cooking a good steak is to choose the right grade of steak. The top quality beef is graded USDA Prime and commands top prices. USDA Prime grade meats are sold to the restaurant industry and specialty markets and are not as likely to be found at your local grocery chain. The next grade of beef is USDA Choice. USDA Choice is tender, flavorful and only slightly lower in quality than USDA Prime. The meat is well marbled with fat and will be tender and juicy when properly prepared. USDA Choice makes up about 70% of all graded beef and is readily available in your supermarket. USDA Good graded beef is an acceptable grade of beef that has only minimal marbling of fat. It is leaner, but may not be as tender as USDA Prime or Choice. Next, ...

I Need Some Pots And Pans To Cook In

I Need Some Pots And Pans To Cook In 


I Need Some Pots And Pans To Cook In

I Need Some Pots And Pans To Cook In What Should I Buy?

If youve shopped for cookware recently, you may have gotten a headache from looking at all the choices and brands available. And all of them seem to be telling you the same things Im the best; Im a great value; buy me.

What should you buy? Before you start considering your cookware options consider the following five questions.

1) Do you cook for a few people or a lot of people? This will determine how many pots and pans you need and also how big you need them to be.

2) What kind of cooking do you most often do? I like to make homemade soup so a large stockpot is essential for me. On the other hand, I never steam anything on the stovetop (I use an electric steamer) so a stovetop steamer is useless to me. Think about what you cook or what you want to learn how to cook so you can determine what pieces of cookware youll need.

3) How important is ease of cleanup to you? If you hate cleanup you should probably buy non-stick cookware. If you want to be able to put your cookware in the dishwasher youll need to look at the sets youre considering to see if its advisable. For example, hard-anodized aluminum cookware (http://www.acooksdelight.com/cookware/anodizedaluminumcookware) is a very popular type of cookware but the outside of the pots will change color and darken if you wash them in your dishwasher. I own this type of cookware and I love it. But there are days when I dont love having to take the time to hand-wash it, but I do because I dont want it to get discolored in my dishwasher. Most professional cooks prefer stainless steel cookware. Its nice to cook with but clean-up can be fairly time-consuming.

4) What type of stove do you have? Do you have a smooth-top electric stovetop? If you do, you need flat-bottom pots and pans. I didnt think about this when I purchased my smooth-top stove. I quickly discovered my pots and pans werent flat bottomed and that they didnt work well on my new stove. As a result I had to go buy new cookware that had flat bottoms. If you have an induction cooktop you needs pots and pans with ferrite in them, which means they need to be magnetic.I Need Some Pots And Pans To Cook In What Should I Buy?

If youve shopped for cookware recently, you may have gotten a headache from looking at all the choices and brands available. And all of them seem to be telling you the same things Im the best; Im a great value; buy me.

What should you buy? Before you start considering your cookware options consider the following five questions.

1) Do you cook for a few people or a lot of people? This will determine how many pots and pans you need and also how big you need them to be.

2) What kind of cooking do you most often do? I like to make homemade soup so a large stockpot is essential for me. On the other hand, I never steam anything on the stovetop (I use an electric steamer) so a stovetop steamer is useless to me. Think about what you cook or what you want to learn how to cook so you can determine what pieces of cookware youll need.

3) How important is ease of cleanup to you? If you hate cleanup you should probably buy non-stick cookware. If you want to be able to put your cookware in the dishwasher youll need to look at the sets youre considering to see if its advisable. For example, hard-anodized aluminum cookware (http://www.acooksdelight.com/cookware/anodizedaluminumcookware) is a very popular type of cookware but the outside of the pots will change color and darken if you wash them in your dishwasher. I own this type of cookware and I love it. But there are days when I dont love having to take the time to hand-wash it, but I do because I dont want it to get discolored in my dishwasher. Most professional cooks prefer stainless steel cookware. Its nice to cook with but clean-up can be fairly time-consuming.

4) What type of stove do you have? Do you have a smooth-top electric stovetop? If you do, you need flat-bottom pots and pans. I didnt think about this when I purchased my smooth-top stove. I quickly discovered my pots and pans werent flat bottomed and that they didnt work well on my new stove. As a result I had to go buy new cookware that had flat bottoms. If you have an induction cooktop you needs pots and pans with ferrite in them, which means they need to be magnetic,
5) What is your budget? I highly recommend buying the best quality cookware you can afford. The best quality is not always the most expensive cookware available, but its never the cheapest. If you buy a $49.99 set of cookware, youll be getting a bargain but you wont be getting a good set of cookware.

Now that youve thought about your needs and know how much you can afford to spend, its time to go look at cookware. Youll likely be using your cookware every day so you want something that youre comfortable working with. But the number one thing to look for in cookware is weight and heft. Heavier weight cookware wont warp over time which causes you to lose the flat, even cooking surface on the bottom of your pan; and you can control the heat better in heavier weight cookware. Im not saying you have to buy cookware that you need to join the gym to be able to lift out of the cupboard but dont buy cheap flimsy pots and pans.

If a pan feels like you could bend it, dont buy it. Im not suggesting you walk into a store, pick up every pot and pan and try to bend it, but look at one of the saucepans. If you push a little on the sides and that saucepan has some give to it, its not going to hold up well on your stove.

To get a good quality cookware set youll probably need to spend a minimum of $200 (. If you dont have that much to spend consider buying only the essential pieces you need to get you started such as a 2-quart saucepan, a saut pan and a stockpot. Add pieces as you can afford them. Although youll typically get the best value for your money if you buy a cookware set versus buying the individual pieces dont buy a poor quality set just so you have an entire set of cookware. Youll end up spending more money in the long run replacing those pots and pans when they get warped and ruined (which wont take long).

If you take the time to consider your needs, do some shopping around, and purchase the best quality set of cookware you can afford, youre likely to be happy with your purchase for a long time.

Comments

Popular Articles

Hot Dog : Best Hot Dog Recipe

Hot Dog : Best Hot Dog Recipe   Let’s be frank: Americans love hot dogs. In the U.S., people on average eat 70 franks each year. Although consumers do “relish” their dogs at certain events-baseball games, barbecues, picnics, etc.-hot dogs are a favorite dinnertime meal for the family or a quick convenient snack when on the go. Quite simply, hot dogs are a staple of the American diet. When it comes to preparing a great-tasting hot dog, how you cook and dress it isn’t as important as the frank you choose. Besides the traditional all-beef variety, there are hot dogs for every taste bud, including turkey for the health conscious or ones with robust flavors that are perfect for the grill, such as the new GrillMaster franks. Speaking of the grill, while microwaved and boiled hot dogs are popular, 60 percent of Americans prefer their hot dogs grilled, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council. Sara Lee Executive Chef Brian Averna is a self-proclaimed “foodie” and has perfected...

Cookbook : How to create a family heirloom cookbook recipe

Cookbook : How to create a family heirloom cookbook Recipe   Almost every family has a treasured recipe, handed down through generations, that is not only beloved because it is delicious, but because it evokes memories of favorite family get-togethers. A family heirloom recipe book is a wonderful way to combine favorite dishes and family folklore. According to Cheryl Wolf, a performance artist and graphic design instructor at The New England Institute of Art, “Family recipes are a valuable resource for a family history. I have built an entire performance around my family’s recipes and the stories they evoke! “Breaking bread” together is life-affirming. What better way to reach back and bring personal history to the present?” Wolf adds, A family recipe is also a family history, and can be a wonderful work of folk art. For example, she says, take the opportunity to not only write down family recipes for generations to come, but include famous family stories (every family has them), p...

Cookware : Introduction Of Cookware

Cookware : Introduction Of Cookware   Selecting the cookware for your kitchen implies a few certain points you should consider: budget, cooking and eating habits, your family size, etc. One of the most essential points in choosing cookware is the material it is made of. Often, such an important detail is simply overlooked or is considered to be minor. In fact, proper understanding of differences between cookware materials will assist you in making the best choice and further on, will help maintain your cookware in a good shape. Stainless steel cookware is very common thank to its moderate price and a number of qualities, such as good tensile strength, excellent corrosion resistance and non-reaction with alkaline or acidic materials. Using stainless steel cookware allows using less oil and it better preserves the nutritious value of food. The drawback is that stainless steel does not conduct heat well, so the cookware requires a thick aluminum or copper core in the bottom and, some...