Choosing Pots And Pans

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Introduction

So your housemate has moved out and taken the pans that you used to use with him because he's an idiot, or you're fed up of your cheap budget pots and pans that never seem to cook properly and are your sole excuse for your bad cooking.

You're in the market for new pots and pans, but you don't have a clue which is which, what is better than what, which brands to go for, where to get them. Well, ok. There are a heap of different pan material types. More often then not, you'll get them in a set which'd usually compromise of a bunch of pans and a milk pan or some other shit like that.

But all this stuff about Anodized Aluminium and Clad Copper is making things 10 times worse.

WELL! Off we go to be gay at Pan Materials Land!

Types of Pots & Pans

Okay, with pans, you generally tend to have metallic pans and metallic composite pans. The metallic ones, are ones which are purely made out of metal (usually the handles can be made out of plastic), whereas the others are composite or coated.

The ones you'll most likely come across will be:

• Aluminium
• Cast Iron
• Stainless Steel
• Copper
• Carbon Steel
• All Clad
• Non-stick

So, without further ado, lets get explaining what these are~

Aluminium

These usually tend to be the cheapest. They have good heat conductivity, and don't rust, nor corrode easily.

Usually with Aluminium pans, you're looking for Anodized Aluminium. This is because Aluminium can react with acidic or alkaline foods and tarnish the taste. With Anodized Aluminium pans, there is a coating which stops this happening. The only bad thing is that this coating is pretty sensitive, so be careful when washing it. You should gently handwash it as opposed to throwing it in the dishwasher.

Cast Iron

These are those heavy pans you've most likely seen and picked up and gone "jeez these are heavy" and swung about and then knocked everything over and got sent out of the shop. Due to their heavy weight, they take a while to warm up, once they're warm, they hold the heat very well. They tend to be around the cheap level of Aluminium pans, but a bit more expensive. They're useful for slow cooking and frying.

However, they tend to rust, corrode, tarnish, become damaged etc. quite easily and can be a bitch to clean. Don't wash it with soap and water, just run a damp paper towel over it to get off any bits of food, and then season it. Eventually you'll build up that wonderful layer of burnt oil and carbon that is better than any artificial non-stick surface.

Stainless Steel

These tend to be my favourite. These pans are, as the name implies, made out of Stainless Steel. Stainless Steel doesn't rust, and you can go at it with the scouring pad all you like. You may get the occasional thing burnt on the bottom, but thats nothing a quick soak and a go at it with the scouring pad won't solve.

The only drawback to these is that Stainless Steel tends to have a bad heat conducitivity. However, Stainless Steel pans often have a disc of a more conductive metal, i.e. copper or aluminium on the bottom. The best ones to go for are Stainless Steel pans with thick and encapsulated bases. A thicker base means it will conduct and hold heat better, and an encapsulated base is built into the actual base of the pan, thus providing better heat as opposed to just being stuck on the bottom like with most budget stainless steel pans.

Copper

Copper pans have the best heat conductivity and even heating. They are usually coated with tin to stop them reacting with foods.

The drawbacks to these are that the surface is fragile and needs retinning every so often, and they are rather expensive and heavy.

Carbon Steel

Carbon steel tends to have high strength and heat resistance, and is often used for high heating. The drawback to Carbon Steel pans are that they tend not to be even conductors of heat, but this may be an advantage, i.e. in paella pans, where heat in one spot is needed.

Carbon Steel pans also need regular seasoning.

All Clad

You may see these as "clad aluminium" or "clad copper" pans. These are sometimes also called "all clad" pans.

Basically, these are like copper or aluminium pans, covered in stainless steel, so you get the pluses of copper or aluminium, but with the ease and non-reactivity of stainless steel.

Non-Stick

You'll have seen these in the shops, the ones with the special teflon coating. They are good enough, especially if you prefer cooking on non-stick surfaces. Also it's easier to fry in these.

However, the non-stick coating won't last for forever, especially if it's a cheap pan set, it'll peel off with time. Also, if you get something burnt on them, you can't even consider using the rough end of a scouring pad on them or you will fuck them up something chronic. Not to mention the ol' Teflon gases killing birds thing, but you can go look that up if you want to.

The bottom line

Personally, you're probably not out for spending masses, but if I must reccommend a decent all-rounder as far as pan materials go, I personally go for Stainless Steel. Good for all-round cooking, cleans well, doesn't screw with the food and isn't as massively expensive. Make sure you go for a decent quality set though, with a decent thick bottom, usually encapsulated. I personally have a set of Judge pans (with a Mayer skillet) which I managed to get from ebay (for £2.99 not including shipping, bwa ha ha ha ha) and they work pretty damn decent on my house's shitty oven.