Don't know if it's been mentioned but
no kitchen should be without a pair
of cast iron skillets. And a dutch oven.

indestructible, easy to clean, and
when you cure them in the oven the
surface becomes as slicker than teflon.

We have a 10 in and a 13 inch pair
and a 12 inch dutch oven and there is
nothing like baking smothered
chicken, short ribs, corn bread and
countless other dishes.

Chef Wong,

You said a mouthful! Like any kitchen lesson, it's a hard learned one. Embarrassment was a great motivator! With some help form a friend and alot of practice, I get by, but no master. Finding a good pro is rare. There's noone around here for 400 miles. :( Stuck with a Norton Tri-stone and some luck!

Always wanted some Hattoris-nice stuff. Never had the extra cash! ;pimp; One of my favorites is a former 12" sabatier, ground and cut to 8". Also, went to an estate sale in old Denver years ago. An elderly Japanese man had died. Bought his handmade stainless clever. He used 1/4" thick steel. Ground one side (right handed). It's awesome. Apparently, he had made other knives etc... but were all sold. Have always wondered about those other knives and if they were hand forged (folded). What a treat that would have been!

No wonder how the good knives always end up at work!!

When I had my restaurants in NYC, I had a sharpener who came to my restaurants to sharpen all our knives.......

I love love cleavers.....it's like my lefthand...being that it was the only knife in the household when I was young.

One of these days..and hopefully this year, I will get around to measuring out my cleavers. I plan to have my artisian make me a block just to hold all my cleavers... ;-)


Back to the the OP, as well, while not cookware related, but utensil related, I would start still with the local rest. supply and also look at utensils that are NSF rated for hygenic purposes.

Long story short, while the Rosle, WMF stuff looks all nice and pretty at your local houseware store, the cylinders are not sealed. so while the top and bottom *caps* close the cylinder handles on these...IMO, when you throw them in the dishwasher and stuff, water IMO seeps into these cylinders and create a ~unhygenic~ atmosphere. YMMW but this is my opinion at least...

That is so cool. never thought of it.

Don't worry about it, I really appreciate all this advice

:noadd: And you guys are awesome! I actually learn a lot from all this discussions concerning domestic stuff. :thumbup:

At home you have more control on how it is used. Anything near a hot saute is geting into the temp danger zone.

As far as restaurants go there is no control. Even when you watch people on tv, the first thing they will do with even a teflon pan is get it smoking HOT. That=dangerous temps. Not to mention (as mentioned earlier) the break down of the coating.

Smoke points on cooking oils are anywhere from 380-490 deg. Think about the area off the pan where the steak/fish/chicken is not. It will achieve a much higher temp as there is no mass absorbing the heat.

I see them used everyday. Some kitchens only use them for eggs, some for many items. They can wear out an egg pan in 1 month. Then the scratched or damaged surafface pans are usually relegated to saute work. Then they degrade even faster then. Nobody is trying to preserve the pristine surface for eggs and they just get worn out.

I eat at home alot or try (it's impossible to avoid 100%) to frequent places that limit the use of Teflon and Aluminum. Yes, there is a bit of an inside track here. If you are poilite and there when it's not busy, ask to go into the kitchen and introduce yourself to the Chef. Most will appreciate a compliment and speak about these subjects. If you do, remember, these guys are busy and work a schedule that would break most people.:p:

You might see some older and worn out kitchens and hopefully some surgically clean as well.