Demeyere cookware

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2001 e53 4.4i Sport, Nieman Marcus Edition. Stealth One.
2013 e70 3.5d Stacked, Custom

Lots of good advice here, but much of it is down to personal preferences.

Here is some random stuff we have in our kitchen that we like:

Mundial Future knifes - $700 : We like because they are much better looking than the Wusthofs and Henckels. Great feel and good quality steel, insanly sharp and relativly cheap. For general education about knifes I sugest going to youtube and finding the knife episode of 'Good Eats'.

Kenmore Stainless steel pans/pots - dishwasher safe, cheap and they cook great.

Various OXO gadgets - this company surprise me - first and only time in America I've seen good designs win over production costs. My particular favorite is the spring-loaded tongs, just because

My wife and I are gadget people though - so we have to have 'cool' as well as quality. Your style may be different.

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- Ravenheart

Cookware IMO is subjective...and ultimately it's what FEELS RIGHT in your hands...
Knives for example...I like to use German knives just fine on the Epiucurean boards but when I'm using Japanese Steel, I prefer the walnut blocks.

And for Tongs....Elund is the only brand for me ;-)

Demeyere and Le Creuset. Hit up the Wokshop in San Fran for some great carbon steel or light weight cast iron woks. In my humble option, although I love everything german, I prefer japanese knives. I like the lightness of the globals and I have a few shuns for heavy meat chopping. There is a custom knife maker based out of New York that I may get a knife from. It is either the knife or a robotic lawn mower this season.

Get what you can afford that works for you. I love the Demeyere more than the All Clad pieces I have. The Demeyere pans really get hot and stay hot. I have the Sirocco series and love them.

I agree with Chefwong though, handle these items before you commit to them. For my hands, certain pans were to heavy. The Demeyere and Le Creuset woks are heavy beasts in my opinion. I like copper but find that it is too much upkeep for most people. I have mild issues about scrubbing pots with Barkeepers friend and I know that I would spend all my time keeping my copper looking showroom new!

Set a budget and then exceed it:-)

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Abster641

Henckles are not the best, Wusthof is one of the best out there.... Global are nice too, hey realchef .... why would Al kill you ???? no real data on this issue... also U know majority of the restaurants use Al pans......studies from Clemson U. found that you'll get far higher amounts of aluminum from antacids or deodorants then using in pans

The research is so unclear (re: Alzheimer's). There are studies with results leaning both ways regarding cooking in aluminum.

What concerns me regarding cooking with it, you will notice a difference with the end result. Anything even mildly acidic or base will pick up a clear metallic tinge. Have seen Aluminum foil literally dissolve in a hour when touching tomato based sauces, even BBQ sauce. Every aluminum saute pan becomes pitted and scarred from use. Reduced a beurre blanc ONCE in an aluminum pan. It turned green within a total time of 30 minutes. Whisking or stirring in them really exaggerates the degredation.

I am aware of the extent of usage in restaurants. Your higher end restaurants will avoid them. I know of a few even here in Santa Fe. Some that cannot afford steel or stainless pans, try to at least use stainless stock and sauce pans. This at least puts the long cooking times in a non-questionable vessel. Leaving the shorter cooking time items for the cheap saute pans at the time of service.

Without clear proof, it's hard to be certain. With the practical experience and the studies put together, it fits pretty well. There is an undercurent of agreement throughout the industry.

On the good side, rhizomes such as turmeric, galangal and ginger are reputed to hinder the advancement of Alzheimer's. The countries where curries are prevalent have the lowest incident rate of the disease.

Teflon is showing to be a cancer hazard as well. Having eggs for bkfst is questionable. At home, there are 2 egg specific pans. Both French heavy steel and well seasoned. These pans perform as well as teflon and are as cheap as the aluminum. It's unfortunate that they are hard to deal with in restaurants due their propensisty to rust. They have to be handled well to make it through repeated dinner services.

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2001 e53 4.4i Sport, Nieman Marcus Edition. Stealth One.
2013 e70 3.5d Stacked, Custom

True - however - in order to get the teflon coating to start braking down you have to heat it to ~450 F and in order to produce dangerous amounts of the gas in question you have to reach ~700 F. These temperatures can occur in cooking, so it is a threat.

Cooking over low to medium heat however with Teflon is safe - just takes knowing to stay alive

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- Ravenheart

Teflon will also break down over time, thus flaking into your food ....

Here's an important question... Sharpening knives...

I have a couple large sets of really nice knives. And while I know it's best to use the hand sharpener, to be quite honest, the sound of a sharpening knife puts pins and needles into my entire body. It literally pains me.

So I have one of those electric sharpeners but I only use the sander, not the grinder.

And while I know I'll be ridiculed for not doing it the pure way, it's jut not worth the discomfort to me to hear that noise..

So, is machine sanding them really that bad?

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"When two people agree on everything, one of them is not necessary" - Arliss