Its to help resist warping. Or to put it another way, its cheaper to have a domed bottom than making it thicker (the traditional method of preventing warping).
So weāve had our new range for a little over a week now and Iām LOVING it. An induction cooktop is crazy fast and having a convection oven is something I should have done a long time ago. But YouTube came to the rescue with all kinds of cool tips, including this one.
Why this works: Induction uses electromagnetic waves to heat the pots/pans directly through those waves. Like a short distance magic so to speak. Those waves can pass through thin materials, which is why you can get aluminum pans with iron core layers to work on induction, or even the trick below. The cooktop itself stays cool around the heated vessel, and even underneath, since it is ceramic glass, it still stays waaaay cooler than the cooking temps within the vessel. Now, obviously I would not do this trick with high heat, as the passive heat of my skillet would get too hot, but this was an awesome thing for mess-free bacon for a BLT today.
Iām not sure I follow what the benefit of the paper, is. Are you doing it to catch splatter from the pan (if so, it seems like it isnāt protecting too big an area) or are you doing it so that the cast iron doesnāt scratch the cooktop?
It was protecting from splatter, yep. I just reheated bacon, thus not really needing much. However weāve made bacon fresh from the pack using a larger piece or two of parchment paper.
It isnāt really a huge deal, cleanup on a smooth surface is easy, but as an example of use, we put parchment paper below a larger pot doing a sauce reduction which had a lot of spatter around the top. I just thought it was neat.
The real benefits are faster heat up times, supposed reduced energy use and direct heating of your cooking pot/pan/skillet.
I get that the burner doesnāt heat up but doesnāt the pan heat up risking igniting a grease splattered paper towel?
It would, but that was on medium heat, its hard to explain but the surface of the range doesnāt get that hot, at least not like IN the pan.
But this may help:
I should not have used a paper towel, I did this just to see how it would work. Parchment paper would, however.
Also, yes, if for some reason a splatter happened it might (?) increase the chance of a fire but the temp outside of DIRECTLY underneath the pan is much lower than IN the pan.
EDIT: As an edit here, imagine sitting a hot pan on a piece of wood. Would it set fire? Maybe, but it would be extremely hot if so, darn near red hot. Otherwise youād get this, some browning. Without a red hot burner or a flame, the cook top is a very different thing. Iām still getting used to it.
So the last reference to breadmakers was from 2011, with a fairly long thread on the subject in 2009. I donāt know if breadmaker technology has improved in the last decade (Iām guessing somewhat) but the Panasonic breadmaker the wife got last month makes a very credible āFrenchā loaf with a great, chewy crust, albeit in five hours. I donāt have any illusions it will ever pay for itself, but I have to admit the set it and forget it aspect is appealing. Weāve relentlessly pruned (my) kitchen appliances since weāve been married (goodbye, food processor, adios, standard blender) so the addition of this unitasker was pretty surprising.
Induction is super cool.
What i really want, is an induction wok range.
What I desperately want is a ultra high BTU gas range with wok cradle and an externally vented hood powerful enough to keep things smoke freeā¦
Alas.
Iāve been stocking up on kitchen whatsits and whyfors during the Quarantine. Snagged some nice crystal Collins glasses for cocktails, a new vegetable peeler to replace the one thatās mystifyingly vanished, a couple of Rubbermaidās snazzy Brilliance line of pantry containers (big tough plastic snap lid, airtight tubs well suited for scooping out flour, sugar, etc), a nicer microwave steamer basket, an okay set of stainless steel prep bowls (the lining isnāt nearly as durable as the copy stated, but the highly rated Cuisinart model has been super price gouged online it looks like), a nicer cake pan since I am finally giving up on the old bastard of a pan I had, some spray bottles (including one for vinegar, which Iām gonna use to help keep the next one clean between washes), and a great honkin Teak cutting board that dwarfs my previous board, which finally got a little mold into it after I forgot to oil it for a year straight. In fairness, the old one was a decade old, super lightweight thing from TJ Maxx my girlfriendās mom snagged as a last minute Xmas gift for me one of the years we were on speaking terms. RIP, overstock store cast-off cutting board!
Those are my favorites at the moment, and Amazon has made sharing URLs from their app on Android obnoxious enough that I donāt feel like digging out the others unless folks are curious. (the format the Share button gives isnāt recognized by my phone as a copyable link, so Iāve got to send it to one of the deemed appropriate destinations, like a Gmail draft, and then copy it out of there, ugh)
Oh, for the Brilliance line, you probably want the 16-cup for flour. The 12 wonāt quite cut it if you buy the big bags.
edit: linking the steamer tray, cuz I actually get good use out of it now:
One of my favorite breakfasts is a big pan of kanda batata pohe, and nuking a chopped potato for 4 minutes before tossing it in with all the other ingredients is hella easier than cooking the potatoes to soft fully on the stove, so Iām using it a couple times a week at least, nevermind stuff like steaming a handful of broccoli or green beans as a quick side to a larger dinner of leftovers.
Yes.
I figure the induction wok is the next best thing to an actual wok cradle.
Yeah Amazon Android app is terrible for links, just super painful.
USA Pans are fucking great. +1 from me, I own like 6 of them in various sizes and shapes now.
Agreed! Iāve been looking for the 1.25lb loaf pan, which is actually the dimensions I want, but stock and availability are a crap shoot. Sur La Table has it, but Iām saving my Xmas gift card there for a fun cooking class after all the pandemic shit is over. Figure I can go bone up on the classic French cooking Iāll never want to bother with otherwise, hah
I am looking for a good everyday frying pan. What material does everyone use?
I thought carbon steel was the new big thing after I heard Alton Brown said thatās what he switched to. So I just bought a Lodge carbon steel pan to see how it compare over cast iron. It is lighter, which is why I wanted one, but still not light enough. If I want to use it to pour the contents out, its still a bit too heavy for that still.
I guess stainless steel is probably the perfect weight vs performance metal for a frying pan?
Like, I get thatās what it is but could they have come up with a more unappealing descriptor than ājuice canalā?
Anyway, thanks for linking those Rubbermaid containers - Iāve been looking for a set and it sort of slipped my mind for a while.
I have a handful for different needs. The ones that get most common use are my Tramontina giant-ass nonstick (like 12"?) which is the Wirecutterās current top pick for that genre, and one of my two smaller induction-compatible nonsticks (picked up as I do sometimes use induction ranges for a variety of reasons).
https://www.amazon.com/Tramontina-Professional-Fry-Pans-12-inch/dp/B009HBKQR0/
https://www.amazon.com/All-Clad-E785S264-Anodized-Nonstick-Dishwasher/dp/B0170TFNXM
Neither is like, hyper lightweight or anything, but both are noticeably lighter than a cast iron for sure. Thanks to Alton, I, too, recently snagged a small carbon steel pan for eggs and stuff, but havenāt given it too much use just yet. I find it pretty light and maneuverable tbh, but again, itās a very small pan.
I have some quasi-tri-ply stainless steel 10" pan (one of the less-fancy ones with the layered cap on the bottom rathe than being fully clad like the nicer brands) which is basically fine, and does get a lot of use over the course of the year, though it fits into a relatively narrow gap of āI donāt mind food sticking to this for Flavor Reasonsā + āMy cast iron is going to be too obnoxious to use/clean for this dishā + āsomething small enough that Iām not just gonna throw it into one of my big stainless steel stock pots.ā Turns out, thatās just not a common Venn Diagram outcome for me, personally, so itās largely the nonsticks in day-to-day usage. And I think theyāre lighter, inch-for-inch, anyway.
Hah! it is thoroughly unappetizing, but genuinely handy once in a blue moon when Iām, say, carving the Tgiving Turkey on it or whatever. Then again, at least as often, theyāre also a little obnoxious when, say, a few shreds of minced herb dip down in there out of bench-scraper-reach :(
Do you have an outdoor cooking area? I use one of these in my backyard: https://www.amazon.com/King-Kooker-24WC-Heavy-Duty-Portable/dp/B000BWFTJE/
54,000 BTU, which isnāt full out Chinese restaurant burner, but plenty hot for me.
Sadly not, no. Weāve got a very tiny balcony/patio (maybe 10ft x 4ft) up on the third floor, but IIRC, city law doesnāt allow cooking equipment on raised balconies like that. And, anyway, itās swarming with wasps all summer long, both from our own eaves and those of our neighbors to both sides and below, and I am deathly afraid of (and pretty damned allergic to) our stingered foes :(
Bluestar has you covered, but they aināt cheap.
Looks like a 25,000 BTU burner? Thatās not the jet engine level flame you need for real wok cooking!
Can you get much higher indoors without commercial equipment?