Kitchen Gadgetry

Field Company and Stargazer are two I know of offhand. I have a pan from each of them and love them both. I also have a couple of Lodge pans which work pretty well, but the smoother surface really does make a difference, so the Lodges don’t get as much action as they used to. I really should sand them down and get 'em back into the rotation.

This tempts me greatly, but I also don’t think I need additional cast iron skillets. I have my trusty Lodge that I’ve never had any real sticking issues with unless I do something dumb, and I have a smaller unknown branded skillet that I pretty much use exclusively for toasting or blooming spices. My wife uses the big cast iron on occasion but mostly sticks to the dutch oven. What benefit do you get from your additional skillets? Are you using two at once?

One thing that I’ve been really happy with, is my carbon steel skillet.

It’s like a lighter weight cast iron skillet. For things like cooking eggs, I’d much rather use it than heavy cast iron.

I have different sizes of them, so I vary which one I use depending on what I’m making. That said, I do pull out more than one at once periodically as well; usually when cooking for company and not just my wife and I.

edit: I should also probably be up front with the fact that I just love cookware and kitchen knives and so tend to acquire more than I realistically need (or have room for). ;)

I like cast iron, and I like cooking eggs.

But, I always cook eggs in a non-stick teflon pan with butter. It is basically a 0 failure option. Teflon is really great for cooking eggs, and I like it for fish too. I don’t know why you wouldn’t cook an egg in a nonstick pan, other than not having one, or trying to prove a point, or to enjoy the difficulty.

The benefits of cast iron are heat retention, so amazing for searing, and the ability to cook on the range or in the oven, and swap between the two. I don’t see the advantages of using a cast iron for an egg or two.

The only advantage is you don’t need to buy and store a second pan.

I agree, nonstick is great for eggs. That’s pretty much all I use it for (I don’t cook fish at home after the shrimp scampi with butter lettuce incident of 2003).

Hell, I even have an “egg pan” I guess I never thought of it that way, but it is a small teflon pan I literally only ever use for cooking 1-2 eggs. I am a gadget freak and own way too many pans, but I think every kitchen should have at least 1 teflon pan for real sticky recipes/foods.

Mainly because I keep my cast iron on the stove so it’s always first choice, and it’s big enough I can cook a sausage patty, toast some bread, and then finish with an egg while cheese melts onto the bread. I do have a small Teflon I use often, and I keep it pristine with a plastic spatula and wooden spoons, but I like the way the egg cooks with the stored heat in the iron vs. the more direct heat of the Teflon.

All the previous posts were more about how an egg is a great test of a cast iron, rather than it being the ultimate tool for the job.

Best way to cook an egg is to shallow-fry it like the Thai do, shoulders-deep in hot oil in a wok, so the whole thing gets brown and crispy with filigreed edges.

Not super healthy, though.

Eggs are very good.

I’m suspicious of the chemicals used in nonstick cookware, but I understand not everyone is.

It kills birds. I know this from sad experience. There are none in my house.

To each their own! :)
To me those eggs look like they’ve been murdered!

Those chemicals are known harmful, so I’d rather not have them at all. The risk of scratching a pan, getting the coating into the food, and having to repeatedly throw away and buy more pans is just not worth it (for me).

Coating getting into the food is not unsafe, it will pass through you.

Yeah, Teflon is safe for consumption.

The bigger issue is that no non stick pan, even the fancy hex clad ones, will last forever. The coating will always eventually scratch and come off. They will never be an heirloom item, like a steel pan or good knife.

But if you are willing to accept their lack of permanence, which can be extended if you treat them well, they can do things that other pans can’t.

Isn’t the real risk with Teflon letting the pan get too hot? That’s how you get the toxic fumes.

Correct, it is misusing teflon. Or using ancient pans that were using materials that are no longer allowed to be used.

Huh. I didn’t realize you could theoretically eat the stuff, so do appreciate the corrections. But I still don’t want to eat it or worry about overheating etc 🙄

Sure, fair enough concern.

I have 1 teflon pan I have in rotation, it is my fish and eggs cooking pan. I also have this sticky bbq chicken thighs recipe I use it for as well, because that sauce is really quick to burn/stick.

Teflon also allows you to use less cooking oil, if you are concerned about that.

Non-stick pans were all the rage in the 90’s, I think my first set of pans had a lot of variously sized non-stick pots/pans. You shouldn’t be using a non-stick pan for all recipes, I think they are really great for a few specific applications, but definitely shouldn’t be your go-to pan. There has been a big shift in the home-cooking space away from the non-stick pan craze, back to using proper steel/aluminum pans for most jobs.

One of my absolute favorite pans is a lodge cast-iron ceramic coated dutch oven. I love using that for soups, curries, etc. It holds heat so well, provides a great browning surface, and can be tossed in/out of the oven.