Cookware

Michelina frozen dinners ..all ya need is a microwave oven and a fork..

pots n pans are not required

 

Do you get the pan hot before you add oil or food to it?

 

never.

also, when i pan cook meat i use 1-3 tbs of oil or wine or some other poaching liquid. i heat the oil or liquid before adding meat.

i use a le querest(sp) grill pan to cook most meat.

a cleaning trick i use is, as soon as i remove my food while the pan is hot, i pour water in it and let it soak. clean up with an sos or a green pad.

i have an old 12" teflon pan i use for bacon.

 

cast iron

never use soap or put it in the dishwasher. when it's hot, shoot some water in there and wipe clean with paper towel...that's the "seasoning".

buy it/them used if you can find them.

 

good point but only for certain applications.

 

i do the same thing with the one "non-stick" pan we have. just wipe it clean. no soap.

 

I grew up with various sizes of these that were handed down generations I'm sure. We could use soap in them by the time they got to my momma with no problem.
It seems I smell an iron (no kiddin) smell sometimes that gives me a little icky feeling when I'm cooking cornbread or other stuff in my pan. I'm sure it's because I don't use it enough. I do leave olive oil in it and leave it in my oven all the time basically to continue the seasoning process. Is that reasonable you think or should I be taking it out?

 

i season mine w/crisco.

 

Mom's were probably seasoned with hog fat.

I guess I should use crisco, olive oil probably doesn't have the power of crisco.

I am no further along in choosing sauce pots though.

 

Caphalon is pretty good stuff, and reasonably priced.... Of course there's different styles/grades, but in general, they have very nice stuff.