When to splurge or not: pots and pans
Saturday, February 20, 2010 at 22:18 I walked through Williams-Sonoma the other day here in Reno, Nevada, browsing at all the really fine cookware on display. Flicking over a price tag or two, I never cease to be amazed at the prices they ask for a frying pan for crying out loud.
$150? Nice work if you can get it.
It’s just a freaking frying pan.
But, I’m a cook. I love it. The very act of creating food is like art and touches my soul. And therefore, I can very occasionally justify the cost of a pot or pan. Preferrably on sale. At a deep discount.
I have come to the conclusion that buying just one really good pan - price be damned - is more important than having the modestly priced sets from Costco.
The great pan can be made to sing.
The cheaper versions are just an approximation, an imitation - like fake ingredients. They just don’t quite satisfy the deeper part of hunger.
Here’s a small primer on buying those pots and pans - and getting your money’s worth.
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Regardless of the kind of cookware you buy, there are a few things that hold true; you want the cookware you select to have thicker bottoms, with good heat distribution, and made of a material that won’t chip or peel.
A pot that has good conductivity will create even temperatures on the bottom of the pot as well as up the sides of it so that the food cooks all the way around.
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