Now you're cooking!

[Food Network Fan]

Now you're cooking!

Stocking the barebones kitchen arsenal.
Published 07.30.08
By Brian Ries

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Courtesy All-clad COOK'S CHOICE: All-Clad's aluminum-core stainless 10-piece set, which provides quick, even cooking.

Do you walk into your kitchen just to rifle through that box full of take-out menus or drag a two-day-old doggy bag out of the fridge? Maybe it's time to make use of the oven for more than just extra storage and finally clear the excess bar paraphernalia off your stove. Your wallet, your health and your very soul are crying out to be fed wholesome home-cooked meals that come around more often than occasional holiday visits to your mom's house. C'mon. Let's cook.
Whoa, before you head to the grocery for ingredients, better take stock of your kitchen equipment. Does your nonstick skillet add a nice seasoning of Teflon flakes to your morning scramble? Still using that $20 set of Target pots and pans you got after college? It's time to outfit that under-used room with the kind of gear that makes cooking a breeze. It doesn't take a lot of dough to stock a kitchen for serious cooking, as long as you focus on the essentials of a kitchen arsenal.

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[Pluff Mudder]

I love my AC. Got the MC line and got it back in the early 1980s when the only place you could find it was a restaurant supply house. I do wish they hadn't changed the handles on the MC line to stainless steel because (to me) the cast aluminum ones stay cooler.

That was a good article for someone who was stocking a kitchen. You might pay more at the beginning, but in the long run it ends up being cheaper because you don't have to keep replacing stuff.

[bakerman]

I know that Allclad is great stuff, but I don't agree with the idea that the most expensive is always the way to go. There are many companies making clad cookware now for a lot less money and they are very comparable and I doubt that most people could see any difference in results. With that said, going cheap is not a good idea if you are serious about cooking.

MAC

[Food Network Fan]

Cast iron is cheap. Unless it's the high end enameled. I love the regular and the enameled.

[bakerman]

I have an enameled dutch oven, I use it a lot in the cooler months for braising and soups. It is not a high end French one, but a Target clearance, not a flaw and I have used it for a couple of years. Target carries the Tramontina now that has been tested against the expensive french ones. Cooks illustrated rated it very high and said it performed nearly as well as Le cruset and they said the differences were very minimal. I think that this pot is less than $50.

I haven't had the patience to properly season cast iron, I need to get a lodge pan that is pre-seasoned to give me a head start.

MAC

[Pluff Mudder]

Originally Posted by bakerman

I know that Allclad is great stuff, but I don't agree with the idea that the most expensive is always the way to go.

When I got mine it was way cheaper than it is now. Think I paid for about 8 pieces what you can almost pay for just one piece now - like some of the large saute pans and dutch ovens. There is one online store that deals in nothing but AC seconds for a faction of the retail price and you're hard pressed to find what made it a seconds.

I like the cast-iron too. Lucky enough to have my grandmother's pieces.

[BerryBaby]

Still have my old Revereware from 34 years ago. Works just fine.

[Food Network Fan]

I have some le creuset and some Lodge. I kind of like seasoning the lodge even if it comes pre seasoned it's fun to make it your own.

[ibcheft]

I have had Pucks cookware, did not care for his heat change was way to quick and could not control it. Have a set of 2/12 from SHN (belly-up now) and the pro line both 5 ply sets. Also have a set of Emerils, all three are really good. Cast iron, have some of Emeril's, some of Lodges, and some off of HSN a 5 qt enamel I use to make my rue and also a deep fryer.

[aoneil]

I have Calphalon or something like that. They are okay... Got them for my wedding.