I'm Just Here for the Food_ Version 2.0 - Alton Brown [113]
What it’s good for: a multitude of cook-top or oven applications, from soup beans to small batches of pasta, and steaming. What it’s not good for: sautéing; pan-frying.
8-Inch Teflon-Coated Fry Pan
I like eggs and this is my egg pan. It cost me twelve bucks. I keep it wrapped in a couple of layers of plastic wrap when I’m not using it so that its surface won’t scratch.
What it’s good for: frying eggs; scrambling eggs; omelets. What it’s not good for: sautéing, searing, or pan-frying.
3-Quart Saucier with Lid
In the deserted-island scenario, this one ran a close second to the cast iron. It’s a hybrid pan, half skillet, half sauce pan and the design is perfect for reducing sauces that pool in the small-diameter bottom. (It’s not called a saucier for nothing.) Its rounded bottom makes it perfect for roux-based sauces because there are no corners that a whisk can’t get into.
What it’s good for: all sauces from sawmill gravy to crème anglaise; reducing; rice (pilaf); simmering. What it’s not good for: pan-frying; sautéing.
12-Inch Sauté Pan with Lid
The main difference between a sauté pan and a skillet is the angle of the walls, which flare out on a skillet or fry pan and are straight on a sauté pan, thus granting you more flat floor space to work. Another important feature of the sauté pan is the loop handle on the side opposite the straight handle—very convenient for moving the pan in and out of the oven. My sauté pan is also a clad piece with an exterior of stainless steel over an aluminum core. This is my pan-fry and pan-braise tool of choice.
What it’s good for: chicken piccata; salisbury steak; fried green tomatoes; pan-frying in general.38 What it’s not good for: stir-frys; thin soups; eggs.
Dutch Oven
Another cast-iron number. Heavy but the best vessel around for slow cooking. It’s got a wire loop handle for easy moving (or suspending over campfires, open hearths, and so on. Since it’s so gosh-darned dense, it holds heat forever; if I’m taking a hot dish to someone’s house, I’ll take it in the Dutch oven even if I didn’t cook it in there. (It never turns over in the car, either, which is a nice bonus.)39 What it’s good for: long-cooking stews; baked beans; pot roast. What it’s not good for: sautéing.
10-Inch Stainless-Steel Fry Pan
Another clad pan, like the sauté pan, but this one has sloping walls that allow for single-handed food turning via the “toss.”
What it’s good for: sautéing. What it’s not so good for: eggs (they stick); pan braises (there’s not enough flat floor space); soup (it’s too shallow).
8 - to 12-Quart Stock Pot
Making stock is cheap and easy—if you have a stock pot. Cookin’ up a mess of greens or boiling water for pasta also requires a large vessel. You can spend a mess of green on a clad stock pot, but such models are prohibitively expensive and more than a little heavy. My favorite is stainless steel with a thick pad of metal welded onto the bottom.
One More Pan
Even if you’re positively certain that you haven’t a single pot or pan to your name, as long as you have an oven you probably do: just about every oven constructed in the free world comes with its own broiling pan. That’s right, that funny-looking enamel-coated thing with the funny little grate. Never used it? You should. It’s the perfect device for broiling. Not only does it keep food up and out of whatever juices might hinder the browning process (and broiling is about nothing if not browning) it allows said juices, including flammable fats, to gather in the pan below, where they can be rescued and put to good use. I wouldn’t say that it’s the most-used pan in my kitchen, but it is the most-oft-used pan that didn’t cost me a thin dime.
A Few Words on Lids
Heavy, well-seated, with sturdy handles. Have one for every pot or pan you own. Since not all vessels come with lids, a unilid is a great idea—and it takes up less space, too.
Stuff with Wires
Electric Skillet
An electric skillet is a must-have