Here is a quick kitchen tip as a follow up to my post on cookware materials: know your pots and pans. Since I’ve started cooking, I’ve realized that heat recommendations in recipes (medium-high, low, simmer, etc.) don’t mean much. With a variety of cookware materials available and everyone owning a different stove, it [...]

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Cookware material is a difficult subject to write about because everyone has their own preferences. Yet it is important for new cooks to know what they should be buying when first outfitting a kitchen. Cooking for Engineers has a great article discussing the thermal properties of the materials as well as pros and [...]

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The safety of nonstick, Teflon coated pans is a topic that I’ve mentioned recently and I decided it was worth looking into. My cookbooks offered a little information, but nothing extensive. Mark Bittman voices his worries in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, explaining that he only uses nonstick for eggs or sauteing, and [...]

Posted in Equipment, Health 7 Comments »

I wanted to mention a few tips and tests from the latest issue of Cook’s Illustrated magazine (March/April 2008).
PAM Professional, the new high heat line, does actually hold up to high heat better than original PAM. In a pan over medium-high heat, the original burned while the Professional stayed clear. Cook’s Illustrated does, [...]

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Here is the final list of the minimum tools a new cook needs in the kitchen:

Chef’s knife: Used very frequently.
Paring knife: Used less frequently, but often enough to need it.
Serrated knife: Good for fresh bread and tomatoes. I love bread, so, with the convincing of a reader, it stays on the list.
Two cutting boards: [...]

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