Cookware debate, Pampered Chef vs Lodge cast iron

[JettaKnight]

Yes! Another Griswold snob! We can start our own club!

ONE OF US!!! ONE OF US!!!!

Funny story - I met Alton Brown at a book signing and he signed his book (well, mine, but he wrote it). Not inside cover - I had him sign the page of my favorite recipe so I could see it while I bake (thinking smart like an engineer, I do). It's the pineapple upside down cake that I make in my Griswold #9. I got to brag to him about that pan, and it made him jealous.

Having changed from electric to gas two years ago, I noticed a huge difference in handle temperature. On the electric range, the heat was tolerable. On the gas range, the handles with burn me unless I use a hot pad.

After years with electric, I saw the light and switched...so much of my life wasted with inferior heat...

Anyways, yes, I found the same thing. I think it has to do with the hot combustion gas going up the sides the pan.

 

[17 squirrel]

I have never seen seconds with La Creuset, the kid and I stopped at a Factory Outlet this past spring in NC, SC or Georgia I don't remember, but there was no seconds there. And if its at TJ Max I would bet its the pottery porcelain line and not the cast iron.. It's alot cheaper in price.

 

[76chevy]

I love cast iron. The PC pizza stone is awesome too though!

 

[kawtech87]

We ended up with a compromise kinda like I thought we would. She got her stoneware and a 10" stainless skillet from pampered chef and I'm going to order the grill pan and a few other things from Lodge

 

[mom45]

We ended up with a compromise kinda like I thought we would. She got her stoneware and a 10" stainless skillet from pampered chef and I'm going to order the grill pan and a few other things from Lodge

 

[IndyDave1776]

I have a Staub - because I like cock (just look at the handle you pervert!). That pot will last several lifetimes.

I wonder how many of us did not have to look up a picture of a Staub to get the reference to the knob on the lid. Anyway, I have not yet had the occasion to use the one I bought, which is a round Dutch oven, approximately #7 given that the diameter at the lid is 9 inches and some change. I think I am going to like it, but that is speculation at this point. I am assuming that you have cooked in yours, so how do you like it?

 

[Fargo]

We ended up with a compromise kinda like I thought we would. She got her stoneware and a 10" stainless skillet from pampered chef and I'm going to order the grill pan and a few other things from Lodge

Keep an eye open on the discount rack at Kroger, I've seen a fair number of Lodge grill pans and DOs marked half off there.

 

[JettaKnight]

I wonder how many of us did not have to look up a picture of a Staub to get the reference to the knob on the lid. Anyway, I have not yet had the occasion to use the one I bought, which is a round Dutch oven, approximately #7 given that the diameter at the lid is 9 inches and some change. I think I am going to like it, but that is speculation at this point. I am assuming that you have cooked in yours, so how do you like it?

I really like it, but, it took some time to get used to the interior finish - not a white, smooth enamel like others. It can develop a nice crust on meat, and still cleans up very good and won't ever have any staining.

 

[SchwansManDan]

There's no logical reason you can't do both. Non cast iron has it's place in the kitchen. Get a couple of Lodge pieces that suit you and let her fill the rest out with the PC stuff.

Bingo. My wife and I love our cast iron and we have some pans that my mother originally bought in the 1940s. There are, however, some meals that I consider to be too acidic to cook in cast iron.

 

[Tyler-The-Piker]

I use pampered chef for utensils, gadgets, and gizmos.
I use lodge and wagner cast iron.
I cook inside the oven with CI more than I use it on the flame

...think I'll go bake some iron skillet corn bread

 

[JettaKnight]

...think I'll go bake some iron skillet corn bread

Heating up the fat in the pan first before adding the batter, right?

 

[IndyDave1776]

My #3 Griswold oval roaster arrived today! It is the same as this photo aside from being enough older that it does not have the raised lettering on top of the lid. Once again, I could not manage to transfer the actual photos off of ebay of the one I bought.

 

[JettaKnight]

 

[JettaKnight]

I have never seen seconds with La Creuset, the kid and I stopped at a Factory Outlet this past spring in NC, SC or Georgia I don't remember, but there was no seconds there. And if its at TJ Max I would bet its the pottery porcelain line and not the cast iron.. It's alot cheaper in price.

I did some Xmas shopping @ TJ Maxx- they were clearly labeled "Le Creuset Seconds".

 

[Hoosier8]

My #3 Griswold oval roaster arrived today! It is the same as this photo aside from being enough older that it does not have the raised lettering on top of the lid. Once again, I could not manage to transfer the actual photos off of ebay of the one I bought.

Since the picture will probably be retired on ebay, click on the image and it will open in another window. Save it and put it in something like Photobucket and link to that picture.

Does it look like this one?

 

[IndyDave1776]

Since the picture will probably be retired on ebay, click on the image and it will open in another window. Save it and put it in something like Photobucket and link to that picture.

Does it look like this one?

Yes, it does.

 

[JettaKnight]

Am I the most compassion husband ever?

My wife is trying to prove that women can do everything a man can do - she's cooking. I know, I know, it's scary, but she wants to prove she's capable. The results are edible, even somewhat enjoyable.

But there's a dark side...


Last night I cried the way a man should only cry at a funeral or seeing the Grand Canyon. In the kitchen was such a tragedy I never want to witness ever - my Griswold #9 left in the sink, filled with water and tomato sauce. It sat there in that sad state for 24 hours before I rescued it. The poor thing was like a kitten trapped in a well - filled with acid.

I didn't kill her, hit her, or even shout loudly at her. However, I did strongly castigate her and ban her from even looking at that pan and told her she should go to the cemetery and apologize to my dearly departed grandmother for what she did to her pan.


She will now be required to read J. Kenji Lòpez-Alt's The Food Lab before resuming culinary activities.

 

[DownByTheTracks]

We had a set of PC non-stick cookware and hated it! You can only cook as high as medium heat, per their instructions and that can make certain foods tricky. It was less than 1 year and they had to replace 1 skillet for us, then the whole set needed replacement. The coating did not stick very well and chipped off very easy.

PC was good to us and swapped us out for their stainless cookware set...this set we really love! You can cook with high heat and they are easy to care for.

 

[IndyDave1776]

Am I the most compassion husband ever?

My wife is trying to prove that women can do everything a man can do - she's cooking. I know, I know, it's scary, but she wants to prove she's capable. The results are edible, even somewhat enjoyable.

But there's a dark side...


Last night I cried the way a man should only cry at a funeral or seeing the Grand Canyon. In the kitchen was such a tragedy I never want to witness ever - my Griswold #9 left in the sink, filled with water and tomato sauce. It sat there in that sad state for 24 hours before I rescued it. The poor thing was like a kitten trapped in a well - filled with acid.

I didn't kill her, hit her, or even shout loudly at her. However, I did strongly castigate her and ban her from even looking at that pan and told her she should go to the cemetery and apologize to my dearly departed grandmother for what she did to her pan.


She will now be required to read J. Kenji Lòpez-Alt's The Food Lab before resuming culinary activities.

I feel for you. I am going to have to clean and reseason the #7 Griswold I had stashed in the oven. Grandma found it, apparently decided to wash and not dry it, and return it. It now has a coat of surface rust. While I have to accept dementia as a reasonable excuse, such antics still get on my nerves some times.

 

[dieselrealtor]

When my wife & I were newlyweds, she sold some of the old Griswold pans I had in a garage sale for about $3 or equally stupid number.
"they are too heavy", blah blah blah.

From some things I have read teflon does release some nasty stuff & I really don't like the thought of eating plastic.

Within the past 2 years or so she has come around & decided that teflon is not what she wants to have in her diet. We cook nearly everything in cast iron, stainless or glass now. I have a little 6" Wagoner that has cooked thousands of eggs, 1-2 at a time.

I haven't read the entire thread & this may have been covered, if so I apologize. Do some googling on the dangers of cooking with teflon, give her the information & let her come to her own conclusion.