Pans, Pans, and More Pans!

There are always a couple of pans you love

Ciao!

I was thinking over the last few days about what I wanted to write about next, and then it dawned on me: I haven’t written about pots, pans, dishes, or other helpful items we use in our kitchen.

Today, it’s pans. This is in my kitchen, by the way, not your kitchen or a restaurant’s kitchen. This is a basic tour of the pans I use every time I cook. Of course, Patti has certain pans from our collection that are her favorites, and I’ll do a post about them later. We do have different preferences about the pans, pots, and dishes we each use in the kitchen.

For the most part, we have too many pans, in my opinion. Although, I like to keep an arsenal of pans handy just in case I get an urge to try something different.

Breakdown on pic: stainless steel (2) on right, carbon steel on left, cast iron behind carbon steel, frying pans (4) of different sizes and uses

The pans in this picture cover the spectrum of pan types: cast iron, fry pans, carbon steel, and stainless steel. They each have their own use for me when cooking.

While I enjoy cast iron for almost anything I fry, there are times when it’s just too heavy for a quick-frying dish, like bologna for that favorite sandwich of mine. Or when I’m just frying up some eggs or other light foods that need a quick touch of heat.

The cast iron, though, is my favorite for steak, besides cooking outside on the grill. That cast iron pan with a little butter, olive oil, garlic, and rosemary is my go-to pan. Steaks come out fantastic if you remember to baste them repeatedly with the melted butter.

Carbon steel is great for searing meat, pork, fish—anything you want to add a sear to. It’s also a great general-purpose frying pan. I know many cooks who love carbon steel for its heat retention and how it handles heat, although a good cast iron pan does the same.

For fish, shrimp, and pork dishes, I always seem to choose stainless steel. I haven’t figured out why yet, but for me, it seems to do the job better, and I just like the way it cooks.

Then there are the numerous frying pans that we have that all work well, but Patti and I use different ones that fit our cooking style. Let’s leave it at that.

The pans in the picture are only a handful of the pans we use for stovetop cooking and sometimes in the oven. We have shelves in the garage piled high with pans we’ve used over the years but have replaced with newer ones. The thing is, the old ones are there for holidays if we need backup, which usually happens. They are good pans, so why throw them out?

If you have questions about any of our pans, or if you’re looking to invest in new pans, hit us up in the comments section, and we’ll give you an honest answer.

Remember one thing: expensive isn’t always the right choice.

Buon Appetito!

Mark & Patti