New pans

ryantt

wife and I need to upgrade our pans.  Any one out there have experience the the enamel coated cast iron?   

luckyboy

It's very good equipment, and.very expensive. Good luck to you and the wife.

Photo Egg

For the money, Lodge has some good stuff.
Cooks just as good as my high dollar Staub.

blasting

I would guess there are different qualities, but I'll say that I use a pan from 1967 at least twice a week on the grill.  Enamel is scratched some, but but only surface scratches.  Not a chip on the pan.

Please review whatever you end up with @ryantt  .  I've been looking at another piece or two of enamel.  The lodge seems to get good reviews, as Photo Egg mentioned.  

Creighton1984

We started out with a Lodge enameled dutch oven.  Within a year of moderate use the enamel in the bottom center of the pot began to crack and chip.  Reported it to Lodge and they said it was customer misuse.  Tossed the pot, switched to Staub and haven't had a problem since.

jeroldharter

Photo Egg said:

For the money, Lodge has some good stuff.
Cooks just as good as my high dollar Staub.

+1

Begger

Is it Enamel over STEEL or CAST IRON?  

 https://www.lodgemfg.com/dutch-ovens/5-quart-cast-iron-double-dutch-oven.asp

I want the linked piece for Christmas!    

My brother never heard of Lodge!   But he swears his 'vintage' Wagner and Griswold are 'the best'.    Lodge, started in the late 1890s is a newcomer!

pgprescott

For what it's worth, I think it's best to have mixed variety of pans or cookware. I think everyone should have a couple good SS pans, enameled cast iron DO is a must IMO. The rest is preference. I also have de buyer pans. I have a couple good non stick pans. Don't get caught up in the "set" mentality. Just like knives, buy individual pieces that fit your needs. Happy shopping. 

Jstroke

It depends on what kind of pot or pan you want and what you want it to do. I have several pieces of Le Crueset. I love it. Have had them almost twenty years. No issues. I would buy pieces not sets as well. 

gdenby

I have a Le Crueset from the mid-1950s. Probably been used at least once a week, maybe more. The interior enamel is no longer shiny, but still smooth enough to clean easily. Assuming they are still made w. the same quality, given a little better care than I and my mother before me gave the skillet, I'd expect a new one to be fine for a hundred years.

SmokeyPitt

pgprescott said:

For what it's worth, I think it's best to have mixed variety of pans or cookware. I think everyone should have a couple good SS pans, enameled cast iron DO is a must IMO. The rest is preference. I also have de buyer pans. I have a couple good non stick pans. Don't get caught up in the "set" mentality. Just like knives, buy individual pieces that fit your needs. Happy shopping. 

I was going to say the same thing.  I love cast iron for some things but I wouldn't necessarily want an entire set of it.  A simple light pot is better for boiling water for example. CI is slow to heat so it will take longer (unless you have an induction cooktop, but any induction pan will heat quickly).  I prefer a normal pan for cooking eggs or omelettes that I can flip. 

fishlessman

i have lecrueset, lodge, and a marshalls home goods knockoff. if you dont have a high end stove with a large built in simmer plate then the lecrueset is no better than the other two cheaper versions. pick the lodge as a good pot at a descent price. i do like my lecrueset braisier pot (they renamed it fait tout) as its big and the lecreuset casserole/lasagna pan as its pretty much indestructible. i also like my 80 year old heavy plain jane aluminum sauce type pots as they boil things very fast and are easy to clean, and i wouldnt do without my tin lined copper chowder pot as im convinced it makes better chowder if your searing things you dont want enameled, just a castiron skillet with a smooth interior, my lodge skillet is way better since i ground and polished the interior

ryantt

@Jstroke looking to buy something that will last.  Wife loves our cast iron DO and 12 frying pan but thinks the coated stuff would be easy to care for on a daily basis.  I don't mind spending money on something that will last.  

fishlessman

my extremely old aluminum sauce pans are wear-ever with wooden handles, i think they were my great grandmothers, maybe even her mothers they still make those pans just not with the wood handles, they also make one highly polished for omelets which might be my next pan as i hate the coated stuff. my last coated omelet pan was one of those ceramic coated green pans, into the trash it went

logchief

I've had a le crueset for 30+yrs. and still going strong.  Got a big lodge soup pot a couple of years ago as a gift and really like it.  Haven't used any of them on the egg yet.

gdenby

fishlessman said:

they also make one highly polished for omelets which might be my next pan as i hate the coated stuff. my last coated omelet pan was one of those ceramic coated green pans, into the trash it went

After I saw the Julia Childs episode where she made omelettes, I decided I had to get a real omelette pan. The polished ones she used are still sold at the Pot Shop in Boston. I thought they looked too expensive, so I bought a stainless 12" from Calphalon.  Ended up spending about a week buffing it up to mirror polish. Turns out that the ones from the Pot Shop are still the best. They are aluminum, which diffuses heat much better than CI or steel.

Ladeback69

@ryantt, my wife likes Calphalon, because they last a long time have a great warranty and are light.  I just use what is available. Calphalon also carries a lifetime warranty on most of the products. The le crueset sound nice and will have to look at them if our pans ever get bad.  The CI I have is all for using on my XL and my wife doesn't like that they heavy, but they are durable.  Happy Shopping.  Remember, happy wife, happy life.

Ladeback69

I don't know if this is great savings, but the Food Network is having a sale on Cookware.

http://www.foodnetworkstore.com/biggest-cookware-sale/index.php?v=biggest-cookware-sale&ecid=EMC-FDN-000490&pa=EMC_20151006_FallSalesEvents

fishlessman

gdenby said:

fishlessman said:

they also make one highly polished for omelets which might be my next pan as i hate the coated stuff. my last coated omelet pan was one of those ceramic coated green pans, into the trash it went

After I saw the Julia Childs episode where she made omelettes, I decided I had to get a real omelette pan. The polished ones she used are still sold at the Pot Shop in Boston. I thought they looked too expensive, so I bought a stainless 12" from Calphalon.  Ended up spending about a week buffing it up to mirror polish. Turns out that the ones from the Pot Shop are still the best. They are aluminum, which diffuses heat much better than CI or steel.

not as thick as the pot shop pan but it is aluminum and would be really easy to polish to a mirror. almost 3/16 thick aluminum

http://vollrath.com/Wear-Ever-Ever-Smooth-Fry-Pans-with-Natural-Finish-1882.htm

ryantt

Thanks for all the feed everyone. My wife and I are going to take a trip to the bed bath and beyond to see what they have to offer.  

gdenby

fishlessman said:

not as thick as the pot shop pan but it is aluminum and would be really easy to polish to a mirror. almost 3/16 thick aluminum

http://vollrath.com/Wear-Ever-Ever-Smooth-Fry-Pans-with-Natural-Finish-1882.htm

Thanks for the tip. My storage cabinets are just about jammed, bit noticed the other day I had a big plastic storage container sitting empty that could be well used elsewhere. More than enough room for another pan when that's removed.

FlyingTivo

Ive found that cast iron is good on induction cooktop, so its a double winer.
They say they have the best prices on CI so take a look at the induction website.

Felipe

ryantt

Thanks @FlyingTivo.   We went to the store tonight and there are so many nice option out there....anything has to be better than our 12year old Walmart set (it's seen better days).  

Roadpuke0

Le creuset