Quality Cookware | Cooking: High Quality Cookware

High Quality Glass Cookware

Tuesday, April 8th, 2008

Glass cookware is a good choice specially for baking, but some kinds can also be used on the stovetop. One advantage of glass cookware is that it has good heat conductivity characteristics at a pretty good pricepoint – which also means that a lot of cooking time can be saved that would be necessary for other materials to just heat up. Many people also like the fact that they can use their glass cooking equipment not only to cook and bake, but also to store foods and even serve foods on the dinner table that is still inside the glass cookware and it looks nice. This is specially true for foods like lasagne, tiramisu, potato bake and the like.

People who often use the microwave will love the fact that they can place their glasscookware in the microwave – which isn’t true for aluminum. I’m not a big fan of microwave and some studies suggest that microwaving food isn’t a good way to heat up your meals because it might damage nutrients, others claim that it’s radiation is harmful. For me it’s just the taste – microwaved food tastes different from cooked food and I prefer the old school way.

Although glass cookware is much heavier than aluminum or even stainless steel it is easy to clean and will look like new for many years if handled properly.

Another downside of glass cookware is that it is sometimes not easy to handle because of it’s design and weight. Most of the time you’ll need to put on heat-protective gloves.

There is both non-stick glass cookware n and pure glass cookware available. Non-stick glass cookware is simply coated with a protective layer. As with all non-stick cookware this needs special care in maintenance – for example no scrubbing with steel wool, no harsh detergents, no wire scouring pads but instead handwashing with hot water and soap.

If you are looking for non-stick glass cookware you should definitely be ready to invest some money as when it comes to non-stick you either want high quality (which is expensive!) or none at all. Cheap nonstick-coatings will cause you so much nuisance along the way that the high-quality choices will actually end up being cheaper in the long-run. However, keep in mind that nonstick cookware still isn’t as durable as other kinds of cookware. Manufacturers might tell you that you can put it in the dishwasher and it will be with you for twenty years or more, but reality still is different from my experience and the experience of my chef-friends.

High Quality Glass Cookware [3:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Posted in High Quality Cookware | No Comments »

High Quality Backpacking Cookware

Sunday, April 6th, 2008

I love backbackping and I love cooking – so it’s not a big stretch for me to write about high quality cookware for backpackers! Now most likely you won’t use the same kind of cookware that you use at home for your backpacking trips. A nice iron-cast or stainless steel pan is great for a homely kitchen – but if your out in the wilderness or on a canyon tour you don’t want to carry these extra pounds on your back. If you constantly feel pushed down from carrying a heavy load in your backpack and your back aches and your feet are tired then what’s really the point of going on a trip in a first place? It’s all about enjoying it, having fun and going for the experience. But to make the experience fun you will need to prepare and inform yourself first and find out what’s best for you. Depending on your budget there are several options available and I can understand that somebody who goes on a backpacking trip every second year probably won’t spend as much money on his travel cookware as somebody who’s on the road for 6 months every year.

Backpack cookware should also be easy to store – for example detachable or foldable handles. And then there’s the question for how many people you will cook – are you a happy family chap with 12 kids or a lonely ranger? It’s no fun having to cook for a dozend people in a one-person-meal pot, but if you are on your own then family size won’t do it either.

The most popular choice for backpackers is aluminum. It’s reasonable priced and lightweight – and it really has the typical “camping feeling” to it when you cook your meal in a aluminum pan.
Aluminum cookware also has a dark side to it. Food usually sticks to it quiet easily and when you are in the wilderness cleaning is never as easy as in a kitchen. But the biggest issue might be health concerns – aluminum can react with foods, contaminating it with toxic substances. So if you are going to eat several months out of the year out of your camping aluminum pan, I suggest you consider buying another model (see the options below). But if it’s just for maybe two or three weeks a year then aluminum is still a good choice in my opinion and save to use. Just maintain it properly – when you buy aluminum cookware the manufacturer will most likely also include maintenance instructions that you simply should adhere to.

For long-term backpackers I suggest lightweight stainless steel cookware. It has all the characteristics of stainless steel but is much lighter (and unfortunately but not surprisingly also more expensive). Heat distribution won’t be as good as aluminum, so that means you’ll have to stirr your food constantly so that it doesn’t get burned. But it’s very strong and will stay with you forever.

And if your budget allows so – go titanium! Titanium cookware is lightweight, durable and has very good heat conduction and is non-stick.

And another really basic thing is to look for are tight closing lids – they will reduce your cooking time substantially and thus save you lots of fuel (which means you don’t have to carry a lot of fuel around or pick up lots of firewood after a long days march).

I hope you found these tips on high quality cookware for backpackers useful – if you have any comments or questions please just leave a comment here and I will look into that.

High Quality Cookware for Backpackers [5:21m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Posted in High Quality Cookware | No Comments »

Non-Sticking High Quality Cookware

Saturday, April 5th, 2008

Today we live in a convenience world. Everything should be as easy and convenient as possible – it’s one of the reasons why our society is so successful because we often make the most efficient use of our time. Non-sticking high quality cookware fits right in.

We used to be bigger families a hundred years ago, with several generations living under the same roof. So each meal was cooked for a dozend people and afterwards there was a long cleaning procedure, scrubbing pots and pans for hours.
But today we are often single households, or a family with one or two kids. The old tools of the kitchen chef just don’t make sense anymore for most of us. We need something that is easy to use and easy to clean. All you need to clean nonstick cookware is a soft sponge and warm soap water. You shouldn’t put it in the dishwasher (even if the manufacturer says you can – it will definitely shorten the lifespan of your nonstick cookware).

While there are some cheap nonstick cookware items around I would strongly advice you NOT to buy them. Instead either go for a cheap aluminum pan or be ready to invest more money in your kitchen equipment and get a really good nonstick cookware set. That’s the thing with nonsticking cookware: either expensive quality or not at all! Cheap cookware won’t do you any good, believe me. Currently I don’t know of any kind of nonstick cookware that will last nearly as long as for example stainless steel cookware, but a good set will still last you for many years if you take good care of it. A cheap set however won’t be usable for a long time, often already wearing off a couple of weeks after you first used it.

Another benefit of nonstick cookware is that you will need much less oil. This also is a good accomodation to our modern lifestyle. We used to be hard physical workers, but nowadays we are what Peter Drucker called “knowledge workers” – we work with our brains, not our muscles. This caused a change in our dietary needs, specially we need much less fat.

So the point I really want to make here is – if you choose nonstick kitchen equipment then be ready to spend more and invest in a good high-quality cookware set.