Skillet Questions
- Thread starter redwind30
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
jennyema
Chef Extraordinaire
French skillets usually have higher sides and wider bottoms.
I have never used RR's cookware but have seen it in stores and it looks sort of cheap to me.
I have never used RR's cookware but have seen it in stores and it looks sort of cheap to me.
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
In general, famous chef cookware is more money for less product. The price is higher because it has a famous name on it. So, for the same money, you can get better quality stuff if you focus on the product's features rather than the name.
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
ME 2
oldrustycars
Senior Cook
Ever see an Emeril cast iron skillet? Has a wooden handle pounded on to a sharp tang on the skillet, like a file. And it was over $60. Lodge 12 inch skillet is $18. Don't buy "TV Chef" cookware.
TheNoodleIncident
Senior Cook
i was just going to mention emerilware - i normally agree 100% about NOT buying "celebrity" products, but i have to say that the non-stick emerilware is pretty good stuff....we have a set and it is well constructed, thick, performs well, the coating is durable (so far), and its made/backed by All-Clad (do i get semi-bragging rights for that??)....it wasn't overpriced, and im confident that it performs as well as or better than the other "high-end" brands you see at the big box stores (ie calphalon)....we really did our research before selecting a set, considering all the major brands, and this one got very good reviews by consumers and rating agencies
the only reason i wouldnt buy it (well, it was a gift) again is if i went with a stainless set instead (though not emeril stainless, see below) - since most non-stick cookware eventually wears out, it may have been smarter for us to get a stainless set, and supplement it with a few non-stick skillets....but so far it works great especially since we prefer to use almost no oil with our cooking (usually just a tiny non-stick spray)...also, all-clad offers a lifetime warranty, so it will be interesting to see how they respond when the coating eventually begins to fail (though, it hasn't shown any signs of that yet)
ive seen the cast iron and the stainless emerilware - agree that buying the cast iron is a bad idea because a top notch CI skillet can be had for very cheap....as for the stainless, i didnt love it because it used a disk bottom with very thin sides....
the only reason i wouldnt buy it (well, it was a gift) again is if i went with a stainless set instead (though not emeril stainless, see below) - since most non-stick cookware eventually wears out, it may have been smarter for us to get a stainless set, and supplement it with a few non-stick skillets....but so far it works great especially since we prefer to use almost no oil with our cooking (usually just a tiny non-stick spray)...also, all-clad offers a lifetime warranty, so it will be interesting to see how they respond when the coating eventually begins to fail (though, it hasn't shown any signs of that yet)
ive seen the cast iron and the stainless emerilware - agree that buying the cast iron is a bad idea because a top notch CI skillet can be had for very cheap....as for the stainless, i didnt love it because it used a disk bottom with very thin sides....
RPCookin
Executive Chef
Have to agree, I have Emerilware non-stick that is more than 7 years old now and still looks as good as new. I'm careful to use nondestructive utensils, but otherwise I use it a lot and it just keeps on going.
I too have looked at some of the other stuff marketed under his name and didn't care for it.
CharlieD
Chef Extraordinaire
I guess the point was/is that it is not really bad or good, but rather that you can get same or better quality for the same money if it is not sold under somebodie's name.
oldrustycars
Senior Cook
I suppose it would be better if Emeril or Rachel or Nigella were in a lab somewhere, working on what is the best cookware. But they're not, just getting paid for the use of their name. I like Alton Brown's policy of no "single use" cookware. He also said if he had only one piece of cookware, it would be a Lodge 12 skillet. I don't think he has his name on anything, but I have no problem buying what he suggests.
TheNoodleIncident
Senior Cook
the non-stick emerilware even does well in that catagory....it was well priced, certainly cheaper than the calphalon stuff (again, the emeril performs as well or better)...but, in general, i think celebrity stuff is overpriced AND crappy
and, one thing i heard (though i may just be buying in to marketing BS), is that emeril refused to put his name on either a poor product, or have it priced outside the range of what his viewers could afford....apparently, he worked with all-clad to make pans that performed well and were well priced, and wouldnt settle until it met his demands....he does have some credibility, seeing how he is a successful chef instead of just a celebrity (like Rachel)...plus, you would hope that a premier name like all-clad would not tarnish its reputation by putting out an overpriced, inferior product
id also been more willing to buy something with AB's name on it....though i still wouldnt purchase it blindly, without doing my own research
Andy M.
Certified Pretend Chef
I read a cookware review in Consumer Reports. They tested Emeril's disk bottom stainless pans. They reported that the disk melted off a pan that was left on a burner empty for some length of time - I think it was ten minutes.
Granted, this is not a common occurrence in most homes but it may be a factor for some.
Granted, this is not a common occurrence in most homes but it may be a factor for some.
TheNoodleIncident
Senior Cook
thats why i dont prefer emeril's stainless pans, or any disk bottom pans for that matter...also, the heating of the thin pan walls (especially with gas) is uneven
the non-stick ones dont use a disk, and are relatively thick throughout the pan...much better
LOL - I did that once! I had just gotten a new stove that had the controls on the back of the stove (dumbest idea I ever saw) and bumped a knob "on" without realizing it when I put the pot on the stove while I was washing up.
I've also wondered about "floating" the inner SS layer of All-Clad if abused in the same way? If you can melt the aluminum layer in the disc bottom - why not the aluminum layer in the middle of the tri-ply?
I don't know if they still have them, but All-Clad was putting encapsulated discs on the bottom of their soup/stock pots larger than about 8-qt - so maybe the disc isn't a totally bad idea?
Emeril has a new Pro-Clad line ... tri-ply just like All-Clad, no disc on the bottom, and a 10-pc set runs about $300 - comparable All-Clad set is $700. I haven't seen it in person so I don't know what difference, if any, there is in the thickness.
vagriller
Head Chef
I doubt it. The melting point of stainless is 1220 degrees F. I have melted aluminum before though, when I was a machinist. That was a bad day! But we heated aluminum all the time to 375 degrees F when resleeving cylinders. In any case I thought the inner disk with try-ply was copper. I would venture a guess that whatever is used to bond the layers together has failed when the disk comes off. Not that any metal has melted.
I actually checked out the RR cookware at Marshall's (one of those discount stores) and I agree it was light-weight and not well made (won't go into the whole orange color thing), the same goes for the emeril SS (the regular, not the non-stick), it just felt too light weight. I'm not a fan of the celebrity sets, I'm more of an open-stock shopper. I have been very happy with my SS skillet (not non-stick) that I bought at Macy's. It is their store brand. It seemed to me to have the heaviest bottom/cooking surface and was really reasonably priced.
CookLikeJulia
Senior Cook
French skillets usually have higher sides and wider bottoms. Those ones that emeril ues are special super pricey skillets, nevertheless, still skillets.
vagriller
Head Chef
I have a Food Network brand saute pan that was my favorite until today. Now it has some competition from my CI skillet.
