Everyday Pans aren't so common.
Mar. 6th, 2011 02:05 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
serynI have a favorite pan. It's a Calphalon "everyday" pan with a glass lid and loop handles on both sides (no stick handle at all) in the 12" size. It's a non-stick pan and unfortunately, those only last a few years before the non-stick coating has taken too much abuse and it not only begins sticking but there starts to be a concern about the coating flaking up into the food.
Calphalon no longer makes exactly this pan. They have frou-frou names for their different apparent qualities of series, but most of them have long stick-arm panhandle-shaped panhandles. These are often 10-12" in and of themselves. I have no idea how people with apartments can use these. It would not fit in my cupboard. It will not fit on my stovetop unless I have no other pans out and even then the long handle would merely be in the way. No one is going to flip food in a 5" deep 12" wide pan. The long handles are superfluous to the point of inconvenience.
We talked about what parameters we need. We need the wide surface area and that medium depth. It's shorter than a pot, but tall enough to hold, say a spaghetti sauce. It does not need to be non-stick, but the handle style is crucial. It needs to have a tight fitting lid and we like the glass lid idea, although if it were the same size, we would be willing to swap in the lid to the current pan which has no endurance issues. It needs to be rounded interior corners but without the wide slope of an omelet pan.
We don't have a brand preference, but the pan should either be cheap (but non-sucky) or enduring.
I would have ordered the Simply Calphalon "everyday" pan but it's got shipping charges when I found it on Amazon. I looked at Williams Sonoma's collection of All-Clad and their pretty copper version doesn't have the loop handles. Amazon has a 13" "brazier" pan that's very similar to the "everyday" shape I like but the lid is metal and 13" means the current glass lid will not fit... and it's $215.
Target doesn't have these "everyday" pans anymore. (That is where I bought the current one, and I got that one on clearance.)
So:
1) What are those pans called officially? What is the cross-brand terminology for that shape of pan? The word that will automatically translate if I find a knowledgeable clerk? The word that search engines understand.
2) Why is anodized aluminum popular? It doesn't seem to help compared to powder coated aluminum and is a giant hassle to keep clean.
3) Are there people who want a 12" handle on a 12" pan?
4) Why is it so hard to find a non-nonstick pan? What is that called? I've been using -nonstick but that doesn't seem to be an effective search parameter, probably because most store search utilities aren't full-featured.
5) Brand recommendations? Is it worth 7 times the price to get All-Clad?
6) In person store shopping recommendations?
I was not thrilled with the selection when I went to Sur La Table. I had been looking at Le Creuset French ovens but they do not stock the largest size in person at their stores, not in any color, so one must order sight unseen and if one is going to do that, the price is better elsewhere. They also favor the long-arm handles on their larger skillets as well. It seems really odd to me that they would favor itty bitty pots but skillets that have a footprint over 28".
Macy's is right out because they have horrible prices and mistreated me personally... supposedly one can get a tolerable price from them during a sale, but during the sales, they're astonishingly understaffed and understocked--- it is pointless to bother when they make everything in the store out to be the last Cabbage Patch Furbie Elmo doll 2 days before Christmas.
So where do people buy cookware?
Calphalon no longer makes exactly this pan. They have frou-frou names for their different apparent qualities of series, but most of them have long stick-arm panhandle-shaped panhandles. These are often 10-12" in and of themselves. I have no idea how people with apartments can use these. It would not fit in my cupboard. It will not fit on my stovetop unless I have no other pans out and even then the long handle would merely be in the way. No one is going to flip food in a 5" deep 12" wide pan. The long handles are superfluous to the point of inconvenience.
We talked about what parameters we need. We need the wide surface area and that medium depth. It's shorter than a pot, but tall enough to hold, say a spaghetti sauce. It does not need to be non-stick, but the handle style is crucial. It needs to have a tight fitting lid and we like the glass lid idea, although if it were the same size, we would be willing to swap in the lid to the current pan which has no endurance issues. It needs to be rounded interior corners but without the wide slope of an omelet pan.
We don't have a brand preference, but the pan should either be cheap (but non-sucky) or enduring.
I would have ordered the Simply Calphalon "everyday" pan but it's got shipping charges when I found it on Amazon. I looked at Williams Sonoma's collection of All-Clad and their pretty copper version doesn't have the loop handles. Amazon has a 13" "brazier" pan that's very similar to the "everyday" shape I like but the lid is metal and 13" means the current glass lid will not fit... and it's $215.
Target doesn't have these "everyday" pans anymore. (That is where I bought the current one, and I got that one on clearance.)
So:
1) What are those pans called officially? What is the cross-brand terminology for that shape of pan? The word that will automatically translate if I find a knowledgeable clerk? The word that search engines understand.
2) Why is anodized aluminum popular? It doesn't seem to help compared to powder coated aluminum and is a giant hassle to keep clean.
3) Are there people who want a 12" handle on a 12" pan?
4) Why is it so hard to find a non-nonstick pan? What is that called? I've been using -nonstick but that doesn't seem to be an effective search parameter, probably because most store search utilities aren't full-featured.
5) Brand recommendations? Is it worth 7 times the price to get All-Clad?
6) In person store shopping recommendations?
I was not thrilled with the selection when I went to Sur La Table. I had been looking at Le Creuset French ovens but they do not stock the largest size in person at their stores, not in any color, so one must order sight unseen and if one is going to do that, the price is better elsewhere. They also favor the long-arm handles on their larger skillets as well. It seems really odd to me that they would favor itty bitty pots but skillets that have a footprint over 28".
Macy's is right out because they have horrible prices and mistreated me personally... supposedly one can get a tolerable price from them during a sale, but during the sales, they're astonishingly understaffed and understocked--- it is pointless to bother when they make everything in the store out to be the last Cabbage Patch Furbie Elmo doll 2 days before Christmas.
So where do people buy cookware?
no subject
Date: 2011-03-07 05:52 am (UTC)I might just go ahead and buy the Le Creuset one since I had been getting it for 2010's birthday and spent that money on gym fees and shoes instead.
Given what gas costs now, the savings would have to be enormous for that to be the sole reason for going! But I could be due for some shopping. I want a coat that is less than my giant trenchcoat and I'm small enough now that I don't need to find the fat-women-only store.