Hi guys , what would be your 3 pans strategy for every day cooking tasks, for egg breakfast, high heat searing, stir fried veggies, acidic sauces, braising. I expect the three pans to be versitile enough to cover different sizes, material, constructions, and shapes, ie, frying pan, sautepan, braisers, rondeau, dutch oven, wok. Please ignore saucepan and high wall stockpot as they are mainly for boiling liquids.
My pick will be:
24cm carbon steel pan for breakfast, fried egg, omelets, fish fillet, small potion of non-acidic food.
26cm stainless steel pan, for general task, stir firing, pasta, steak searing.
28cm double loop handle saute/rondeau, large quanity of veggie, high heat searing, braise. At 28cm it becomes heavy to toss food , so i prefer a stationary pan with large bottom area to cook food.
10" non stick skillet for eggs and anything that is already fatty that doesnât need additional oil (nor do I need to get crusty). 12" saute pan stainless steel (I would take carbon too, but my carbon is smaller) with higher lids for anything that might be saucier or just needs a bit extra room and a lid. 13" wok for everything else (steam, braise, stir fry, deep fryâŠdoes it all!).
If really pushed, I really could just use a wok and maybe a dutch oven and be good to go.
Pasta dishes/wok dishes/one pot dishes/braising
Mauviel M250c 28 cm rondeau 2.5 bimetal copper OR Demeyere Apollo 32 cm wok in thin 7-ply
My most often used pans are my Demeyere Apollo 32 cm thin 7-ply wok, my Mauviel MâSTONE 24 cm ceramic non stick sauter pan and my Mauviel M250c 24 cm copper sauter pan.
Stainless steel stovetop pressure cooker, can also be used as a regular pot and as a serving piece, by swapping out the lid. It has curved sides so that makes it more versatile. It can pressure cook, steam, simmer, etc.
Pinpointing #3 was hard. Itâs either a small nonstick pan for 1-2 eggs, toasting spices, etc. Or itâs a large cast iron griddle with a small rim that can be a tava for rotis/dosais, or can also heat up/shallow fry patties âŠ
Of course, there are multiple other pots and pans âŠ
I thought there may be a combination more creative than what others have mentioned already, but ultimately settled on a pretty similar list.
24 cm saute - Searing and sauteing, rice and lentils, tossing pasta, wilting vegetables, steaming
28 cm rondeau - Similar to 1) but at a larger volume
8 inch cast iron pan - This was the only item that involved a bit of wavering to consider a nonstick pan of the same size. The decision ultimately came down to tasks that only cast iron can handle (baking, searing) over the obvious convenience of nonstick in making omelettes; Iâd just have to preheat a bit longer and spend a couple minutes longer to clean.
I find it odd how many choose nonstick. It doesnât seem very versatile to me. No high heat uses, delicate for metal spatulas, spoons, and whisks, and not very good at creating fond. I know people love them for eggs, but with very little fat a carbon steel pan handles eggs beautifully.
The same reason for buying different sport shoes for hiking, football, and basketball. I am a cookware lover so i need reason to own a small collection of cookwares and not being excessive at the timeđ. I hope each piece of cookware can optimize for different cooking styles. There are always multi purpose one do it for all cookwares like a wok. But I seldom sear a nice steak in a wok, as if a non stick pan is good to make a super soft fried egg and omelet with gentle heat. A heavy cast iron is good at browning thick cut of meat.
I never cook eggs without some fat ⊠without, it just seems âŠwrong. Iâve also never used a non-stock pan for ânonfatâ cooking. The amount of fat I use can be quite negligible; not everything needs to swim in butter, although thereâs nothing wrong with that
I suspect most people opt for nonstick because they donât know how to maintain and season a pan, or they think that SS will cause insurmountable sticking, which it wonât, if things are done properly.
