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How do you cook it?

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Thinking of switching to copper.

Anyone with a lot of experience with that medium in cookware?

I am tired of the imprecision of the normal pots and pans one buys for $200-$300.

I've got a few copper (lined) pots in the house, but I only use them for sauces and fish.. I think they excel here because you can more easily avoid scorching.

Otherwise I use my trusty carbon steel pans which, are by far my favorite pans for cooking where even heat is needed because of the heat retention and the lack of heat response. They're effectively the opposite of copper pans, and much more like cast iron but a hell of a lot lighter.

My wrists (I type a lot) often hurt so, tilting a heavy cast iron skillet and spooning foaming butter over meat is a bitch on the wrist; but in a carbon steel pan, I get the exact same effect (even heat, even away from the fire) with 1/5th the weight and strain.

Easily, these pans are my go-to, for almost everything except acidic dishes like quick tomato sauces for which I'll a stainless steel pan, or a long tomato sauce or chili for which, I'll use an enamel-lined cast iron pot.

But, if you're looking for highly-precise, ultra-responsive heat, then you can't beat a copper (lined) pan -- but -- I don't know that I would use it for general purpose cooking (as it requires more attention/care), particularly as a daily driver in the kitchen..

EDIT: For those that aren't familiar with carbon steel pans, here's what they look like (you see them in almost every high-end restaurant):

SFS_carbon_steel_pan-6_THUMB.jpg


And here's an article on their versatility:
https://www.cooksillustrated.com/articles/29-the-chefs-secret-weapon
 
I use the Calphalon stainless steel. It's heavy as hell because of three layers of metal at the bottom, but they cook evenly.

http://www.calphalon.com/en-US

Non-stick coatings are terrible, cleaning the steel pans has never been an issue as long as I use enough lipids. What's the upside with copper? Lighter material?
 
I use the Calphalon stainless steel. It's heavy as hell because of three layers of metal at the bottom, but they cook evenly.

http://www.calphalon.com/en-US

Non-stick coatings are terrible, cleaning the steel pans has never been an issue as long as I use enough lipids. What's the upside with copper? Lighter material?

Copper is lighter and transfers heat more evenly since it's a more ideal conductor of heat (and energy in general). Copper pans offer more responsiveness to heat changes (they heat up faster, cool quicker), and spread the heat more evenly (avoiding hot spots) than stainless steel.

But honestly, I think both have their place in the kitchen. I use stainless steel quite often (for anything that's strongly acidic and cooking for more than 15 minutes, I'd use steel)... If I wanted to make a sauce, particularly a cream based sauce, or a wine reduction; then I'd prefer copper.
 
Copper is lighter and transfers heat more evenly since it's a more ideal conductor of heat (and energy in general). Copper pans offer more responsiveness to heat changes (they heat up faster, cool quicker), and spread the heat more evenly (avoiding hot spots) than stainless steel.

But honestly, I think both have their place in the kitchen. I use stainless steel quite often (for anything that's strongly acidic and cooking for more than 15 minutes, I'd use steel)... If I wanted to make a sauce, particularly a cream based sauce, or a wine reduction; then I'd prefer copper.

Yeah, I am thinking of getting the Mauviel 1.5 mm, or 2.5 mm copper cookware set. Both have stainless steel liners.

I plan on keeping the good stainless steel pans and stock pot I have. They have a copper core as well.

I only have a carbon steel wok. It doesn't work well for me because I now live in a place with a flat range and it is curved. And at my last place the smoke detectors were stupidly sensitive so I could not take advantage of the gas range to get shit as hot as I need for Chinese dishes.
 
Yeah, I am thinking of getting the Mauviel 1.5 mm, or 2.5 mm copper cookware set. Both have stainless steel liners.

I plan on keeping the good stainless steel pans and stock pot I have. They have a copper core as well.

I only have a carbon steel wok. It doesn't work well for me because I now live in a place with a flat range and it is curved. And at my last place the smoke detectors were stupidly sensitive so I could not take advantage of the gas range to get shit as hot as I need for Chinese dishes.

Basically every time I use my cast iron I'm accepting that my smoke detector is going to go off almost immediately. :chuckle:
 
I got my first cast iron pan last Christmas and have almost exclusively used it since. I've done my best to maintain it and keep it a well-oiled machine.

I guess all of my masturbating has strengthened my wrists enough to offset the typing pains.
 
"Keep the right wrist strong."

Field Marshal Alfred von Schlieffen. @The Human Q-Tip
 
I got my first cast iron pan last Christmas and have almost exclusively used it since. I've done my best to maintain it and keep it a well-oiled machine.

I guess all of my masturbating has strengthened my wrists enough to offset the typing pains.
37870781661_5db7e4d786_o.gif
 
Put a slab of pork tenderloin with rub on it in my crockpot with some green beans and potatoes. Am I doing this right?
 
I know some people in here have been asking about things to cook for dates, and one of my favorite things to cook, especially if it's the first time I'm cooking for a girl, is a red wine sauce. It goes great with steak and potatoes, and I've made a similar sauce while braising wild boar shanks as well and it was excellent.

It's pretty simple. You need red wine, drippings from your steak, a couple of shallots, butter, fresh sprigs of thyme, and half a pound of mushrooms (dealer's choice...I'd buy cheaper ones because they're just going to soak up the flavor from the sauce anyway).

If you cooked your steaks in a cast iron on the stove top, then you can just reuse the same pan. Just throw in the mushrooms, shallots, and a couple of thyme sprigs after you pull the steaks out and cook them until they are soft. Add a bit of olive oil if you need more liquid in the pan.

If you cooked your steaks on the grill, then cover them in foil on a plate and wait five minutes or so. During that five minutes, heat up some olive oil in a pan and add in the mushrooms, shallots, and thyme. Check your steaks. There should be plenty of drippings on the plate. Move the steaks to another plate and dump those drippings into your sauce pan.

Now both methods should be at the same place. Once the mushrooms and shallots are softened, pour in a cup of red wine (I usually drink cabs with my steak). If you're cooking on the cast iron, this is when you'll use a wooden spoon to scrape up all the steak bits stuck to the bottom of your pan. If you did the grill method, you won't need to do this.

Let the sauce simmer and reduce for five to ten minutes. If, after five, it's not reducing properly, get a bowl and add a tablespoon of corn starch and two tablespoons of water. Stir it up until there are no chunks of corn starch left and it's just a smooth liquid. Dump that into your sauce and stir it. It will thicken pretty much immediately. I like to mash up the mushrooms a bit with a wooden spoon, but you don't have to.

Once it's reduced to your liking, add in about three tablespoons of butter and let it melt. Test the sauce and season with salt and pepper as necessary.

I like to spoon a bit of the sauce over my sliced steak and use the rest as a sort of gravy for a potato side. It's a delicious sauce that pretty much makes any red meat and vegetable plate better, though. Note that you can sub in a little beef broth instead of the steak drippings if you want to or if you want to make the sauce as a side for chicken or some other non-red meat.

---

If you want to do a bit more work and add in a green side (and every steak and potatoes dish should have a green side), my go-to is a Brussels sprouts, onion, and pancetta dish. You'll need a pound of sprouts, a sweet onion, some garlic, and optional pancetta (I prefer to buy sliced and then tear it into inch long strips...diced burns too easily in this dish).

Set your oven to 400.

Clean and chop your sprouts in half, removing any leaves that look questionable. Slide your onion into thin, inch long strips. Tear your pancetta into inch long strips about the width of standard bacon. Mince your garlic. Put all of that into a large bowl and toss with olive oil, a generous amount of salt, and some pepper.

Once that's done, throw it into a casserole dish and put it in the oven for 30+ minutes, stirring it all around every five minutes or so. I usually take it out as soon as you see the tips of some of the sprouts begin to blacken. Just test it when it looks done. This will also tell you if you need a bit more salt/pepper, which you can add at the end.

---

Now go forth and get yourself laid.

Oh, and if you want the boar shank recipe, it's here:
https://tastingmyway.com/2014/05/04/braised-wild-boar-foreshanks-with-wild-mushrooms/

You end with a pretty similar sauce. I usually serve the shanks over some mashed potatoes. It seems like a lot of work, but it's mostly just putting everything in a stock pot and waiting.
 
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Edited: Behold! The Donald J. Trump's Goose is Cooked, Memorial Celebratory Duck.

I made a [Look at what happened last night in] Swedish roast duck tonight (I did not shoot the duck this time). Served with roasted veggies and a lingonberry, Manafort reduction. @gourimoko @BimboColesHair

It turned out well although my reduction didn't come out looking as good as it could be as the lingonberry separates from the duck fat [Just as charges won't stick on Manafort]. It was still savory, tart and a little sweet. I have to work on presentation [and Mueller has to work on his indictments].

7ofilZv.jpg


jjuDf4L.jpg


Edit: Post has been edited to reflect that I was caught in my conspiracy @Huber. @gourimoko
 
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I made a Swedish roast duck tonight (I did not shoot the duck this time). Served with roasted veggies and a lingonberry reduction. @gourimoko @BimboColesHair

It turned out well although my reduction didn't come out looking as good as it could be as the lingonberry separates from the duck fat. It was still savory, tart and a little sweet. I have to work on presentation.

7ofilZv.jpg


jjuDf4L.jpg

Looks exquisite in the pot! Fuck... now I'm hungry!

To get the reduction to not separate, a few possible solutions (I've never made a lingonberry reduction/sauce, but it should be like any other):

1) Your base stock should be duck or chicken stock, be sure this is very hot.

2) If making an emulsification in from a liquid base (like wine/fruit) the duck fat must be VERY cold.. You don't want to use drippings straight from the pan, but instead, cool them on silpat or a baking tray in the freezer, then add back to the hot stock and whisk in.

3) Any starches for thickening agents? If you don't want to go with a purely English style stock (thickened with the starch of the veg itself), you can make a simple beurre manie by taking the cold duck fat and mixing it with flour in your hands (squish together) .. this will form a coherent paste, essentially a very simple dough of sorts.. Toast this in a dry pan until light brown to cook off the raw flour taste and you've got a duck roux of sorts and this won't break! ;)

4) You can start from a hot pan by removing everything from the pan, adding flour and making the roux in the drippings itself.. Again, cook the flour until brown... This will stabilize the sauce and prevent it from breaking..

Any of these methods will work, and your choice largely depends on how much flour you want in your sauce... You can also use corn starch, but that's .. less traditional for classical Frenc.. well .. you know.. whatever.. :chuckle:
 
Looks exquisite in the pot! Fuck... now I'm hungry!

To get the reduction to not separate, a few possible solutions (I've never made a lingonberry reduction/sauce, but it should be like any other):

1) Your base stock should be duck or chicken stock, be sure this is very hot.

2) If making an emulsification in from a liquid base (like wine/fruit) the duck fat must be VERY cold.. You don't want to use drippings straight from the pan, but instead, cool them on silpat or a baking tray in the freezer, then add back to the hot stock and whisk in.

3) Any starches for thickening agents? If you don't want to go with a purely English style stock (thickened with the starch of the veg itself), you can make a simple beurre manie by taking the cold duck fat and mixing it with flour in your hands (squish together) .. this will form a coherent paste, essentially a very simple dough of sorts.. Toast this in a dry pan until light brown to cook off the raw flour taste and you've got a duck roux of sorts and this won't break! ;)

4) You can start from a hot pan by removing everything from the pan, adding flour and making the roux in the drippings itself.. Again, cook the flour until brown... This will stabilize the sauce and prevent it from breaking..

Any of these methods will work, and your choice largely depends on how much flour you want in your sauce... You can also use corn starch, but that's .. less traditional for classical Frenc.. well .. you know.. whatever.. :chuckle:

Ah, that is it. I did use the drippings from the la creuset. I will do better next time.
 
I'm getting a dutch oven for Christmas and I'm so excited. I've actually never done beef short ribs, I think that's the first thing I'll make. Unfortunately my wife doesn't enjoy roasts/braised meats, I need to convert her. I still cook them a lot for cheap bulk food prep. I can't not buy a roast on sale.

I made an awesome impromptu beef on weck/french dip sorta hybrid last night. Had planned on making a roast when I thought, hey, maybe wifey will like a roast beef sandwich. Then I thought, hey, I'll get some caraway seeds and make it wecky. Braised english roast in garlicky broth, took that out, pulled it. Rubbed some butter on a french roll, added crushed caraway seeds to outside, added beef, gouda cheese, and some sauteed caramelized onions and banana peppers. Threw that in the oven to get melty. Served with jus.

Of course my wife didn't eat it because I didn't finish it until 8PM, long day working, and...

...My wife made her mother's pork ribs yesterday, I was so proud of her....she doesn't cook....but they came out fantastic. She actually won't give me the recipe though I'm sure there's some online. But they are basically Chinese style, braised in rice wine, ginger, soy, and other stuff.
 

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