Help spend my money!..need some grilling, kitchen accessories.


 
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Ron F

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We'll, I've been mullin' it over for quite some time now. There are some things I need for cookin' and it's time to bite the 'Bullet', so to speak
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. Not all of it has to do with Q'n, but I figure since most on this forum like to cook, whether it's Q'ed or on the stove or in the oven, I can get sound advice...so here goes.

1. Hot food handling gloves. Been needing these for awhile now. What kind and where can I get them?

2. Big sheet pans. They have the non-stick type everywhere, but aren't the stainless ones a little nicer? I'd like these for when I am doing large cuts of meat. Right now I don't have much of anything to put meat on while I'm getting it ready. Did 4 pork butts a few months back and what a pain! Again, what type should I buy and where?

3. I've been meaning to invest in some nice cookware. All I have now is some older nonstick T-fal stuff, and thats it. Any reccommendations? I think stainless is the way to go but not sure. I've just started to really get into cooking in the last 3 years or so(can ya tell?). So many company's out there, how is one stainless pan better than another? What makes Calphalon so much better(or is it?). I saw some stainless cookware by JCpenny I was thinking of getting. Its on sale right now for 1/2 price($100). It's stainless with what looks like a copper bottom. Glass lids. Have only seen the ad in the paper.

I know I can go almost anywhere and get these items, but I'm interested in hearing from those who have experience under their belts
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. Like whats overpriced and not worth the money or hearing about a product someone has been extremely happy with. While I'm at it, if anyone wants to throw in their $.02 about anything else I 'can't live without', whether it's for the WSM or the kitchen, please feel free....

Ok I'm adding to the list..I need some good knives. Let's hear it...

Thank you all,

Ron
 
Grilla gloves are nice.
I would go to Bed bath and beyond for the baking sheet and the cookwear. I have had good luck with Emril wear.
 
Ron,
I have some Calphalon pans and am not happy with them at all. I also have a set of Roshco stainless steel pans ($400) with the copper bottom that are not worth a crap! If you over heat them the copper bottom will come off. If I were you I would by one good non-stick saute' pan and a cast iron skillet. For the money you cannot beat a cast iron pan! They will literally last forever, and if you season it properly it is virtually non-stick! As for the knives check out Wusthof and Henkels, both are good knife makers.
 
i have to agree on the cast iron, i have the ones we got for wedding present (26 yrs) and my grandmothers. Hers is even better seasoned than ours!
 
I use aluminum "half-sheets" which are designed to fit two on a rack in a commercial convection oven. Probably available at Sams, Costco, BJ's and at food service equipment stores. They are big enough for about anything that you will want to do and still fit in most cabinets.
 
Ron:
As for cookware I have all-clad stainless and highly recommend it. It's pricey but well worth the bucks. Check out this site for factory seconds at a good price www.cookwarenmore.com. These pans have slight cosmetic blemishes which you really have to search to find and no way effect the performance
 
Hi Ron,

This weekend's game should be interesting. I'm rooting for the Buckeyes of course, but I always look forward to the competition of the game.

Anyway, I have some thoughts I can share. For gloves I just use lined heavy duty kitchen gloves. Nothing fancy and pretty inexpensive. I wouldn't want to grab a 500 degree pan out of the oven with them, but they are just fine for handling meats coming off my WSM or grill.

Big sheet pans. Restaurant supply. You can get them bigger than you can fit in your standard sized oven.

Cookware. About 3 years ago, before Kmart filed for bankruptcy, Martha Stewart sold several lines of SS cookware. The top set was a knockoff of All-Clad. I bought a bunch and saved a ton of money. Basically it's SS, with a heavy aluminum clad bottom (clad in SS). SS is not an efficient conductor of heat, so you'll want a copper or aluminum clad bottom for even heating. They are heavy pots/pans and I love them. But, checking the Kmart.com site just now I don't seem them listed. You might check your local kmart (since you live near Troy there should still be some left) and see if they still sell them in the stores. Expect to still pay $300-$400 for a good selection of skillets, pans, sauciers, lids, etc. Personally, the Calphalon, Tfal, etc I see in the stores is crap. Perhaps they sell better lines that I am not aware of. If you have the cash, All-Clad will last forever but you'll pay for it.

As for knives, Amazon is currently running a sale on some close-out Wustoff Grand Prix knives. They released the Grand Prix 2 knives recently and apparently Amazon is clearing out the old line. I'm eager for them to ship. William & Sonoma sells them. Check them out.

Do you have a nice butcher block / cutting board? These are also expensive, but definitly a luxury. I have some crappy ones but a buddy of mine felled some sugar maples last year and I plan to make a couple of end-grain blocks this winter when school is finally over!

That's all I have. This should be an interesting thread.
 
Ron,

Cookware advice. Get a mixture of cast iron and AllClad professional stainless.

With an assortment of the above you will never buy pans again and leave the collection to your children in your estate.

Sheet pans and other cooking tools you can grab at a local bed bath beyond as mentioned.

If you want to really know what kind of tools and cookware you should outfit your kitchen with, then i would highly suggest buying Alton Brown's book "Gear". He explains by brand what he likes and what is reasonable to have. His motto is, why buy a pan or a tool that does one job and one job only. He shows you what pans, pots, tools to look into that could perform a few different functions.
 
I picked up a commerical sized sheetpan from a local restaurant supply outlet. The clerk mentioned that it won't fit in my oven and I told her, thanks but it's not for baking. It's my mobile food-prep tray. It's strong enough to support multiple butts/briskets yet light enough to carry around. It has high, rolled, edges to keep stuff in. I layer it in foil (the xtra-wide kind) before prepping food (trimming/rubbing/etc.) then use it to carry the food to the smoker. Toss the foil and a quick wipe-down and then cover with fresh foil to transport the finished products back to the kitchen.

For cookware I would advise not to buy a 'set' but instead buy those specific pieces you need - always seeking out sales, of course. Allclad makes excellent stainless steel pots and pans and is #1 rated by Cooks Illustrated. They have a line with a 'shiny' polished finish and another with a more muted finish. Choose the former if you want the pizazz and don't mind a little extra elbow grease or the latter if you just want to cook. Having some cast-iron in your inventory is also a great idea. I honestly don't know how I'd cook cornbread without a cast-iron skillet, let alone fry catfish and chicken.

I also picked up a set of the gloves (free shipping!) from texasbbqrub.com but you can find neoprene gloves at the Home Depot usually in the area with the BBQ stuff, you just have to poke around. Also, if you don't have them, get yourself a set of welding gloves while you are at the Depot as they are the best way to manipulate the hot parts of your smoker - and are built better yet cost less than any 'oven mitts' you'd find at a cookware store (and they have fingers!). Of course when I bought mine I had to wait 20 mins for somebody to verify the price since there wasn't an SKU on them. When I tell the guy they are right next to the welding equipment he looks at me like I'm from Mars . . . 'next to the welding equipment?' he says? I said, 'yeah, I thought it was strange to have welding gloves next to welding equipment too'. Geez.
 
WOW! Thanks for all the advice. Good stuff. I will definately be checking out AllClad. Not sure which type to get tho, I went to their website and they have 4 or 5 different 'models'. The models were..MC2, Cop R Chef, Non-stick, LTD, Coppercore and Stainless Steel. What does one do?

I'll be heading to the Home Depot to check out some neoprene gloves. If I can't find them their I will just order from texasbbqrub. I could use them on Sat, cooking two trukeys for mom. I'd like to try that texas rub anyway. Also going to check out Bed, Bath and Beyond. I'd like to check out a restaurant supply store, but cannot find one near me.

Thanks for all the great advice, keep it coming....

Ron
 
I use 2 kinds of gloves. 1 set for fire handling, moving middle section, lifting racks, etc. For this I use my welding gloves or a set of silicon mittens my wife gave me one year.

The second pair of gloves I have is for manipulating hot meat. These need to be cleaned often to avoid cross contamination. I use a set of blue neoprene gloves that I get from Home Depot in the paint department. They are loose enough to easily slip on and off, they are fairly well insulated, but they are thin enough to feel the meat as I tear it. Kitchen washing gloves are hard to get on and off and aren't insulated enough to handle 200 degree meat.

I would agree with whoever suggested a vacuum packer and a thermapen. I often cook 2 pork butts, eat one and pull/pack the other for later. And a 5 second accurate thermometer is just a luxury not to be missed.

Cast iron and clad pots/pans is an essential. If you're worried about quality, stick with a name brand.
 
Well I found some 14" PVC gloves at Sears. I couldn't find any at home depot or anywhere else for that matter. Are the PVC ones ok to use for hot meat handling??

ron
 
For cookware: I've tried most every maker's stuff-- All-Clad (most of their lines), Calphalon {all of theirs), Scanpan, Bourgeat (their copper and stainless lines), Berndes, Sitram Cybernox, Demeyere (their Sirocco line), Cuisinart (most of their lines). My choice, absolute head-and-shoulders above them all: Viking.
 
Hey Kevin,
What makes the Viking so good? Better than say All-Clad?
Not questioning your answer. I know you know this stuff.
 
If I had the money I would buy le creuset cast iron pots and pans. I have a Circulon set that cooks well, food doesn't stick to it, but it scratches easy. Pots and pans I would only want to buy once.
As far as gloves go, I bought PVC gloves for food handling at Menards for $2. I got 22"(?) Eastman welding gloves off of Amazon.
 
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