Food! [The thread that started this section]

Local gastropub had some good eats last night

White bean stew (cassoulet)

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and beef short rib pot pie

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Interesting article on the science behind cast iron seasoning

I've always used lard, as bacon fat has salt and will pit compared to pure rendered fat. Though I might go out and try the flaxseed oil to get that hard season that she shows.

What I really want though is to get myself a housewarming present for my new apartment. There is a Le Crueset Royal Blue 7.25 qt French Oven that is calling out to me. Would be perfect for weekend cooking of stews, etc. so I don't need to worry about a few meals in the week with plenty leftover for my roommates to mooch. I wonder if I can get someone to buy it for me?
 
We have 2 Le Crueset pots at home and I find it quite difficult to control the temperature on them. In addition stuff sticks to the bottom very easily. :/ It might be our kitchen top which usually acts either "ON" or "OFF" - you can't go straight to like 6/10, then it'll just be stone cold. Gotta go straight to 10 and then let it cool down. Can't be bothered to doing anything about it...

When I'm moving out this autumn I'm SO getting one of these. Perfect for stewing/braising and making pasta dishes in.


In other news I made a 'proper' carbonara today, using pecorino (brought some with me from the UK, hush hush). It's got so much more flavour compared to the parmesan I'm used to!
 
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What I really want though is to get myself a housewarming present for my new apartment. There is a Le Crueset Royal Blue 7.25 qt French Oven that is calling out to me. Would be perfect for weekend cooking of stews, etc. so I don't need to worry about a few meals in the week with plenty leftover for my roommates to mooch. I wonder if I can get someone to buy it for me?

have you considered the ubiquitous Walmart 6.5Qt Dutch Oven i have had mine for 2 years of very very hard use and the only damage it has is a result of my own stupidity (protip: don't over tighten the cover knob it WILL crack/chip the enamel around the hole in the cover) other than that however it is no real worse for wear. The Le Cruset pieces are so god damned expensive granted it is totally worth it and they will last lifetimes and lifetimes but right now for me anyway the cost is just too much.

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We have 2 Le Crueset pots at home and I find it quite difficult to control the temperature on them. In addition stuff sticks to the bottom very easily. :/ It might be our kitchen top which usually acts either "ON" or "OFF" - you can't go straight to like 6/10, then it'll just be stone cold. Gotta go straight to 10 and then let it cool down.

i am going to go with it being your cooktop. My parents have a host of Le Crueset dutchovens and sauce pans and i have never had any issue like you describe. I do want to point out that enamel cast iron isn't actually supposed to be nonstick (nor is seasoned cast iron for that matter) it is just less sticky then other materials but you will still get a certain amount of sticking. It could be that you are not using enough oil when you are cooking. It is always better to over do the oil slightly then to not have enough.
 
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We have 2 Le Crueset pots at home and I find it quite difficult to control the temperature on them. In addition stuff sticks to the bottom very easily. :/ It might be our kitchen top which usually acts either "ON" or "OFF" - you can't go straight to like 6/10, then it'll just be stone cold. Gotta go straight to 10 and then let it cool down.

When I'm moving out this autumn I'm SO getting one of these. Perfect for stewing/braising and making pasta dishes in.


In other news I made a 'proper' carbonara today, using pecorino (brought some with me from the UK, hush hush). It's got so much more flavour compared to the parmesan I'm used to!

Pecorino is expensive and hard to find, but so worth it. :D
 
have you considered the ubiquitous Walmart 6.5Qt Dutch Oven i have had mine for 2 years of very very hard use and the only damage it has is a result of my own stupidity (protip: don't over tighten the cover knob it WILL crack/chip the enamel around the hole in the cover) other than that however it is no real worse for wear. The Le Cruset pieces are so god damned expensive granted it is totally worth it and they will last lifetimes and lifetimes but right now for me anyway the cost is just too much.

This is an investment piece, I might be persuaded for dropping down to a Lodge, but I'd prefer to just get one perfect one and keep it for the rest of my life. Also when you really think about it, let's say you buy it for 250, if you use it 50 days a year and it lasts 20-30 years the cost doesn't work out to that much. I have a Le Creuset outlet store near me, so I'll go take a look there and see what the prices are like compared to Amazon. No way I'm paying full retail at Williams Sonoma or other upscale kitchen retailer.

We have 2 Le Crueset pots at home and I find it quite difficult to control the temperature on them. In addition stuff sticks to the bottom very easily. :/ It might be our kitchen top which usually acts either "ON" or "OFF" - you can't go straight to like 6/10, then it'll just be stone cold. Gotta go straight to 10 and then let it cool down. Can't be bothered to doing anything about it...

When I'm moving out this autumn I'm SO getting one of these. Perfect for stewing/braising and making pasta dishes in.

Must be your top, LC stuff is supposed to be mid to low temp cooking, since it holds heat so well. I also refuse to cook on anything but gas. I would try induction, but electric and that flattop stuff is dead to me. I suffered with a cooktop for a few years before we remodeled our kitchen and that was too many.

That does look like a nice heavy guage sautepan though.
 
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I've started to brown the meat for stews in a regular frying pan instead, then just doing onion/veg in the LC. Then I tip it all into the LC and let it do it's magic for a couple of hours.

Another argument against LC pans, atleast for me, is that they are so damn heavy.

When we redid our kitchen induction hobs were still quite new so we ended up with a regular electric top. Induction is definitely the way to go these days. There are even a load of pro kitchens that are induction only, or the majority of the tops are.
 
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I have a few Le Creuset pieces that my mom gave me because she found them too heavy to use herself, but I was under the impression that they were mostly for show and couldn't be considered true cast iron cookware because they have enamel glazing on the inside.

Just a bit confused since talk of seasoning cast iron cookware lead to a discussion over Le Creuset items.
 
I have a few Le Creuset pieces that my mom gave me because she found them too heavy to use herself, but I was under the impression that they were mostly for show and couldn't be considered true cast iron cookware because they have enamel glazing on the inside.

Just a bit confused since talk of seasoning cast iron cookware lead to a discussion over Le Creuset items.

It's the natural progression of pan sophistication, a well seasoned cast iron pan is great, but it still doesn't touch enamel in terms of ability to deglaze the fond at the bottom of a pan. In braises an enameled pan is far superior to any black cast iron pan, while being easier to clean, but much more expensive. I have cast iron skillets, but a good enamel pan is a must as I set up my new apartment.
 
Oh okay, for a second I thought you guys were talking about seasoning Le Crueset cookware which struck me as odd.

Mine basically get no use... last time I used them was a month ago to make sloppy joes. It's shameful, I know. :lol:
 
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I have a few Le Creuset pieces that my mom gave me because she found them too heavy to use herself, but I was under the impression that they were mostly for show and couldn't be considered true cast iron cookware because they have enamel glazing on the inside.

Just a bit confused since talk of seasoning cast iron cookware lead to a discussion over Le Creuset items.

hey shawn if you don't want them i will take them off your hands for say $20 a piece i'll even pay for shipping and everything.... but seriously use those pots and pans there are few things my parents own that i covet and their collection of Le Cruset dutch ovens saute and sauce pans are at the top of that short list. Also the crap about them not being good for high heat is bunk i have presonally used their large 6qt dutch oven to sear shanks for osso bucco and to deep fry chicken not to mention the times i have used it in the oven for roasts or too brown onions for french onion soup. I cannot concieve of a more multipurpose kitchen pot/pan than a 6+qt enameled cast iron dutch oven.
 
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I think I'll hold on to them for now. They get absolutely no use because I can't cook for shit, but I still have a full kitchen and those are my only pans.
 
hey shawn if you don't want them i will take them off your hands for say $20 a piece i'll even pay for shipping and everything.... but seriously use those pots and pans there are few things my parents own that i covet and their collection of Le Cruset dutch ovens saute and sauce pans are at the top of that short list. Also the crap about them not being good for high heat is bunk i have presonally used their large 6qt dutch oven to sear shanks for osso bucco and to deep fry chicken. I cannot concieve of a more multipurpose kitchen pot/pan than a 6+qt enameled cast iron dutch oven.

Temperature and heat are two very different things when talking about materials. A cast iron pan at a certain temperature has a much higher heat, q, than an aluminum pan at that same temperature due to the difference in specific heat of the two materials. So a enamel pan in a 550F oven will be way over the thermal threshold, and as such may chip the enamel due to the differential expansion rates of cast iron versus brittle enamel. They are fine over 99% of all possible cooking temperatures, I have never cooked at that temp in 15 years yet, but it is something to be cognizant of. That's why you can burn your food at a low flame on a cooktop, the heat transfer into the food in Joules will be higher depending on the delta q, and the conduction of the material. You can brown at much lower temps in enamel cast iron than a cheapo aluminum pan.
 
When we redid our kitchen induction hobs were still quite new so we ended up with a regular electric top. Induction is definitely the way to go these days. There are even a load of pro kitchens that are induction only, or the majority of the tops are.

electricity sucks for cooking. at home we also have electric tops. it takes 5 mins to get up to temp, afterwards it stays hot for another hour, it's so fucking hard to get the level of heating right (for stews for instance). if you finally found the right balance, you open another pit, and the first one looses half of its power

man i hate them! natural gas FTW!

also, heating something to create electrcity, and using that electricity to heat something makes no sense either...
 
electricity sucks for cooking. at home we also have electric tops. it takes 5 mins to get up to temp, afterwards it stays hot for another hour, it's so fucking hard to get the level of heating right (for stews for instance). if you finally found the right balance, you open another pit, and the first one looses half of its power

man i hate them! natural gas FTW!

also, heating something to create electrcity, and using that electricity to heat something makes no sense either...

I have actually worked with some electric tops that work well, just not at home. :p
 
electricity sucks for cooking. at home we also have electric tops. it takes 5 mins to get up to temp, afterwards it stays hot for another hour, it's so fucking hard to get the level of heating right (for stews for instance). if you finally found the right balance, you open another pit, and the first one looses half of its power

man i hate them! natural gas FTW!

also, heating something to create electrcity, and using that electricity to heat something makes no sense either...

Actually, I prefer my 5-zone AEG electric cooker to most gas units. It's not much slower to heat up than gas, and the residual heat can be very nice if used properly.
 
Enough boring appliance talk, suddenly key lime pie!

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