Articles · Where two groups agree
Food writer and professional kitchens converge on five products, and the two longest ownership figures behind them are 30 years apart from each other.
About Food Writer and Professional Kitchens.
We have not used any of these ourselves. We read 9 sources and structured what 8 people said. Of the 23 quotes below, 7 are complaints and 1 comes from someone with a declared commercial interest. Every one of them links to the person who said it and the second they said it.
Based on 8 people, 9 sources and 42 recorded claims. A declared interest is labelled beside the quote rather than removed.
Food writer and professional kitchens converge on five products: the Lodge, the Matfer, the Vitamix, the Cuisinart and the Excalibur. Dr. Doug Graham, disclosing an affiliate interest, highly recommends the Vitamix blender; Julia, a chef, calls the Lodge the best buy at $43; and Joshua Weissman names the Cuisinart as one of two food processor brands he trusts. None of the 8 people quoted names an ownership span for anything but the Vitamix and the Matfer.
I'm a fan of the Vitamix blender I highly recommend the Vitamix blender if you have to choose which blender you're going to buy next I recommend the Vitamix blender and if you ever want to say that I sent you to buy your Vitamix blender you get a special price that's cool too
Dr. Doug Graham earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “if you ever want to say that I sent you to buy your Vitamix blender you get a special price that's cool too”
If you want a really nice cast iron skillet, check out the Smithey Ironware number 12 for $200, or for the best buy, check out the Lodge 12 inch cast iron skillet for just $43.
Cites price
a Cuisinart or KitchenAid is like the two brands that I would recommend.
| Product | Cited in favour | Cited against | Voices | Declared interest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lodge cast iron skillet | price (2), durability (1) | weight (2) | 3 voices | none declared |
| Matfer carbon steel pan | seasoning durability (1) | acid resistance (1), maintenance (1) | 2 voices | none declared |
| Vitamix blender | durability (1) | aeration (1), nutrient retention (1) | 1 voice | 1 of 1 |
| Cuisinart food processor | none recorded | none recorded | 2 voices | none declared |
| Excalibur dehydrator | adjustability (1), flavour impact (1) | none recorded | 1 voice | none declared |
once you build up that seasoning after a couple cooks it is gonna be perfect for eggs this is actually the the you know ultimate egg pan it's what I use mine for the majority of the time
Cites non-stick surface
You will need to use a little bit of fat in these pans to get that non-stick ability.
Cites non-stick surface (against)
This means that of these three, the traditional mass produced lodge model is the most durable. It's basically indestructible
Cites durability
but for some reason sambal completely wrecked my pan about six months ago and i had to restart so that is definitely one i would advise you watch out for
Cites acid resistance (against), seasoning durability (against)
it's well worth trying the immersion blender because it will do it will do quantities that are essentially too small for a powerful blender like of Vitamix to even bother with I mean you put in small quantities and it ends up below the blades you can't even do it in a Vitamix and yet in an immersion blender you…
Cites size and capacity (against)
The Lodge cast iron skillet's weight is probably the objection: Hannah calls it the heaviest of the three skillets she compared, at eight pounds, and Adam adds flatly that it is heavy.
Julia, of America's Test Kitchen, calls it the best buy at $43. Hannah separately calls it the cheapest of the three and a great bargain, and calls the finished pan itself basically indestructible.
No one among the 8 people quoted states how long they have owned a Lodge.
but it's also the heaviest of the three options at eight pounds
Cites weight (against)
It's heavy.
Cites weight (against)
We'll first look at our traditional winner from lodge. This is by far the least expensive of the bunch and it is a really great bargain.
Cites price
Quoted earlier on this page. Hear it at 2:31.
Cites durability
The Matfer carbon steel pan may take real effort to season: Autodidactically Yours says "some people have a lot of trouble getting off" a well-bonded seasoning layer, and separately says sambal "completely wrecked my pan" about six months in, forcing a reseason.
Lisa, of America's Test Kitchen, loved it enough during testing that she bought her own. Autodidactically Yours, nine months in as of 2021, describes it turning from a stripped silver pan to fully blackened with seasoning.
now some people have a lot of trouble getting off because it's actually on there real good especially for this model pan
Cites maintenance (against)
Quoted earlier on this page. Hear it at 3:01.
Cites acid resistance (against), seasoning durability (against)
I loved this pan so much that when I was testing it, before I was even done, I was like, "I want this pan," and I ordered one for myself, which I never do. So I've had mine for several years and I love it. I cook in it all the time.
i bought it in april it's now january so after a few mishaps there's been about six months in between this being a stripped silver pan and now being completely black
Cites seasoning durability
Owned 9 months
i have a new larger style mat for carbon steel pan here that i got for christmas and i've used about less than 10 times and you can already see the seasoning is developing on it
A Vitamix blender may struggle with small quantities: Dr. Doug Graham says an immersion blender can handle amounts you "can't even do it in a Vitamix," and separately says food sometimes "piles up on itself it gets wedged" while blending.
Graham, disclosing an affiliate interest, says he bought his 30 years ago, in 2014, and it is still cranking after heavy use; he now owns several and recommends the Vitamix to anyone choosing a blender.
Quoted earlier on this page. Hear it at 28:46.
Cites size and capacity (against)
I take the Vitamix and sometimes the food piles up on itself it gets wedged it gets lodged and yes there's a pushing tool that you can use use to help but sometimes I have to just take the Vitamix off of its stand off its base and tap it tap the bottom of it onto the tabletop bang bang bang put it back on everything's…
Cites aeration (against), nutrient retention (against)
although it's incredibly efficient at blending the Vitamix blender definitely pulls air into your food and and it aerates it which means that some of the oxygen sensitive nutrients are affected now if you eat the food right away we're really not talking about any issue at all because even chewing has that same effect…
if you take a glass of each Vitamix blend bananas and water immersion blend bananas and water same quantities of both pour them both into a cup and then or a clear glass and check them again in 30 minutes and check them again in an hour the immersion blender drink will be basically the same color as it was when you…
I bought my Vitamix I bought my Vitamix gosh 30 years ago it's still cranking and I've tested it now and then I've worked it pretty hard and it's still just going strong I own several Vitamix blenders now and I stand by them firmly
Cites durability
Owned 30 years
Quoted earlier on this page. Hear it at 16:09.
Dr. Doug Graham earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “if you ever want to say that I sent you to buy your Vitamix blender you get a special price that's cool too”
A Cuisinart food processor has nothing said against it among the 8 people quoted, an absence of criticism rather than praise, from just two voices.
Joshua Weissman names it alongside KitchenAid as one of two brands he would recommend, and Dr. Doug Graham simply says Cuisinart makes great food processors.
No one among the 8 people quoted states how long they have owned one.
Quoted earlier on this page. Hear it at 18:36.
of course quinart makes great food processors
We do not know whether an Excalibur dehydrator holds up broadly: only Dr. Doug Graham speaks to it among the 8 people quoted, so no one else here weighs in.
Graham, who says he has sampled just about every style of dehydrator sold, picks the Excalibur for its adjustable temperature and timer, and treats his as an everyday kitchen tool rather than an occasional appliance.
No one among the 8 people quoted states how long they have owned one.
I've tried every kind of dehydrator on the market from solar dehydrator cylinders and and angled tubes to stackable dehydrators and circular ones they all have some good things about them but none of them can touch the Excalibur dehydrator Excalibur dehydrator just does the job it's really brilliant
you can control the temperature you can have a timer if you want things to go off or not if you don't and you can control the dehydration from just a few minutes of sweating a product to half an hour to an hour of wilting it a bit it's very nice to wilt lettuce if that's the texture you want to heightening the flavor…
Cites adjustability, flavour impact
I do use my dehydrator as a kitchen tool for making tonight's dinner and I might not start it until 2: in the afternoon and then put it in the dehydrator for 2 or 3 hours and it's just enough moisture driven off that the flavor is heightened the texture is changed it's a fun tool to play with and certainly well within…
Cites flavour impact
Dr. Doug Graham's 360 months, 30 years, on a Vitamix, said in 2014, is by far the longest figure on this sheet; he still calls it cranking after heavy use. Autodidactically Yours puts nine months on a Matfer, timed from April to January in 2021, watching it turn from stripped silver to fully seasoned black. Lisa, in 2023, says only that she has had hers for several years, without a number.
No one among the 8 people quoted names any duration for the Lodge, the Cuisinart or the Excalibur.
Dr. Doug Graham, 30 years into a Vitamix as of 2014, says it is still cranking after heavy testing and use, and now owns several more. Autodidactically Yours, nine months into a Matfer as of 2021, describes watching the same pan turn from stripped silver to fully black with seasoning, a far shorter and still-developing relationship with the object.
No one among the 8 people quoted reports a longer span than Graham's 30 years.
Dr. Doug Graham, a food writer, judges kitchen tools by decades of his own use: thirty years on a Vitamix and a lifetime of dehydrators tried. Hannah and Adam, cookware reviewers for America's Test Kitchen, measure the Lodge in dollars and pounds instead, $43 and eight pounds, the heaviest of the three they tested. Julia, a chef, simply names the Lodge the best buy at $43, where Joshua Weissman, also a chef, names Cuisinart and KitchenAid as the two brands he trusts.
Quoted earlier on this page. Hear it at 7:03.
Cites non-stick surface
next up is going to be a vitamix blender now i know these things are expensive but this is an industry standard for a reason you can blend and make anything so velvety smooth from nut butters to sauces to purees
it's just it's i use mine all the time
None of the 8 people quoted states owning anything longer than the 30 years, 360 months, behind Dr. Doug Graham's Vitamix. Nobody quoted about the Lodge or the Cuisinart speaks as an owner, a professional user or someone who stopped using one, and three of these five products carry no ownership duration behind them at all.
Authority here is scoped to the subject, never to how large someone’s audience is. Where we hold no domain expertise for a person, the page says so rather than implying one.
Home of The 80/10/10 Diet, and Dr. Doug Graham, where you'll find 80/10/10 raw vegan lifestyle tips, raw vegan recipes, interviews, fitness inspiration, and more. Dr. Graham has been eating a raw vegan diet for over 30 years and has authored numerous books on health, nutrition, and fitness, including The 80/10/10 Diet, Grain Damage, Nutrition and Athletic Performance, The High Energy Diet Recipe Guide, and Prevention and Care of Athletic Injuries.
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