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Evidence index · Cookware

Cookware: where beginners and chefs agree

Only the cookware that beginners and chefs have independently backed. A product one group praises and the other has never mentioned does not appear here.

beginners is who the advice is aimed at; chefs is an occupation.

13 people on record as beginners and chefs make 185 quoted claims about cookware across 26 sources. Membership is recorded with its own evidence — for a person by the trait they are on record holding, for a community by the source it was said in — and authority is scoped to cookware rather than to fame.

Which cookware do both beginners and chefs recommend?

Endorsements and objections about cookware from beginners and chefs, together, strongest evidence first.

Lodge cast iron skillet

5 voices 16 claims 4 objections

2:03 supports Uncle Scott speaking on Uncle Scott's Kitchen Beginners earns commission on this
not quite as heavy as the lodge 12 inch cast iron but I will say that cast iron is a little bit easier to maneuver when I pick up this cast iron my thumb rests very close to the pan body not very far out on the handle

handling Owns it Worth $300 for a Demeyere Proline Atlantis?

Cites handle

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “Lodge Cast Iron Cookware: https://lodgecastiron.pxf.io/ravEOj” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

All-Clad stainless pan

3 voices 15 claims 6 objections

0:30 supports Uncle Scott speaking on Uncle Scott's Kitchen Beginners
so guess what i tried a d3 and i like it i like it a lot

recommendation Owns it All-Clad D3: As good as they say?

Cites build quality, weight

i really do like this all clad d3 stainless steel frying pan been cooking in it heavily for about six months now so it's part of my go-to frying pan rotation it's easy to move around seems to be well made and most importantly it produces a ton of delicious food it gets a thumbs up
1:30 supports Uncle Scott speaking on Uncle Scott's Kitchen Beginners
it's a tri-ply pan it has a stainless steel cook surface and underneath is an induction compatible stainless steel exterior in between is a thick layer of aluminum aluminum is almost as good as copper when it comes to heat conductivity

performance Owns it All-Clad D3: As good as they say?

Cites even heating, heat retention, non-stick surface, size and capacity, heat conduction

what this illustrates is that the d3 has good heat conductivity that aluminum core spreads the heat really well here you can see that the okra is sizzling and frying edge to edge
the 12 inch model easily holds four boneless pork chops you could probably get a fifth in there if you wanted to and you see that the pan produces nice even browning
these stainless steel d3 actually produce nice non-stick bacon the way you get non-stick bacon in stainless steel is simply to start the bacon off in a cold pan give it an early flip and then cook it as normal and it's non-stick
i note that these two steaks are over a pound each and they fit in this 12 inch d3 nicely and the pan maintained a sear i give those a good two minutes or so on the first side look at that crust that's a very nice crust

Field cast iron skillet

2 voices 30 claims 11 objections

3:31 supports Uncle Scott speaking on Uncle Scott's Kitchen Beginners
It's [music] got three layers of grape seed seasoning on it. So, you can just give it a wash and just start cooking.

performance Tested it Field Cast Iron Review: Egg Problems & Great Gratins

Cites heat retention, maintenance, non-stick surface, searing and crust

the field turned out some nice cornbread, no sticking and a nice crust.
this field cranked out an absolutely delicious [music] grten with no sticking on the potatoes.
Butter potatoes. Those brown up pretty nicely and they did not stick. That's a good thing.
But the field did okay here and I think it helped with the browning that both the potatoes and the okra, they get moved around a little bit.
I think you did an okay job with bacon. Just a little bit of pulling on there, but the um the card says uh bacon can actually stick a little bit early on. So, with that in mind, I think it did uh just fine. I started it out in a room temperature pan, brought it up to heat, some early [music] flips, and mostly…
Um I mentioned that the pan doesn't have as much thermal mass as maybe some other cast irons or carbon steels for that matter, but I am still getting a good sear and browning here.
And here, summoning every bit of egg sliding mojo that I could muster, [music] I got a moderately decent sliding egg. It released even did okay on the flip. You know, cast iron skillets are not really known for flipping eggs, so the side walls are too tall, etc., etc., but it's still released on that second side, and…
2:01 objects Uncle Scott speaking on Uncle Scott's Kitchen Beginners
I think that lack of heaviness, lack of thermal mass, lack of metal, however you want to um describe that, uh for me anyway, I think it made the pan a little bit more difficult to cook in. It's difficult to get it heated evenly. I feel like um it's responsive, which is great for a uh copper skillet, for example. But…

performance Tested it Field Cast Iron Review: Egg Problems & Great Gratins

Cites base and rim (against), even heating (against), heat retention (against), non-stick surface (against), size and capacity (against), surface finish (against)

And I think one of the reasons I've had so much trouble with eggs in that field is that um those grooves, they uh I think they have not filled in yet and um they're kind of gripping food a little bit when I try and slide it around.
There is [music] a very tiny uh ring around the bottom of the pan which makes it sit up just a little bit. It's barely even noticeable. The Brevel has a temperature sensor in the middle of the cooking surface there and it has to stick up and make contact [music] with the bottom of a pan. Um there's also a logo here in…
Uh, no matter what I tried, I was getting, um, different essentially different cooking zones. I couldn't get the pan heated very evenly and I would put an egg in and sometimes um, part of an egg would stick and part would slide and the egg would come apart. And I think that's because the pan is not heated evenly and…
This uh 10-in pan um I had to work in two batches.
It's [music] um too narrow to lay out strips of supermarket bacon, but it will hold four if you cut them in half.
Let's talk a little bit more about that uneven heating though here. Uh you can really see it with these grilled cheese sandwiches. Give them their first turn there. And you can definitely see where one half of the grilled cheese is toasted and the other uh the butter is melted, but there is no toasting on there. So,…
I've also made some breaded squash and zucchini. And I like these for testing pans because I can lay them out all around the pan. Then when I flip them, I can tell if they're hotter or cooler spots. You can definitely tell that um some of these zucchini are much browner than the others.
And it's just a little bit more uneven and a little bit more difficult to cook in this pan than some others I have reviewed.
And after doing a ton of work on the seasoning and doing a lot of cooking, circling back to eggs, and I got this. And I got to say, I have never seen that [laughter] fried egg before. It's almost like uh orbiting almost like a planet or something. I don't know if that counts as half of a fried egg. never had um a…
And finally, I got to where I found that, uh, just trying different temperatures, if I went really, really low, um, I could get an egg to release, and this is after three or four minutes of setting up very, very slowly. I could get an egg to kind of sort of release and it'll move around, but I still say that egg is…

Staub dutch oven

2 voices 8 claims 2 objections

15:16 supports Uncle Scott speaking on Uncle Scott's Kitchen Beginners earns commission on this
I got to say, I like the rim around the stove. I like the um the distinctive look to it.

handling Tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Cites lid, shape and form

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

That stove also has the baking spike basting spikes under its lid. And as I've shown in a different uh video, those basting spikes actually do work.
15:16 supports Uncle Scott speaking on Uncle Scott's Kitchen Beginners earns commission on this
Comparing lids, I think the stove has the best lid of the bunch.

best in class Tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Cites lid

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

15:47 supports Uncle Scott speaking on Uncle Scott's Kitchen Beginners earns commission on this
Now, as far as the enamel, I think all of these Dutch ovens are goodlooking.

appearance Tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Cites appearance, appearance, surface finish

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

The stoves and the L Crusades may be a scoch smoother, and I can't tell if that's actually true or if that's just what I expect. And um it's reinforcing my expectations.
The stove of course has a darker interior. It will not show stains, but they may be there even if you can't see them.

Smithey cast iron skillet

2 voices 3 claims no objections from beginners and chefs

3:31 supports Julia of America's Test Kitchen Chef
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.

recommendation Tested it The Best Cast-Iron Skillets

Cites price (against)

Le Creuset dutch oven

2 voices 3 claims no objections from beginners and chefs

15:47 supports Uncle Scott speaking on Uncle Scott's Kitchen Beginners earns commission on this

Quoted earlier on this page. Hear it at 15:47.

appearance Tested it NEW: Lodge USA Enamel Review with cooking & Staub/Le Creuset comparison!

Cites appearance, surface finish

Uncle Scott earns commission on this. Stated in the source: “As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.” Kept and labelled rather than dropped: a paid endorsement is still evidence, and you should be the one to decide what it is worth.

What do beginners and chefs say about cookware in general?

Not a recommendation for a specific product: technique, materials and what to look for in cookware. Citable on its own terms. There are 110 of them; the 40 with the strongest evidence are below.

2:36 objects Uncle Scott speaking on Uncle Scott's Kitchen Beginners
if you have an electric flattop stove it makes it more difficult to get your pan seasoned now i season my pan regularly when our gas stove top if you're cooking on a gas stove top the flame hits the bottom moves outward enough around the sides of the pan so you get a good even distribution of heat all over the pan…

use-case fit Owns it Matfer Carbon Steel Pan Seasoning Problems Solved

Cites heat conduction (against)

3:02 supports Uncle Scott speaking on Uncle Scott's Kitchen Beginners
if you get some micro scratches on the surface of your carbon steel pan no big deal um those will fill in with seasoning the next time you season the pan and lots of people think that those little micro scratches give that seasoning something to grip to and it lasts a little bit longer the next time

performance Tested it Remove Rust from Carbon Steel

Cites seasoning durability

1:35 supports Uncle Scott speaking on Uncle Scott's Kitchen Beginners
you do not have to season your pan 11 times to get it to work correctly that's just crazy that's like a new hobby or lifestyle commitment you don't have to do that what you need to do is season your pan correctly one time once you've done that it'll pass the fried egg test

performance Matfer Carbon Steel Pan Seasoning Problems Solved

Cites speed and efficiency

9:39 notes Uncle Scott speaking on Uncle Scott's Kitchen Beginners
she's one of these good old southern traditional cooks she's been using 70 80 year old cast-iron skillets that were handed down from her mother she's been using these for 40 or 50 years

ownership Passing on someone else's experience Matfer Carbon Steel Pan Seasoning Problems Solved

0:00 supports Joshua Weissman speaking on Joshua Weissman Recipes Chef
If I were to pick anything, if I were left with one pan in the whole world, it would be a stainless steel pan, pot, etc.

best in class Uses it professionally How to Cook With Stainless Steel

Cites safety, versatility

Guess what? Stainless steel doesn't have that problem. It is perhaps the safest cooking surface I can think of.
And everything else, you just follow the directions of any other recipe you're using. And that's the beauty of stainless steel. It does it all.
0:00 supports Joshua Weissman speaking on Joshua Weissman Recipes Chef
The number one reason every single person in the world should be using stainless steel, versatility. This pan can do everything.

recommendation Uses it professionally How to Cook With Stainless Steel

Cites maintenance, versatility

Stainless is that version without all the [ __ ] Hopefully, I have you convinced.
1:00 objects Joshua Weissman speaking on Joshua Weissman Recipes Chef
But often times they heat really inevenly, and they take a long time to preheat.

performance Uses it professionally How to Cook With Stainless Steel

Cites base and rim (against), ease of cleaning (against), even heating (against), flavour impact (against), heat control (against), heating speed (against), learning curve (against), non-stick surface (against)

Once the oil is in the pan, I want to talk about heat control. This is where everybody makes big mistakes. All right? This is where people burn stuff. This is where people smoke out their houses.
And this is also where people get that sort of brown ring around the pan, which is fine, but it's just annoying to clean.
There's a thin layer of oil around here that's going to get hyper hyper hyper hot because the edges of this pan are thinner than the bottom, right?
You will have to use more oil or more fat when you're using stainless steel. That is the simple reality.
Obviously, the parts of the pan that didn't have any oil on it is where the egg stuck on the scramble.
This is what stops people from cooking with stainless steel. They see this happen and they're like, I'm got to throw the pan away. And a lot of people have thrown their pans away because of this.
Common mistakes that will ruin your life or maybe just your pan. Number one, cooking on too high of a heat.
Now if this was a steak or whatever and you wanted to delaze your pan, this fond no more. This is just char. So if you delaze this, it'd be bitter. It'd be blackened. It'd be gross.
Let me be honest with you. This hack still sucks to do, but it works really well.
0:30 supports Joshua Weissman speaking on Joshua Weissman Recipes Chef
But the second thing about it is it is a to clean. When you get a cast iron pan out super heavy, you get it wet, it gets rusty, you got to reseason it every single time. You don't have to do that with stainless steel.

performance Uses it professionally How to Cook With Stainless Steel

Cites ease of cleaning, even heating, flavour impact, heat control, heating speed, heat retention, maintenance, non-stick surface, searing and crust, speed and efficiency

And the best thing is it distributes heat quickly, efficiently, and evenly over the pan.
But often times they heat really inevenly, and they take a long time to preheat. This to me is perfectly balanced in that way.
Another reason, it creates flavor like fawns. It gets great sears on any piece of meat.
But guess what? Most of it won't end up on the food. You drain it on a paper towel. Really, it's not too much more.
Once it has seared properly enough, it will naturally release from the pan. You can already see the edge of this egg already lifting up off the pan.
just to prove the egg came off clean. Look at the underside of the egg. See that? No sticking, no ripping.
Cleaning this isn't going to be that hard. You take an abrasive pad to get this part off first. Clean it immediately. You're ready to go again.
And the beauty of this is if your pan is hot enough, really, your fish should move around the pan. You won't even really need to scrape it off.
You can see the skin is nice and crisp and dried out. You got a little bit of mayard on the flesh. It's not even sticking to it, even flesh side down, but I can feel the fish.
I've been sitting around medium, slightly above medium for this whole temperature. Right. If the pan looks like it's starting to get too hot, just drop the temperature a little bit. You can fluctuate it however you need. That is the key to using stainless.
And what will be left behind is little brown bits from the flour, stuck bits from the meat that are on the pan. That is your fond. There's tons of flavor in that. You don't want to throw it away.
You can scrape on the bottom to release any stuck bits. Scrape on the sides. Scrape that into there. Now, you can see all the stuck bits. That's all that like reduced intense chickeny flavor now giving flavor to this sauce.
So, my pan's not like ripping hot. It's warm, so it'll release a little easier, right? We're almost preparing this to delaze it, right? You're basically delazing in here.
And you'll notice that even just by doing that, if I rinse this bad boy out, I haven't even used soap yet. This is 90% of the way clean.
We have a pan that basically looks almost brand new. It's literally that simple. This applies to pretty much every single scenario I could possibly think of. The key is soap and water or proper stainless steel cleaner. That is it.
Leave it in there. Don't scrape it off because it's going to stick anyway, right? Just let it cool down naturally, and you could easily bring it back on once it stops smoking and turn it to medium heat. Eventually, it'll release.
So, you're going to fill this up with water about halfway up. Set it on your stove. Add one drop of dish soap. That was more than a drop. Set over medium high heat and bring it to a boil. Once it's boiling, let it boil for about 1, two, maybe 3 minutes until the residue comes off easily.
0:30 objects Joshua Weissman speaking on Joshua Weissman Recipes Chef
Everyone says cast iron's indestructible, but in a way, it's kind of not. If you drop it on something hard enough, it will snap in half.

durability Uses it professionally How to Cook With Stainless Steel

Cites durability (against), maintenance (against), rust resistance (against), seasoning durability (against), surface finish (against), warp resistance (against)

And like I said, you got to season this. If it gets rusty, you got to season it again, right? Unless you use a cast iron pan every single day and maintain it regularly and always have fat and oil in it. Guess what? You're going to have to constantly season it.
you have to dry your stainless steel. Never, ever, ever just let it sit with water. You're going to get water stains, and guess what? You're going to have to clean it all over again.
But this pan has a slight warp in it because we did that a lot. The warping has created a bowl in there. See that? It doesn't sit flat on this anymore.
0:30 supports Joshua Weissman speaking on Joshua Weissman Recipes Chef
But it's also virtually indestructible. Everyone says cast iron's indestructible, but in a way, it's kind of not.

durability Uses it professionally How to Cook With Stainless Steel

Cites durability, ease of cleaning

The beauty of stainless steel is there is almost no stain. It's stainless. No burned on bit. you can't clean off. You just need to know how.
Now, this is a still usable pan and that's fine. It happens. People make mistakes. But the more you do that to that pan, the more the pan is going to get more anded up, okay?
0:30 supports Joshua Weissman speaking on Joshua Weissman Recipes Chef
You can use it for searing, brazing, sautéing, simmering, and obviously frying. You can't do that with every pan.

use-case fit Uses it professionally How to Cook With Stainless Steel

Cites dishwasher safe, flavour impact, induction compatible, oven safe, stovetop compatibility, versatility

You don't have to do that with stainless steel. It's oven and dishwasher safe.
It's great for fish. It's great for vegetables. You can also cook gently in it.
you could easily just heat this pan back up. You don't even have to clean it yet, right? I've got tons of stuff in here. There's still flavor in this pan, right?
Searing, sautéing, developing a fond, and then removing the fond through delazing, making a sauce with that, putting it on top of our thing, and we have a final dish all with one pan.
17:34 supports Joshua Weissman speaking on Joshua Weissman Recipes Chef
wiping all of that out as much as possible with a paper towel will not only take away that sticky dryness, but it also gives it borderline a brand new factory shine again. It just works.

appearance Uses it professionally How to Cook With Stainless Steel

Cites surface finish

2:31 notes Joshua Weissman speaking on Joshua Weissman Recipes Chef
First, set it to around medium heat and just let it dry. I preheat for about 1 to 2 minutes.

performance Uses it professionally How to Cook With Stainless Steel

Cites heat control, heating speed, learning curve

That's all you really need to know about sticking. If it's sticking, let it sit in the pan longer. Either you started too cold or it's not done searing.
If the pan looks like it's starting to get too hot, just drop the temperature a little bit. You can fluctuate it however you need. That is the key to using stainless.