Anyone have experience with Hexclad cookware? How durable is the cooking surface? Is "HexClad" a general name for a type of cookware that is sold by several different manufacturers?
Anyone have experience with Hexclad cookware? How durable is the cooking surface? Is "HexClad" a general name for a type of cookware that is sold by several different manufacturers?
No experience. I was very happy with my cast iron pans for a very long time (one was a wedding gift my grandmother received in 1915). Then we needed to convert to a very low fat diet for a time. Following a recommendation a few years ago on one of the cooking sites I follow I started buying the T-fal nonstick frying pans. They are extremely nice for the price ($42 for both a 10 and 12" pan last time I ordered), and when the nonstick surface gives up the ghost (as they all do, sooner or later) they can be recycled to the church rummage sale and replaced without much bad feeling. They have lasted 2-3 years in every day use. The surface actually lasted longer and worked better than the All-clad pans I spent a small fortune on, cooking performance was indistinguishable.
I find that product interesting, but because we have birds, we have to be EXTREMELY careful about specific non-stick materials. IE, must be PFTE and PFOA free. Unfortunately, PFTE is still used for many of these "super" non-stick products. So all of the non-stick I use is ceramic based can PFTE/PFOA free (all now Zwilling) and I use enameled cast iron heavily, too. (Staub) I buy stuff when it's on sale or clearance due to a blemish or when they are changing a handle design....whatever knocks the prices down.
I believe that the HexClad thing is a specific brand, but wouldn't be surprised if there is copying going on
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
I must live under a rock, as I hadn't even heard of HexClad. Obviously, I can't offer any experience. I still cook in authentic Griswold Cast Iron 95% of the time. Some of mine can from my Great Grandmother's when they broke up housekeeping. Like Roger's grandmother, she received it as a wedding gift in 1909. The newer cast iron just isn't the same, though I do have a couple of pieces. The texture/porosity is much coarser and they are much harder to care for.
Mostly cast iron here too. I have one coated non stick pan for cooking omelets. I’m careful only to use that pan for lower temperature cooking. My understanding is that the Teflon type coatings will last a long time unless you get them too hot.
The issue with PFTE coatings when they get too hot goes beyond durability...they release toxic fumes. But cooking with lower temps is a good thing when you can and eggs/omelettes are actually better done that way anyway in most cases. It lets them get fluffier and if you use butter, you'll have less issue with that fat with the lower heat.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Ive been hearing about this phenomenal new cookware.. no chemicals flaking off in your food, no wearing out and having to rebuy, lasts forever, and if you dont use a plastic spatula your even better off (this is a woodworking group after all). I cook sunny side up eggs that slide off with minimal butter/oil all the time. Its called cast iron. Cancer everywhere, MS, parkinsons, Lou Gherigs, run it on down the line. Its in the food people. Hard to get much cleaner. Couple wood cooking tools and 3-4 nice cast iron pans.. Jim seems to be in the "canary in the coal mine" camp... The birds may save your life
My cookware is of three types; cast iron (much of it is Griswold), spun steel (great for eggs and omelets) and Le Creuset. Much of the Le Creuset was purchased 40 to 50 years ago and is still going strong. It was much more reasonable back then. It was still on the expensive side but built to last. We recently purchased a new 5-1/2 qt & 2-1/2 qt dutch ovens. My old large one has lost the enamel coating on the inside bottom and one of our daughters left the small one in the back yard for a number of years. Both are still useable but we can currently afford a couple of new ones. Our youngest daughter wants the old ones for her kitchen.
The wooden handle on one of another brand has lost its threads. My hope is somehow a new handle can be threaded to work. It was used when it came to me about 50 years ago.
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Rob, I'm really pleased with the Staub. And as long as you can be flexible with colors, you can get really good deals when it's on sale or "blemish" stuff. I have The 12" skillet, the 12" square grill pan, the 13" "paiella" pan (which gets a lot of use, believe it or not, since it can fit 8 chicken thighs or a nice spatchcocked chicken or turkey breast on a small, low round rack, a 4 qt cocotte and a 1qt rice cooker. I like the brand name, but even Amazon has some nice buys on "basics" enameled cast iron. We have an 8 qt dutch oven from them.
Some folks may feel I have a, um....cookware problem....and that's not actually all of it...
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
It is kind of like hand saws or planes, it is always nice to have the right one/size for the job at hand.Some folks may feel I have a, um....cookware problem....and that's not actually all of it...
jtk
"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty."
- Sir Winston Churchill (1874-1965)
Something I learned cooking in restaurants. Once you get used to the right tools you can't have it any other way. At my house we have a selection of Griswold, Lodge, Le Creuset, All Clad D3, and Calphalon Non-Stick. If I had it to do all over again I'd go with All Clad D3, Le Creuset, and one decent non-stick egg pan
Sharp solves all manner of problems.
In my house, it is either AllClad or cast iron.