What Are Some General "Buy It For Life" (Durable) Items You Recommend?
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2642565
cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/2642502
So the idea of "buy it for life" is to buy items that are durable and last for a long time, things you could buy once and have your whole life, which can save money and be good for the environment
What are some of the top items you recommend for this?
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I tried to buy a BifL non-stick pan and found that it doesn't exist. Everything marketed as non-stick has some coating that will wear off and become useless. "But what about {brand that says it's not PTFE, PFOA, or PFAS}?" Yep them too. Look up sol-gel non-stick coating if you have ceramic non-stick. If you don't want to have to buy pans over and over again, you have to go stainless, cast iron or carbon steel. Cast iron enamelware is pretty good too, but isn't really non-stick. I'm in the process of finding stainless/cast-iron replacements for all my non-stick pans.
Carbon steel pans. You season and treat them like cast iron, but they develop a beautiful, smooth, non stick surface. I just made two over easy eggs in mine. They’re basically all I use anymore - no PFOx, no muss.
I thought I bought two from a French company that started with an ‘M’ but I can’t figure out which brand 😂
Matfer Bourgeat? I love my Darto plans and have also heard fantastic things about DeBuyer.
Yes! That’s it - Matfer. I think America’s Test Kitchen recommend them and I’d follow ATK off a cliff on kitchen advice. So far, the pans have been fantastic, but I can’t imagine there’s a whole lot to go wrong with a carbon steel pan.
Are they induction compatible? I'd love to get something like that that's induction compatible.
Sure are! They’re all steel.
Nice, I heard they need to be magnetic and the easy test is to use a magnet (naturally). I know my stainless isn't magnetic so I haven't tried to use that. I'll look into these, thanks!
I have a carbon steel wok that I love.
Bonus because any metal ions that do leach into the food are Iron which your body needs anyway.
Keep in mind nickel and chromium will leach from stainless steel. I'm not saying don't buy SS, just don't buy cheap cookware and consider an alternative if cooking something acidic, especially for extended periods of time.
Yeah I just kinda accept that even a really good a non stick is gonna eat it after a while but I've found with proper care they'll last a long time. That means no metal cooking tools and I even avoid really hard plastics. Definitely never use the dish washer and will opt for a long soak type of clean where I don't have to do any abrasive scrubbing. And then also just not cranking the heat ultra high. Someone else in this thread mentioned the thermal expansion thing and I really think that's true.
Sounds like you're on the right path, and I know you didn't ask, but just wanted to chime in. I love cooking, and have both stainless and cast iron skillets. The circlejerk for cast iron is strong, but I have to say, it's genuinely the best available non-stick pan once it's seasoned properly. I can make a perfect omelette, sear scallops, steaks, sautee vegetables, & use it as a pan for oven roasting chickens and roasts. I use it for bread baking as well. They're cheap (compared to clad cookware) and I'm not sure I could damage my pan even if I wanted to. They're extremely sturdy, and hold heat very well. I clean mine with cold water and a stiff bristle brush, dry, lightly oil (when it looks like it needs it) & it's ready to go.
Down side to cast iron pans is that they need some care in the initial seasoning stages, and it stinks up the house when you season them (do it outside on the bbq if you have one!). It's a bit messy to keep them oiled. They're heavy and not ergonomic. Can't use them to simmer acidic sauces because that actually will soften and strip the seasoning, so I use my stainless for that. Get one, season it correctly, and you'll never look back.
We use Fika pans at home and I believe they are ceramic. Will that wear off too? We've been using them for almost a year now and they have been great. It's a low bar though because prior to that we've always used cheap non-stick pans. lol
With ceramic coatings, it's not so much that they wear off, it's that repeated thermal expansion can cause extremely small fractures in the ceramic. These fractures create a surface that food or oil in the process of polymerization will stick to. Making sure you don't crank the heat too high is one way to keep your ceramic coating intact for longer.
Good to know, thanks! We're always conscious of the heat levels and make sure not to crank it up too high or keep it that way for prolonged periods.
They'll last you 5 - 8 years with care. Eventually they'll start sticking.
someone got me a pan called blue diamond or something from Walmart its an "as seen on TV" item but it truly necee sticks and id quite durable