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FAVORITE POTS N PANS
I guarantee you that anyone who hangs out in the kitchen no
matter what their culinary skill level, will have a preference or favorite
cooking utensils. It doesn’t matter whether it belonged to Grandma,
Mom, a flee market purchase or a high dollar item with a ton of endorsements
that took you a couple years to pay off, you will find yourself
“digging” that favorite pot or pan out for daily or special occasion
usage.
Thirty or forty years ago, the selection of cooking utensils was not as
diverse as it is today and many of us still hang on to that treasured ole
cast iron “skillet” as they called it that still has the
natural “Teflon” coating brought about by the gradual build up
of sediments from frying all sorts of chicken, beef, pork, etc, with cooking
oil and fat that would clog up the arteries of a Mammoth or Godzilla.
Let’s don’t forget that Dutch oven that has seen many a Beef and Brunswick
stew and the occasional Chicken stew flavored with wild game and maybe a
chunk of side meat from a fresh killed hog added for seasoning!
Then along came the non-stick and easier to clean frying pans which the life
span was much shorter than the cast iron ones because a few scratches from a
metal spatula or “flipper” quickly sent that pan to land fill,
not to mention no good iron oxide from the cast iron skillet but now the
non-biodegradable Teflon making its way through your digestive track.
Not to be outdone, aluminum cookware was a big hit to and without some type
of special laminated ply bottom such copper, stainless steel and heavy
aluminum, they had “hot spots” and would stick like crazy.
Since we are now on an apparent cookware journey maybe leading up to
something, a few companies had the bright idea of combing the best of
several schools of thought, stainless steel and aluminum to produce a
product that heated evenly, fast, fairly non-stick and cleans very easy with
only soap and water and the biggest selling point, “Waterless Cookware”
with the idea of cooking healthier. Look no further than Townecraft
and several other companies got on the band wagon as well. Those
cookware sets were mostly sold at Pot Parties, not the later pot or
marijuana the 60’s generation introduced but the cookware pots…go ahead and
grin because I know you are anyway!
The draw back to these cookware sets was the expense running from around 800
dollars in the mid 1970’s for a complete set and now running from 1500 to
5500 bucks for a complete set, I know because we have a set. My bride
of 40 years and myself were invited to one of those pot parties, not the
smoking stuff and I told her before I left we could not afford a
set and you guessed it, I was the one that was sold on the spot; seeing was
believing and we might have cooked waterless for a month or two before going
back to the conventional style of cooking. That set of Townecraft pots and
pans are still in usage today however you can get just as good a pot or pan
from Wal-Mart by the name of Tramontia costing much less that will
perform just as well and has the multi-laminations as the Townecraft.
Any person starting today can purchase a complete outfit for a couple
hundred dollars. For example: The enclosed pix is of a Tramontia
multi-purpose pot for pasta, steaming, boiling, frying, etc. and costs less
than 40 dollars:
I would recommend this pot to anyone and it does just as good as the
Townecraft steamer basket/pot, etc. This pot/basket gets usage for any
pasta item and steamed vegetables like cabbage and corn on the
cob…beautimous stuff! Drawback, might be too small for a very large
family.
Not taking away from the Townecraft, their electric skillet which has
silicone between the bottom laminations gets used regularly for any type of
cubed steak, fried chicken, etc. and the lid will seal so tight you have to
pry it open when you allow the pan temperature to drop. The trick is
simply let it heat back up a little and the skillet will release the seal.
This is one of the most used skillets from the Townecraft set and the only
draw back is its size. Townecraft now has a 13 inch electric skillet
available but can’t see the cash outlay…it would be nice when cooking for
more than 3 or 4 people. The bottom of the Townecraft is five (5)
laminations thick and the sides are three (3) laminations with stainless
steel outer and inner with a layer of aluminum sandwiched in between for
even heat distribution. Pix below:
My next most used and favorite frying pan is a 13 inch Townecraft skillet;
this one will break the bank in cost unless you host a pot party;
remember cooking utensils not the plant type of party! Host a
pot party and the 400 dollar retail pan is yours free, otherwise dig up 250
bucks…my bride said I had lost my mind when I purchased that frying pan
several years back. She was probably right too but quality
comes at a premium cost most of the time! It has the same type
waterless seal lid as well.
Winding this journey down, I can’t help but add a pix of my three (3) dollar
omelet pan by Farberware that I purchased at an auction sale in Morven, NC
and was offered double my money before I left the sale. That was in
the early 80’s and it is used about every few days or weekly. Pix
enclosed:
I will insert pixs of a couple small sauce pots I also use about daily and
weekly for sure. It is just my bride and myself so we prepare much
less proportions that we use to and it is hard to down size just for two
people since most recipes are geared for about 4 to 6. The little pot
on the left is by Farberware and the right pix is a Townecraft.
So there you have it, some of my favorite pots n pans. On a
positive note, Townecraft donates used pots and pans they take in on trade
or donations and offer them free of charge to people that have house fires
and in need. Some of the recipe selections within this section will
have a pix or two of the above pots n pans in use.
It is no doubt I am domesticated as my good friend John Gaddy reminds me
once in a while when I decline going to an archery or gun shop because of
other things scheduled and he just celebrated his 67th birthday and has
never been married. My "bride" and myself are still friends
after 40 years of marriage. Now grin on that statement!
Bill aka Mickey Porter 08-21-08
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