which saucepans to buy?

nuatha

My frying pan is literally a family heirloom, it was a wedding present for my Grandmother in the 1930s. Solid cast iron with a turned wood handle (which I'll be replacing this year, and was replaced once before in the early 70s) and weighing just under 3Kg (6.5lbs) I expect it will do another generation or three after me. Unfortunately I've never found anything of similar quality, but think it would be worth trying a modern equivalent, but can't imagine it would be cheap. Due to its weight we also have a light modern non-stick omlette pan as OH finds the cast iron too heavy to use (£2-3 from Wilkinsons). Cast iron needs seasoning and minimal use of detergent, but quickly becomes non stick and unlike teflon coated pans, simply reseason to restore the non-stick nature of the pan.

My saucepans are a lot more modern, Prestige Stainless Steel (18/10) with riveted and welded steel handles, good workhorses that I can't fault. These were actually car boot and charity shop finds, and replaced supposedly good quality pans with screw handles - the screws weaken with use and suddenly you have a dangerous pan full of hot liquid.

Over the years I've used a fairly large variety of pans, and now tend to avoid non stick coatings - they wear out and start flaking. Enamel gets chipped (though I've friends who swear by Le Creuset) I prefer stainless steel, because it continues to look pristine and have already mentioned the handle thing. I've found that heavier pans (at a given size) seem to be better quality but often seem to turn up at boot sales or in charity shops because a lot of people seem to prefer light pans.

HTH

squeaky

Hiya

This thread may help... which saucepans to buy?

I'll add your query to it later.

Idiophreak

I bought some of the Sainsburys cook's collection saucepans in the January sale (60% off iirc) and am very impressed so far. I've had the wok for a couple of years (£4, another sale ) and that's still going strong. Set of tefal frying pans I bought 3 years ago, however, are on their last legs now...

rachbc

I have givne up buying espensive non stick as i don't find it any better than cheaper ones. I have a couple of cast iron skillets - one seasoned, one enammelled (like Le Creueset but cheaper) plus a cheap light john lewis non stick pan for eggs etc. I also have a lovely straigh sided saute pan from ikea whcih I am very pleased with - heats evenly and the non stick is holding up well - its doing better than the £100 stellar one it replaced!

I also have a set of Stellar steel pans - not non stick but always scrub up well and a le creueset oval casserole. I'd like another small round casserole too. My casserole has chipped when I dropped a lid in it but its still functioning perfectly well

Ben84

I'm very happy with my Tefal thermospot frying pan, had it years and still like new. You can buy them for under £20 so not greatly expensive. I use it often, including at high temperatures to fry popadoms and the non-stick works well, omelets and pancakes are easy to make. It does say you can use metal utensils, but I stick to wooden ones as they're just as effective and cannot damage the finish.

seasideshack

I buy the Ikea £1 frying pans, I have three at the moment. They are brilliant, last ages and cheap to replace once worn out. I had the last ones for over two years and recently replaced them.

anguk

seasideshack wrote: »

I buy the Ikea £1 frying pans, I have three at the moment. They are brilliant, last ages and cheap to replace once worn out. I had the last ones for over two years and recently replaced them.

I wish they would work on induction hobs because I would buy them. I was looking at some Tefal ones the other day, they were £25, if I could use the Ikea ones and they only lasted a year it would still work out cheaper than the Tefal pan because I can't see that lasting 25 years!

Alison_Funnell

anguk wrote: »

I wish they would work on induction hobs because I would buy them. I was looking at some Tefal ones the other day, they were £25, if I could use the Ikea ones and they only lasted a year it would still work out cheaper than the Tefal pan because I can't see that lasting 25 years!

I so agree. I have given up on tefal as a company.

sam.4000

Ben84 wrote: »

I'm very happy with my Tefal thermospot frying pan, had it years and still like new. You can buy them for under £20 so not greatly expensive. I use it often, including at high temperatures to fry popadoms and the non-stick works well, omelets and pancakes are easy to make. It does say you can use metal utensils, but I stick to wooden ones as they're just as effective and cannot damage the finish.

I have had one and would also recommend it. Fantastic for dry frying and nothing ever sticks.

Flora_Poste

I've just counted and we have seven frying pans which is quite ridiculous. I've binned three but we do use the rest. The best ones are a Morso mid sized one that's like new after fifteen years regular use and a huge M and S one that was a wedding present even longer ago. I don't like non stick ones but we do have one which will be replaced every few years ( and must remember to actually clear out the old ones).

I agree with the others. Buy expensive or cheap and replace accordingly.

I'm not sure what Lakeland have but I've recently upgraded to their bakeware and it's wonderfull quality.