I also go with pyrex. Love the option of being able to order replacement lids if needed.

Excellent, thanks!

Those are the two things I figured would be worth the up cost lol. Good to know it isn't needed!

Luckily for us it wasn’t due to their cast iron maintenance and use habits

Pretty much all I was doing is rinsing it with water + scraping it with a metal spatula to get things that were stuck on, off. With a tiny bit of oil in the pan and medium heat I'd still get food sticking to it that I'd need to deglaze.

Once again I'll try and just reiterate how much I disliked cooking with it;

• A 12 inch lodge skillet is heavy. I have a ceramic sink, and a glass hob. Not ideal.
• Waiting for it to heat up
• Dealing with it whe it's hot
• Oil and paper towels and dirty tea towels
• Food sticking unless you've perfectly seasoned it over several rounds in the oven

With my Tramontina pan, I just don't really need to care about any of that. I take it out, put it on the hob, it's warm in about 60 seconds and none of my food sticks even with very high heat. Eggs? Sure. Stir fry? Sure. Pancakes? Ofcourse.

If I want to be lazy and leave it with food in on the countertop I can. I don't need to be cautious about acidic foods. Washing it is easy because I don't have to care about water and oil and heating it back up afterwards and stuff.

I dunno - you Americans really love your cast iron, but I've spent £25 on Amazon for a non-stick pan that brings me great joy when cooking and I don't have to fuck about.

I know this is the buy it for life sub and I'm all for that, but I'd honestly just get an All Clad or Made In stainless steel set if I wanted something BIFL for the kitchen. Yes, cast iron skillets are BIFL, but they're a pain in the arse in my opinion. I'm happy to shell out some extra money to avoid all that. I don't want to spend a certain % of my time on this earth caring for a piece of metal just so I can prepare a meal. I have other stuff to spend time on.

I’m not sure they’ve been around long enough to know if they’re BIFL. I bought some Stasher and I bought another brand set at Costco. The Stasher are better. Better sealing and more options for shapes and functions. I love the ability to microwave, boil, refrigerate or freeze in them as well as dry storage. Dishwasher safe. Great for travel stuff outside the kitchen. I do feel like I’m getting my money’s worth and I cut waaaaaay back on disposable plastic (I still will use for a few use cases). So they are a bit pricey but I’m 18 months in and no regrets.

Nordicware sheet pans and Bundt cake molds.

BEST whisks! Made in Portland, Oregon.

I have a few but they’re not my favorite. The quality is good. My trouble is with the shape and how bulky the zipper part is. Just kinda awkward.

That's fair. Do you have glass food storage recommendations?

Glass containers over bags

Loved those guys growing up.

Man get that thing off the road. It's a hazard to the rest of us

As a little kid the Tonka Construction pc game was excellent.

The original non stick

Good tip! But since I have two swing lines I won’t need another one for my life but I’ll Ez-DUZ-It for gifts!

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It kinda sounds like it's not actually seasoned properly, or you're being a bit over zealous with the cleaning. I use mine most days, keep it mostly clean with a metal scraper and then empty the bits/wipe down with oil and a paper towel while it's still warm - no washing unless it really needs it (like after saucy tomatoes or something acidic) but even then it's a swish in the sink and then back on a hot plate to warm itself dry. You don't want to do a full soapy sink and scrub on the cast iron, it'll pull away all the seasoning and leave you with rust.

When oiling them you need to consider the polymerization that happens and make sure you're using an oil that will create that seasoned coating for the temperature you use most - I use flax oil because it's easy to get and has a super high smoke point, but there are plenty of other options. I abuse the living daylights out of my cast iron and it's been amazing. Everyone has their own preferences though, and cast iron simply doesn't suit some peoples style or methods of cooking.

Having said that, I do have my eye on an All Clad pan, I find the cast iron can be a bit much for slower cooking/delicate foods like white fish or pancakes.

I really like this garlic press from ikea. I've had it for about 5 years now and it's the best one I've ever had. https://www.ikea.com/us/en/p/koncis-garlic-press-stainless-steel-00089163/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwn9CgBhDjARIsAD15h0BLMLtmcyaCh0W3Pn1mhrBENTb09ZvMns_BtxcmrBow2JMyA_Fd0-gaAkscEALw_wcB

That Kirby vacuum is BIFL

It’s been mentioned here, but the KitchenAid mixer cannot be mentioned enough. I inherited my mom’s - it’s about 40 years old and still works like a charm.

I rinse mine with hot water, wipe it with a paper towel, get it hot again and then a few min later when it’s cooled wipe some oil on it. I can cook cheesy eggs and it never sticks. You are way over doing it.

They also died at 35

I have a set of pampered chef bamboo utensils that I’ve used almost every day for the last fifteen years and they’re going strong. Looks like they still sell them but my set has six and three are more squared off bamboo spoons

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