Grotewold wrote:

JUburton wrote:

Grotewold wrote:I ate dinner on a boat

dang

best I've ever had

and we didn't even add the LIQUID SMOKE

I am intrigued. I love my smoker, and turbo ribs (90 minutes) don’t take that long while having a good smoky flavor.

With the Insta pot, I would absolutely skip the liquid smoke, it always taste like gasoline me.

What's a good all purpose pot and pan set? My mother in law cooks most days, but we don't need anything super fancy. I will spend money for good quality that lasts though.

lethal wrote:What's a good all purpose pot and pan set? My mother in law cooks most days, but we don't need anything super fancy. I will spend money for good quality that lasts though.

Does it have to be a set? Getting the right mix of pans for your use in a set is going to be difficult and expensive. Most sets will be all one kind of material (e.g. all stainless steel, all non-stick aluminum, etc.) which will not be ideal.

Here are the pans I use regularly:

5-qt non-stick aluminum saute (wide, flat-bottomed, straight-sided pan with a long handle and a helper handle opposite). Probably my all-around most used pan. I use this for browning meats and making all sorts of sauces and other dishes. $35 at Costco.
4-qt non-stick aluminum wok/saucier (wide, flared sides and rounded bottom, with a long handle). Use for stir-frys, and sauces and dishes that require constant stirring. I've had this so long I don't know how much it cost but probably around $35-40.
10-qt stainless steel stock pot. Use for boiling pasta, making large soups and stews. This is a good pot to go cheap on; spending a ton for a copper (or even aluminum) disk bottom is a waste of money. I think mine was around $30 at Costco a number of years ago. An 8-qt would probably do most people just fine and would be cheaper. Non-stick is totally pointless for a stockpot.
1-, 2-, and 3-qt stainless steel saucepans. Mine are from a cheap set purchased over 15 years ago and they're... OK. I use them mainly for cooking rice or sauces that aren't super delicate, as they have crappy solid steel bottoms that are likely to have hot spots, and the inside bottom has tight corners so it's difficult to get a whisk in to effectively stir. These are the pans I'll likely upgrade next, going for copper or aluminum disk bottoms and more rounded insides. Of these I use the 2-qt the most by far and the 3-qt the least. I don't know how much equivalent pans to what I have would cost but not much as they're cheap pans; maybe $25-30.
8-, 9- and 10-inch non-stick aluminum skillets. Use for eggs and egg dishes such as omelets and frittatas. These can be purchased as a set for probably ~$25.

I think that these could all be purchased for under $200 total but you might have to look around at different stores to find the right items. Note that non-stick aluminum, at least the traditional PFTE coated kind, is not going to last forever and unfortunately should be considered disposable (you should still care for it appropriately by using plastic or wood utensils and avoiding abrasive cleaners).

Other cookware I have used a lot in the past:

Cast iron skillets. I have a 9-inch and a 10-inch and used them frequently until I moved; I now have a glass-top electric range and am loathe to use these lest they scratch the surface. However if you have a traditional electric or gas range they're awesome for searing meats, and are great for stovetop to oven recipes. They require seasoning and care when cleaning to protect the seasoning.
Enameled cast iron pot. I had a 7-qt oval braising pot which was great for browning meat and then cooking dishes like stews, chili, curries, etc. I got a cheap one (~$50 at HomeGoods) which was broken in a fall and never replaced but I miss that pot all the time.

if you're not a serious cook but want durable cookware at reasonable pricing then get the following

OXO Good Grips Non-Stick 12-inch Open Frypan ($40) (for a non-stick this should last you close to 5 years, its worth the extra $ I cook with it frequently for over 2 years and only minor tiny scratches and no chipping)
Cuisinart 12-Inch MultiClad Pro Skillet ($70) (youll need this for recipes that require deglazing)
(then find a nice lid for 12 inch skillets)
Cuisinart Chef’s Classic Enameled Cast Iron Covered Casserole 7qt ($75) (as much as I love my Le Crueset, this is a very good dutch oven alternative for the money, you can use it to boil water for pasta, make stews, soups, etc)
for sauce pans, determine what you think you'll need of a small, medium or large and Cuisinart Multiclad are good pans (altho not as good as All-clad but that's very expensive) the large is only $65 (vs $230 for All-clad)
for sheet pans Nordic Ware Baker’s Half Sheet are only $15/ea and excellent quality
Williams Sonoma Goldtouch Nonstick Rectangular Cake Pan, 9" x 13" ($33) will outperform any pyrex for casseroles and is a great baking pan for brownies and such

Cat Iron skillet is always a nice option but most people dont know how to care for one
8inch skillets are ok if you are cooking for one, otherwise its usually not needed
skip the big stock pot since the dutch oven will double for that

let me know if you need more bakeware tips

i used a Wolfgang Puck QVC stainless steel set very successfully for a lot of years. Still use a few pieces of it pretty regularly and they all work very well[Stock Pot, Large and Small Sauce pot, high straight sided large pan(sauce pan?!) and even the 'wok' works OK]. I can't vouch for the current quality of the cookware being produced today but the set i have works very well for me.

i've upgraded my skillets to All-Clad skillets though(10" and 12") and run through frying pans at a manic pace. Our calphalon non sticks only lasted seemingly a year. My Analon non stock pan lasted maybe 2 years. I'd go with others suggestions on non-stick pans cause i chew 'em up.

used to use Lodge cast-iron skillets, but we now have a glass top and i'm terrified.

jamiethekiller wrote: and even the 'wok' works OK

wok pans aren't as effective for home cooks than for restaurants because American stove tops (even with gas) aren't designed to hold them properly, the wok needs to nestle in a holder where the flame comes up the sides. Generally speaking you are much better off separating your items in a stir fry by sauteeing them at high heat in a non-stick, removing and placing in a bowl and recombining everything after the sauce is created at the end to warm (ie cook meat, remove, cook veggies, remove, make sauce add all in back in)

and a stainless steel skillet should last a lifetime with proper cleaning and care

try the oxo nonstick I mentioned Jaimie- you know I cook a lot and it's still going strong

The Crimson Cyclone wrote:

jamiethekiller wrote: and even the 'wok' works OK

wok pans aren't as effective for home cooks than for restaurants because American stove tops (even with gas) aren't designed to hold them properly, the wok needs to nestle in a holder where the flame comes up the sides. Generally speaking you are much better off separating your items in a stir fry by sauteeing them at high heat in a non-stick, removing and placing in a bowl and recombining everything after the sauce is created at the end to warm (ie cook meat, remove, cook veggies, remove, make sauce add all in back in)

this is how we do it...

sounds good Montell

The Crimson Cyclone wrote:sounds good Montell

don't knock my Montell pressure cooker!

your pressure cooker from South Central LA?

straight outta calphalon

Thanks guys!

Grotewold wrote:These garlic mushroom chicken thighs are super easy and delicious

Made these last night. Even the toddler liked it. Next time I’m going to put the skillet in the oven when you put the chicken back in

I have to do weekend duties here a few times a year and I can either set up some activity for the kids to do (can be on campus or off) or they will assign me to some random activity, which could be something mundane like roving duty (walking around campus to make sure nothing crazy is happening) or chaperoning a trip to somewhere. I've decided I would use the teaching kitchen this time to show kids how to make spicy Korean fish soup.

Once I decide how I'm going to make it with what ingredients are available, I'll post the recipe here.

i've been using a $20 Fred Meyer(west coast Wal-Mart) knife for 3 years. I finally have some money for a knife. Anyone a a recommendation for something in the 50-100$ range?

SK790 wrote:i've been using a $20 Fred Meyer(west coast Wal-Mart) knife for 3 years. I finally have some money for a knife. Anyone a a recommendation for something in the 50-100$ range?

The knife I use for about 90% of my knife work is a Gyuto, a Japanese version of the typical western Chef's knife. It's 240mm which is 9.4 inches vs the typical 8-inch western knife, which I was afraid initially would be unwieldy but it's actually considerably lighter than my 8-inch Henckels so I've found it to actually be easier to use on the whole. It lacks a rear bolster, the bit of thick metal at the bottom-rear of the blade that is supposed to add stiffness and protect your fingers but in fact mainly makes sharpening awkward and prevents using the entire length of the blade. It is a thinner and harder steel than a western knife so it is not good for certain tasks, e.g. hacking through a chicken carcass, or it would be likely to chip, but I use my Henckels for that.

The specific knife I have is this: Kanetsugu Pro M Series Gyuto 240mm. I can vouch for this site; I've ordered several knifes from them and they usually arrive within a week or so despite coming from Japan.

I use a 1994 Ginsu, OJ Simpson model

Victorinox Swiss Army Fibrox Pro 8" Chef's Knife

only about $40 and better than most $200 knifes