Hexclad (and cookware thread) (1 Viewer)

[DA RAIDERS]

A good non stick is essential for certain things,

While I understand your point, I disagree. No good Restaurant carries nonstick pans. They’re not essential. Now are they convenient, absolutely. And I have them in my home kitchen. But I view them as disposable, buy a cheapish nonstick, use it for a year or two throw it away and start over.

For the home cook they are essential. And I have been in plenty of restaurants that use non stick for egg and fish dishes

I was in the business for over twenty years and never once saw a non-stick pan in any of the restaurants I worked at or visited. In addition, I have family that have been in the restaurant biz longer than I and they've never seen a non-stick pan in a restaurant kitchen, either. While it's possible there are restaurants out there that use non-stick, my experience tells me it's certainly not "plenty" of them.

True. My restaurant also has a team of 2-3 dishwashers. One is devoted strictly to pots and pans and all the heavy work that doesn’t go through the machine. at home, that’s me. We cook with both. Mostly non stick or cast iron

I certainly don’t want to belabor the point, but in my experience (coming up on 30yrs in Food and Beverage running or owning restaurants and food service kitchens, overseeing 35 currently) non-stick is not thing. I’m sure there are exceptions, as there is for anything, but the non-durable nature of them make them impractical to any scale in a busy kitchen. An omelette station at a hotel or brunch spot? Sure. But again that’s an exception.

Agreed. For heavy use, non stick is not the way to go

What do you recommend for knives? All Victorinox?

There many good brands. Like the pans, you can buy a cheap set every few years or spend money on a nice set. Victorinox are good. Wusthof, Henkel, Global, etc. various Japanese brands.

 

[dkp993]

A good non stick is essential for certain things,

While I understand your point, I disagree. No good Restaurant carries nonstick pans. They’re not essential. Now are they convenient, absolutely. And I have them in my home kitchen. But I view them as disposable, buy a cheapish nonstick, use it for a year or two throw it away and start over.

For the home cook they are essential. And I have been in plenty of restaurants that use non stick for egg and fish dishes

I was in the business for over twenty years and never once saw a non-stick pan in any of the restaurants I worked at or visited. In addition, I have family that have been in the restaurant biz longer than I and they've never seen a non-stick pan in a restaurant kitchen, either. While it's possible there are restaurants out there that use non-stick, my experience tells me it's certainly not "plenty" of them.

True. My restaurant also has a team of 2-3 dishwashers. One is devoted strictly to pots and pans and all the heavy work that doesn’t go through the machine. at home, that’s me. We cook with both. Mostly non stick or cast iron

I certainly don’t want to belabor the point, but in my experience (coming up on 30yrs in Food and Beverage running or owning restaurants and food service kitchens, overseeing 35 currently) non-stick is not thing. I’m sure there are exceptions, as there is for anything, but the non-durable nature of them make them impractical to any scale in a busy kitchen. An omelette station at a hotel or brunch spot? Sure. But again that’s an exception.

Agreed. For heavy use, non stick is not the way to go

What do you recommend for knives? All Victorinox?

There many good brands. Like the pans, you can buy a cheap set every few years or spend money on a nice set. Victorinox are good. Wusthof, Henkel, Global, etc. various Japanese brands.

I’m assuming you’re asking for your home. If so DR is correct.

I transitioned from an average Costco block set to Shun’s about 15yrs ago. Bought 1 great knife a year (started with an 8inch Chef knife) and have never looked back. Love my knife’s. My original 8inch is still my work horse knife (use it pretty much every day) and it’s still in fantastic shape. Some wet stone work a couple times a year and they’re as good as new.

 

[joker]

A good non stick is essential for certain things,

While I understand your point, I disagree. No good Restaurant carries nonstick pans. They’re not essential. Now are they convenient, absolutely. And I have them in my home kitchen. But I view them as disposable, buy a cheapish nonstick, use it for a year or two throw it away and start over.

For the home cook they are essential. And I have been in plenty of restaurants that use non stick for egg and fish dishes

I was in the business for over twenty years and never once saw a non-stick pan in any of the restaurants I worked at or visited. In addition, I have family that have been in the restaurant biz longer than I and they've never seen a non-stick pan in a restaurant kitchen, either. While it's possible there are restaurants out there that use non-stick, my experience tells me it's certainly not "plenty" of them.

True. My restaurant also has a team of 2-3 dishwashers. One is devoted strictly to pots and pans and all the heavy work that doesn’t go through the machine. at home, that’s me. We cook with both. Mostly non stick or cast iron

I certainly don’t want to belabor the point, but in my experience (coming up on 30yrs in Food and Beverage running or owning restaurants and food service kitchens, overseeing 35 currently) non-stick is not thing. I’m sure there are exceptions, as there is for anything, but the non-durable nature of them make them impractical to any scale in a busy kitchen. An omelette station at a hotel or brunch spot? Sure. But again that’s an exception.

Agreed. For heavy use, non stick is not the way to go

Definitely. I'm amazed at how many times pans get used in an average shift. Used for an order, hit the dish pit, then right back on the line for the next dish it's needed for. Non-stick just can't stand up to the repeated use.

 

[Instinctive]

A good non stick is essential for certain things,

While I understand your point, I disagree. No good Restaurant carries nonstick pans. They’re not essential. Now are they convenient, absolutely. And I have them in my home kitchen. But I view them as disposable, buy a cheapish nonstick, use it for a year or two throw it away and start over.

For the home cook they are essential. And I have been in plenty of restaurants that use non stick for egg and fish dishes

I was in the business for over twenty years and never once saw a non-stick pan in any of the restaurants I worked at or visited. In addition, I have family that have been in the restaurant biz longer than I and they've never seen a non-stick pan in a restaurant kitchen, either. While it's possible there are restaurants out there that use non-stick, my experience tells me it's certainly not "plenty" of them.

True. My restaurant also has a team of 2-3 dishwashers. One is devoted strictly to pots and pans and all the heavy work that doesn’t go through the machine. at home, that’s me. We cook with both. Mostly non stick or cast iron

I certainly don’t want to belabor the point, but in my experience (coming up on 30yrs in Food and Beverage running or owning restaurants and food service kitchens, overseeing 35 currently) non-stick is not thing. I’m sure there are exceptions, as there is for anything, but the non-durable nature of them make them impractical to any scale in a busy kitchen. An omelette station at a hotel or brunch spot? Sure. But again that’s an exception.

Agreed. For heavy use, non stick is not the way to go

What do you recommend for knives? All Victorinox?

There many good brands. Like the pans, you can buy a cheap set every few years or spend money on a nice set. Victorinox are good. Wusthof, Henkel, Global, etc. various Japanese brands.

I’m assuming you’re asking for your home. If so DR is correct.

I transitioned from an average Costco block set to Shun’s about 15yrs ago. Bought 1 great knife a year (started with an 8inch Chef knife) and have never looked back. Love my knife’s. My original 8inch is still my work horse knife (use it pretty much every day) and it’s still in fantastic shape. Some wet stone work a couple times a year and they’re as good as new.

We have mostly Wusthof and yeah that's what I was looking for. I recently got a wet stone and need to learn how to use it! So far we ship them to Wusthof once or twice a year for sharpening.

 

[gianmarco]

Considering buying these to use for everything. Received a Hexclad wok as a gift last year and I've liked how it cooks and how easy it is to clean. However, I'm curious if anyone here has some of these and their thoughts. Some reviews are great, others at reddit not so much. I'm surprised a search for Hexclad brings up absolutely nothing here.

We have mostly Calphalon stuff right now and I've never really liked it, have had to have several pans and pots replaced over the years (at least they honor the lifetime warranty), and finally looking to move on. The other recommended option I'm seeing is All-Clad, which I'm open to getting, but haven't ever really used stainless steel for most of my daily cooking.

I have a cast iron skillet I use. I have a dutch oven. This is for pots and pans for most daily cooking.

So, let's hear it.

LOVE our All-Clad stuff. Got it in our wedding registry, and it is amazing and running full steam. I kind of expect it to last forever. It's very versatile, it looks great, and it cooks amazing. I've added more all-clad stuff over time because it's so good (like I wanted a saucier in addition to our saucepans to get better whisking for some dishes).

I tried hex clad at a friend's once, so very small sample, but it felt like it wasn't as non stick as the simple calphalon pan I use for eggs (legit only use it for eggs and potstickers, nothing else ever lol) or as an all clad heated up and then with cold oil added (like you should!).

If you do super hot stuff (like sear, or very high heat oven), all-clad seems better.

Decided on getting this set

With a 15% off coupon, that's going to be tough to beat for $700 total and that quality. Hopefully the last time I ever have to buy these.

I think that's exactly what I have. LOVE them. When I'm home, use daily. I can't speak to lifetime, but they are (although a little less clean, I need to do a good Barkeep's Friend cleaning) basically in the same 100% condition as when purchased in spite of heavy use so they're good for at least 6 years lol.

Set came in a few days ago. In terms of price, especially with the rest of their stuff, this set in particular is ridiculously "low" for what you get.

So far, I'm in love with these pans. There is definitely a learning curve. It took me a few attempts just to fry an egg and not stick. I had already watched a few videos and even still, there's little things you can do wrong and it doesn't go well. But now, after fixing those mistakes, it's simple and no issues at all.

Made the best steak I've ever made last night (have used cast iron previously). The pots and pans are gorgeous. I've actually used every piece already so this set has everything I need and nothing I don't.

The only other downside is that SOME of the cleaning can take longer. Using Barkeeper's Friend and you still have to scrub more than I've had to with other stuff for the staining that happens near the top of each pan, but the rest of it is super simple to clean and looks brand new each time it's done.

 

[Dan Lambskin]

I’ve pretty much purged anything nonstick. We still have a cuisinart brand chicken fryer but that’s about it

I primarily use my cast iron skillet (also have a small one)
Martha Stewart Dutch oven is probably my next most used
Have a newer Chef king carbon steel griddle, still getting the hang of that (we have the glass cooktop so not ideal)

Have several other stainless pots and pans I use mainly just for veggies or boiling stuff

 

[Kanil]

A good non stick is essential for certain things,

While I understand your point, I disagree. No good Restaurant carries nonstick pans. They’re not essential. Now are they convenient, absolutely. And I have them in my home kitchen. But I view them as disposable, buy a cheapish nonstick, use it for a year or two throw it away and start over.

For the home cook they are essential. And I have been in plenty of restaurants that use non stick for egg and fish dishes

I was in the business for over twenty years and never once saw a non-stick pan in any of the restaurants I worked at or visited. In addition, I have family that have been in the restaurant biz longer than I and they've never seen a non-stick pan in a restaurant kitchen, either. While it's possible there are restaurants out there that use non-stick, my experience tells me it's certainly not "plenty" of them.

True. My restaurant also has a team of 2-3 dishwashers. One is devoted strictly to pots and pans and all the heavy work that doesn’t go through the machine. at home, that’s me. We cook with both. Mostly non stick or cast iron

I certainly don’t want to belabor the point, but in my experience (coming up on 30yrs in Food and Beverage running or owning restaurants and food service kitchens, overseeing 35 currently) non-stick is not thing. I’m sure there are exceptions, as there is for anything, but the non-durable nature of them make them impractical to any scale in a busy kitchen. An omelette station at a hotel or brunch spot? Sure. But again that’s an exception.

Agreed. For heavy use, non stick is not the way to go

What do you recommend for knives? All Victorinox?

There many good brands. Like the pans, you can buy a cheap set every few years or spend money on a nice set. Victorinox are good. Wusthof, Henkel, Global, etc. various Japanese brands.

We've had a set of Wusthof knives for 15 years and love them.