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The pilot episode of The French Chef, Julia Child's show, in 1962 was making an omelette with butter in a steel pan. But why not use non-stick? After that ori

by dkarl 7y ago

The pilot episode of The French Chef, Julia Child's show, in 1962 was making an omelette with butter in a steel pan. But why not use non-stick? After that original 1962 show, she uses a nonstick pan in all the other videos I've seen. I think we have a tendency to assume the hard way produces the best results, but in this case I don't think there's any reason to think so. Julia Child 1962, steel (PBS paywall): https://www.pbs.org/video/the-french-omlette-llslnf/ https://www.pbs.org/video/the-french-omlette-llslnf/ Julia Child 1980, nonstick (she specifically says you should use a nonstick pan): https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/13-1980-julia-child-cooks-omelet-46889625 https://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/13-1980-julia-child-cooks-o... Jacques Pepin, nonstick (says nonstick is "ideal") : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1XoCQm5JSQz https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1XoCQm5JSQz

ip26 7y ago
Avoidance of non-stick is usually more about the health concerns of Teflon. Yes, we think it's safe as long as you never overheat it and never scratch it and never let it get to old and always ventilate your kitchen and... Far simpler to just avoid it, and it turns out few things really require non-stick anyway. (eggs are one)
- KozmoNau7 7y ago
  Eggs don't require a nonstick pan. They require a well-seasoned pan and proper heat control over both pan and fat. A nonstick pan is a shortcut, which can become a crutch that lets you get away with very sloppy technique. And they wear out quickly, losing their nonstick properties.
  - dkarl 7y ago
    This is just inventing difficulties. You need better technique splitting wood with a shovel than an axe, better technique writing web services in C than in Go, better technique storing your data in files instead of Postgres. Good nonstick pans last for years of daily use, unless you're in a restaurant kitchen making a hundred omelettes per day. And even restaurants use nonstick pans for some things, though they use them as little as possible because for efficiency they prefer equipment that can take a lot of abuse. A home cook making a couple of meals per day and not abusing their equipment should never have to buy a second nonstick pan. (Hence the never-ending attempts to persuade you that there's something superior to upgrade to. You're lost to them as a consumer if you realize that what you have will adequately express your cooking skills for the rest of your life.) Everything useful becomes a crutch, and except as fodder for micro-mastery, there's no reason to do something the hard way for the same results.
    - KozmoNau7 7y ago
      I've never had a nonstick pan last more than 2 years at the most. They were the good Tefal pans, and I only ever used wood and plastic utensils in them. Even cleaning them by hand, they would lose their slippery nature and eventually the coating started flaking off. In contrast, my carbon steel pan was less expensive, has so far held up to over a decade of use and is nonstick enough that any difference is negligible. The only thing it can't do well is simmering acidic sauces, but for those I've got stainless steel pots and an enameled cast iron pan.

by dkarl 7y ago

ip26 7y ago

Avoidance of non-stick is usually more about the health concerns of Teflon. Yes, we think it's safe as long as you never overheat it and never scratch it and never let it get to old and always ventilate your kitchen and... Far simpler to just avoid it, and it turns out few things really require non-stick anyway. (eggs are one)

KozmoNau7 7y ago
Eggs don't require a nonstick pan. They require a well-seasoned pan and proper heat control over both pan and fat. A nonstick pan is a shortcut, which can become a crutch that lets you get away with very sloppy technique. And they wear out quickly, losing their nonstick properties.
- dkarl 7y ago
  This is just inventing difficulties. You need better technique splitting wood with a shovel than an axe, better technique writing web services in C than in Go, better technique storing your data in files instead of Postgres. Good nonstick pans last for years of daily use, unless you're in a restaurant kitchen making a hundred omelettes per day. And even restaurants use nonstick pans for some things, though they use them as little as possible because for efficiency they prefer equipment that can take a lot of abuse. A home cook making a couple of meals per day and not abusing their equipment should never have to buy a second nonstick pan. (Hence the never-ending attempts to persuade you that there's something superior to upgrade to. You're lost to them as a consumer if you realize that what you have will adequately express your cooking skills for the rest of your life.) Everything useful becomes a crutch, and except as fodder for micro-mastery, there's no reason to do something the hard way for the same results.
  - KozmoNau7 7y ago
    I've never had a nonstick pan last more than 2 years at the most. They were the good Tefal pans, and I only ever used wood and plastic utensils in them. Even cleaning them by hand, they would lose their slippery nature and eventually the coating started flaking off. In contrast, my carbon steel pan was less expensive, has so far held up to over a decade of use and is nonstick enough that any difference is negligible. The only thing it can't do well is simmering acidic sauces, but for those I've got stainless steel pots and an enameled cast iron pan.