I have owned my current set of pots and pans for longer than Katie has been alive. I am quite proud of these pots; it took quite a while to arrange for their purchase since they were far from cheap. I located them in one of those “seconds” stores that they have in malls occasionally; it is a place where major brands sell things at a discount that they haven’t sold through their normal channels.
The particular set of stainless steel pots that I own are made of heavy stainless steel with thick bottoms, designed to handle everything that I can throw at them. I no longer own the skillet however; I traded that away in exchange for a cast-iron one many years ago.
I am very particular about the pots and pans that I use on the occasions when I do cook. I read somewhere ages ago that aluminum buildup in the brain may be one of the causes of dementia. Given the propensity of metals to leech into food while cooking, I decided to be cautious.
I stopped using teflon pots and pans decades ago for the same reason. No matter how hard I tried, the teflon coating always seemed to deterioriate so I became concerned about that stuff leaching unhealthy things into our food as well.
I may not cook much, but I am thoughtful about the utensils I use.
Do you ever think about the pots you use when you cook? What reasons do you have for selecting the pots and pans that you have? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
It is hypocritical to run a website about buying and living on less while begging your readers to buy your crap so I refuse to do it. That said, I live on the money I receive from book sales, so if you can find it in your heart to pitch in I would be immensely grateful.
I’ve written a lot of books sharing my odd view of life in hopes of helping others. My most notorious book is titled The Shoestring Girl: How I Live on Practically Nothing and You Can Too, but The Minimalist Cleaning Method is pretty popular as well. You can find them at the following places:
Barnes and Noble
Apple iBooks
Smashwords (non-DRM)
When I bought an induction burner for my conversion van I had to buy all new pots since mine were not magnetic. It took a long time to choose those but they were good ones.
Induction burners require a special pan? What type of pan do you have to use? I’ve never encountered one.
My favorite skillet was a gift given to me a number of years ago. It is one of those green nonstick skillets which the “coating” is made of ultra smooth green ceramic instead of Teflon. It is a double blessing as unlike Teflon it does not wear away into your food so there is no health concerns and it is super durable for the same reason.
I adore old ceramic skillets, John! My electric skillet has a ceramic coating; we don’t use it very often but it does come in handy. It is definitely better to use that than it is the more available options. Thanks for reminding me of those!
I chose my pots and pans for the same reason, degrading into the food. I cook at an assisted living place and asked them to change over to stainless steel and they did. Now it is a joy to cook there and not worry about what is leaching into the food.
Good for you, Sally! I’m so thankful that you cared enough to persuade those around you to do things a bit differently!