So a little update on solidteknics pan. I've cooked one meal a day in it since I got it. Bacon, steak, fried rice, and chicken thighs so far.

It's taking seasoning pretty well. Center is still only around ceramic nonstick nonstick but it's getting close to teflon on the outside (as good as it's gonna be realistically)

But I do have some complaints.

The sides are just too low. The splatter radius is way way way bigger than with my all clads and the matfer bourgeat I threw away months ago. This honestly is a deal breaker if I realized how bad it is.

You absolutely have to season the handle, at least once. I didn't at first but the seasoning started wearing off where I held the pan at the end.


I had to go out of my way to season it. I never had to do that with Matfer Bourgeat (probably different material) or Lodge (probably because it's not sharp edges). The cooking area of the pan is seasoning quite well just with regular cooking.

My overall review is... A-, maybe B+ given the price. It's good but a lot of its features turned out to be negatives.
Only two things stood to me as pure positives:
1. The satin finish seems to be the perfect balance between smoothness and ability to take on seasoning. As I said before, pan is still only around ceramic nonstick nonstick in the center but it's getting close to teflon on the outside (as good as it's gonna be realistically).
2. The factory seasoning is wayyyy better than anything I've seen. Maybe it's not the seasoning but the satin finish. I wouldn't be surprised if Lodge seasoning is actually thicker/stronger/more nonstick but the pebble surface is holding it back.

If I knew what I know now, I would have just gotten the Matfer Bourgeat again. It's a little harder to season but not dramatically so. I think if you don't care for the preseasoning and are comfortable with doing the first seasoning on your own, go for the Matfer.

PS: Does that US map look like Pikachu to anyone else?

Just marinate your brisket in soy sauce, and serve with a side of rice, because I'm pretty sure that's why most people like most sushi.

don't forget ample wasabi.

Strayed from my usual technique to make some Kenji Carnitas










Day 2 I ran a weed-induced experiment:


Yes, I need to clean the toaster tyvm.

It worked, but not really. Pan is better.

I gotta make those. Kenji rules. Can’t wait for his next cook book on woks.

Every picture tells a story.

Speaking of woks, what is one you would recommend? I will mostly be cooking for one (so I don’t need a huge one) and for at least the next 12 months be cooking using a gas range (thank you Lord).

I do have a non stick with a pretty large rim, is a wok really necessary? I kinda want one though as I want to experiment with a lot more Asian cooking.

Same. My range even came with a wok stand that sits on the existing grate, which I had never seen before.

You don’t need a wok. On a lot of stove tops, such as mine, woks are just strictly worse than skillets IMO.

The problem with using woks on mine, and on a lot of western stove tops, is there is literally no fire in the middle of the ring. Probably worse, most of the heat just escapes up the flared sides. I actually had more success with an all clad wok just because there is more heat retention in the middle. With a carbon steel wok, the middle goes cold and just never recovers.

With a large carbon steel/cast iron skillet, assuming you control the portions, you can still get most of the wokhei people talk so much about. Also woks take up a ton of space. I was so exasperated with my (very well seasoned) wok I just threw it away.

Grizy,
You keep mentioning "throwing away" pans. You're not literally throwing them away are you? There must be a Goodwill in your neighborhood.
Keep thinking how stoked I'd be to find your rejects in a thrift store.

Goodwill is a crooked org, but I agree that those things don't deserve a place in the landfill. Put them them behind in a box behind your local China Garden/Palace/Dragon.


First article that popped up.

https://medium.com/@aliceminium/the-...e-183967087a1e

Yum 27! Will try that way next time

Sorry, but I did literally throw them away.

I just didn't think about goodwill to be honest. The pans weren't in great shape (the Matfer was warped by an electric stove and the wok showed signs of rust) so it didn't even occur to me anyone would want them. I will keep that in mind next time.

Well now I can't even shop at Goodwill anymore.

Regarding pellet grills, I have a Weber smokefire EX6 and it’s a tank. Had a few issues at the beginning but Weber sent some replacement parts as it’s a first generation model. After a few minor fixes it has been a champ. It can use any type of pellets and cooks 200-600F. Anything dialed in above 400 or so has an actual flame and is very similar to a regular grill (with smoke flavor). It really shines on long cooks like brisket, pork butt, ribs, beef short ribs, etc but I use it all the time at higher temps for chicken, steak, pork chops.

As someone else said it’s a set it and forget it. I love being able to throw on a brisket or pork butt and start it at 11 PM before bed and it’s just about done by the mid morning. My EX6 is huge and can fit a ton of food. Burgers are excellent on it too and you can monitor/change temp from an app on my phone.

I would recommend any trager, smokefire, or rec tec pellet grill. Very easy to use and options are literally endless on cooking items and pellet flavor combos

Well this sucks. Won't stop me, though, but maybe I'll give some other charities a try.

Wait until you read about the Salvation Army.

do you mean the salivation army?

Elementary School throwback. Home made Lunchable with turkey and cheddar.

I like to think how that would taste with a little pickled onion.

@27, thanks for the photos. Going to try that out.

Made the Traeger 3-2-1 ribs recipe. Home run.

If you had plated the mustard in a curved line of 5 descending sized dots, it would've been a Michelin star dish.

Bigdaddydvo in any cooking thread on 2+2

Hot damn you crushing it everywhere.

Oh wait just saw this.

Those ribs ...