I ended up with a new friend for the kitchen. And what a friend she is going to be! I love Calphalon, more to the point I love Calphalon straight Stainless Steel. I picked up the 12 Inch Calphalon Stainless Steel everyday pan and it arrived Christmas Eve from the Santa Claus in
the brown suit with UPS on the side of the sleigh! Like most new pans it will take me a little while to get used to how she responds to heat settings, oils, and such. But I thought I would walk on the edge with eggs to see how the new finish was with regard to the polish finish. Nothing shows pores in a finish like eggs. They love to stick to steel pans. They love to burn in steel pans. And so if you want to handle stainless steel correctly, learn to handle scrambled eggs in the pan. Everything else but candy is easier.
I will introduce you to the newest of my cooking mistresses!
The Calphalon Stainless Steel Everyday Pan which I purchased on Cooking.com.
She is actually 10 inches on the bottom and 12 inches at the hips. (Hey who's hips aren't a little wider than the bottom?) Slope sided for excellent saucier work or sauté work. Triply sandwiched all the way up the sides. And so I sit her on the stove and heat her up a little. Placing some fat in her to start, I am thinking Ham and Cheese Frittata for her maiden voyage, so some of the left over ham gives up in a rough dice to become the meat for the frittata.
Meanwhile I start the egg preparation for the breakfast treat! Have to separate the eggs and work the egg whites separate from the egg yolks. So six egg whites into the KitchenAid Copper Bowl for whipping to stiff peaks!
Whites are salted and white peppered, then set aside while I mix the egg yolks of six eggs along with 3 more whole eggs.
Then I incorporate them together. If I was not going to use the oven I would take my time and fold them together. But the oven adds a little lift to them so I cheat and mix them rapidly with a whisk. Careful not to kill to much of the air in the whites.
Now into the preheated pan, and adding the cheese to the top of the frittata.
This part makes me mad sometimes. As carefully as I try to keep the cheese load even across the entire frittata I still make heavy spots that don't rise as fast as the rest of the frittata. No big deal, but darn it makes me mad!
Finally it has completed its 25 minute cooking cycle at 350 F. And it looks really nice. Of course the real test is serving it. Did it stick? Did it scorch. Nothing worse than scorched eggs IMO. I hate eggs cooked wrong!
So lets dig in and see if she stuck to the pan or if the finish is true. FYI it is not uncommon for me to take pans back cause I think the finish is not correct. So the first test is always interesting. I have come across a lot of different pans where the pan was good, but the individual pan I selected had a surface finish defect. This can make a huge difference in pan performance. Especially if you are talking straight stainless or a Tin (Sn) finish copper unit. Don't be afraid to take a pan back if it sticks a
lot. It is possible the finish is just miserable on that individual pan.
Ah.... the answer, no sticking, not anywhere on the pan! And so it appears she will be forced into servitude in my kitchen for many years! Don't know if she will become a "favorite" pan or not, but so far I like the looks of her, and the width at the hips don't bother me!
I would like to point out that the kids are home from college, so my wife and I did not wolf the whole thing down ourselves!
'Til we talk again, work with the incredible egg, darn near the perfect protein IMO.
Chef Bob Ballantyne
The Cowboy and The Rose Catering
Grand Junction, Colorado, USA
the brown suit with UPS on the side of the sleigh! Like most new pans it will take me a little while to get used to how she responds to heat settings, oils, and such. But I thought I would walk on the edge with eggs to see how the new finish was with regard to the polish finish. Nothing shows pores in a finish like eggs. They love to stick to steel pans. They love to burn in steel pans. And so if you want to handle stainless steel correctly, learn to handle scrambled eggs in the pan. Everything else but candy is easier.
I will introduce you to the newest of my cooking mistresses!
The Calphalon Stainless Steel Everyday Pan which I purchased on Cooking.com.
She is actually 10 inches on the bottom and 12 inches at the hips. (Hey who's hips aren't a little wider than the bottom?) Slope sided for excellent saucier work or sauté work. Triply sandwiched all the way up the sides. And so I sit her on the stove and heat her up a little. Placing some fat in her to start, I am thinking Ham and Cheese Frittata for her maiden voyage, so some of the left over ham gives up in a rough dice to become the meat for the frittata.
Meanwhile I start the egg preparation for the breakfast treat! Have to separate the eggs and work the egg whites separate from the egg yolks. So six egg whites into the KitchenAid Copper Bowl for whipping to stiff peaks!
Whites are salted and white peppered, then set aside while I mix the egg yolks of six eggs along with 3 more whole eggs.
Then I incorporate them together. If I was not going to use the oven I would take my time and fold them together. But the oven adds a little lift to them so I cheat and mix them rapidly with a whisk. Careful not to kill to much of the air in the whites.
Now into the preheated pan, and adding the cheese to the top of the frittata.
This part makes me mad sometimes. As carefully as I try to keep the cheese load even across the entire frittata I still make heavy spots that don't rise as fast as the rest of the frittata. No big deal, but darn it makes me mad!
Finally it has completed its 25 minute cooking cycle at 350 F. And it looks really nice. Of course the real test is serving it. Did it stick? Did it scorch. Nothing worse than scorched eggs IMO. I hate eggs cooked wrong!
So lets dig in and see if she stuck to the pan or if the finish is true. FYI it is not uncommon for me to take pans back cause I think the finish is not correct. So the first test is always interesting. I have come across a lot of different pans where the pan was good, but the individual pan I selected had a surface finish defect. This can make a huge difference in pan performance. Especially if you are talking straight stainless or a Tin (Sn) finish copper unit. Don't be afraid to take a pan back if it sticks a
lot. It is possible the finish is just miserable on that individual pan.
Ah.... the answer, no sticking, not anywhere on the pan! And so it appears she will be forced into servitude in my kitchen for many years! Don't know if she will become a "favorite" pan or not, but so far I like the looks of her, and the width at the hips don't bother me!
I would like to point out that the kids are home from college, so my wife and I did not wolf the whole thing down ourselves!
'Til we talk again, work with the incredible egg, darn near the perfect protein IMO.
Chef Bob Ballantyne
The Cowboy and The Rose Catering
Grand Junction, Colorado, USA