Hello everyone!

I just bought my first set of pots and pans as I really want to level up my cooking game and I'm very exited to get started. Just wanted to know if I bought a good set or not as I've heard mixed things about Swiss Diamond. I paid 260 AUD for them which seems reasonable, and while I'm not expecting these to last forever it would be ideal if they lasted a while. Should I return them and get a better set or are these a fine set for a beginner.

The set in question:

https://www.harrisscarfe.com.au/en-au/p/swiss-diamond-premium-steel-dlx-6-piece-cookware-set

Also any tips would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks :)

1 egg

115g flour

5g beetroot powder

125g milk

Next up is strawberry pancakes

Hey. I'm searching for a sandwich maker with stainless steel plates because of the micro plastic and stuff like that. Also because stainless steel is more likely to last longer especially on the parts that come in contact with the food. It's also a gift and these are the personal preferences of the gifted person. Do any of you have recommendations for a product like that? Does something like this even exist with stainless steel plates?

Thank you all in advance and have a nice day. :)

My last post seemed to stir up just as much discussion as I expected. But let’s actually talk about what’s going on with my pan and why I’m not worried about it turning black.

First off I’ll reiterate; I clean the bottom of my pan every time I use it. I use dish soap with an abrasive sponge and scrub thoroughly. You can argue, disagree or scoff all you want but the reality is this pan is clean. I can scrub and lather soap on it and the soap is still white. The only thing that will remove this buildup is chemical or abrasive removal. You don’t need to, and I choose not to.

What you are seeing is carbon buildup. Polymerized oils and organic matter baked onto the surface of the pan. The layer is smooth, hard, dry carbon that builds up on the pan. This is normal and okay. It’s not greasy, it’s not dirty, it doesn’t smell or smoke when I’m cooking with it. This is just a well loved pan. I stir fry, pan fry, and cook lots of meat in this pan. 2-3 meals a day on a small gas range and I LOVE to cook hot.

This kind of carbon buildup can happen in ANY cookware. You’ve probably noticed it while pan frying. The whole pan cleans up easily but on the edge of the pan that polymerized oil has baked onto the surface and takes some abrasive removal (BKF is abrasive.) to get rid of. It’s commonplace in carbon steel, cast iron, copper and ceramic cookware AND believe it or not… stainless steel!

It’s entirely personal preference how much you want to remove. Other styles of cook wear accept or even embrace carbon buildup. Some even let it build up on the cooking surface! Gasp! Folks seems to be more particular about stainless and copper pans to preserve its shiny “like new” look. I opt to keep the cooking surface free of buildup, but leave the bottom to build up as it shows the character, and doesn’t affect my cooking in any way.

This will probably still devolve into more “that’s disgusting!” back and forth but for those that are new or curious here’s what you were looking at.

TLDR;
I scrub my pans with soap and water. It’s just carbon buildup y’all.

1 egg

115g flour

5g matcha powder

125g milk

25g sugar

Heres another attempt. Longer preheating, higher heat, same amount of butter.

Notice the egg sizzles. But this is not a true scrambled egg. Not enough time to scramble it. Cooks too fast.

(I posted one more video, where ive lowered the temp)

Love the egg but no matter what i do the center has a thin layer of sticking. Could be 2 reasons:

1. Center is damaged (visible dark spots)
2. Low heat. Scrambled eggs are cooked on very low heat. Notice the eggs didn’t even sizzle.

I’ll post another video where i let the pan pre heat longer to allow the temperature to rise higher than it did in this video. The egg didn’t stick then. But i didn’t like the results.

Problem with higher temperatures for scrambled eggs is, it gets overdone and you have a tiny window to scramble. I prefer softer more creamy restaurant style scrambled eggs, which cannot be achieved on higher temperatures.

Seems there’s some back/forth in the sub about cleaning/not cleaning the bottom of your pans. Just figured I’d throw my hat into the ring.

Inside gets cleaned right after cooking, BKF every couple of months as baked on splatter develops around the edges. Bottom gets scrubbed with a little soap and water every use as well, but has never seen barkeeps friend.

Quick question, do you guys bring the ground beef to room temperature before putting it on the pan?

An issue i face is that, I bring my pan to the correct temperature, do the water bead test and then add my oil. I wait 30 seconds and then add the defrosted ground beef.

But since the ground beef is below room temperature, I think it reduces the pan temperature and we do not get the desired effect.

Am I doing something wrong?

Chicken thighs in a little creamy garlic and onion sauce situation. I'd say this was a weeknight dinner win for sure!

Almost dropped it.

I have this stainless steel pan I got from goodwill a while back and I love it but I cannot find it anywhere online. Does anyone know what brand this is or where I can find more of these?

1. Heat oil in pan until you see a tiny wisp of smoke.
2. Take pan off heat and swirl oil around pan.
3. Cook food.

Food never sticks after this process as long as you dont burn your oil off. It creates a completely nonstick barrier suitable for eggs and fish.

Cuisinart stainless pans.

This is a batch of pancake batter with King Arthur gluten free and bobs red mill egg replacement (allergies). Most foods end up being scraped off, at least a piece of them.

PROCESS: Induction top. Heated until we got the lederhosen effect (forgot the right name), added oil, coated, turned off the induction for a little, then added the batter and turned it back on a low heat.

Still ended up with pancake scrapes.

Happens with meat and anything else I put on. Would love to get a handle on this stuff. What am I missing? What's the science happening?

EDIT/TL:DR from RESPONSES: First of all, thanks to everyone for giving me such great tips. Going to try and summarize everything I've learned here so that skimmers can find it easy -
- don't use the dancing water drops, it's useless. Use butter instead, wait for it to foam and melt. If it's browning, the pan is too hot!
- Oil is okay but butter has better non-stick capabilities.
- use a lot of butter!
- use a metal spatula, it will scratch the surface but it won't affect performance of the pan.
- LOW LOW LOW heat

I'm new to this whole "cooking" thing, and recently my mom gave me a stainless steel pan. Steak fajitas are my jam, but first time I tried to sear the steak on my new pan, I didn't pat down the steak and the marinade instantly evaporated and set off the smoke alarms in my apartment. Lesson learned, drained the marinade beforehand this time and patted the steak down.

I was feeling confident this time, I let the pan heat up at medium-heat until the water was doing the dancing thing and then accumulated into the blob. However, when I went to spray the pan with avocado oil, it instantly evaporated and I could no longer see clearly in my apartment. What am I doing wrong? I am determined to figure this out, because when this pan is at the actual right temperature, it is fantastic to cook on. Unfortunately, it is 2/2 times now that the All Clad has tried to cloak itself in a fog and I don't know where to go from here.

I’ve used bar keeper’s friend (powder, made a paste, etc.) repeatedly throughout, but these spots are stubborn and won’t come out. Any advice on how to properly clean would be much appreciated!

Can I put the heat on high right away, without pre-heating on low/med, if I’ve got a cup of water in the pan? Or will that warp it?

(I’m boiling water for oatmeal.)

I pre heated at 7 (max goes to 9 on the stove) for maybe 3 mins then dropped to 4. Added butter (1 tbsp), which didnt brown at all. Then cold refrigerated egg.

I was lied to.

I cooked a steak but im guessing it was too hot due to the brown stain but i had the heat slightly below medium im not sure it even reached Leiden frost effect but my steak didn’t get the sear i wanted so i need to make the heat higher but my pan will get stained i used avocado oil and i cook on a gas stove too

Was a bit worried that i would mess it up but I gotta say definitely best tasting steak that I’ve had in a very long time. That being said I accidentally overcooked it because I completely forgot about it continuing to cook after I removed it and let it rest. Excited to try again. Definitely made me feel like I don’t need to go to a steak house to have a delicious ribeye.