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Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Mon Dec 03, 2018 6:16 pm
by Root
Got the pan tonight. Seasoned with salt and oil and potato peels. Cooked bacon bits, and the bits at the edge sizzled the same as the ones in the middle. Cooked an egg and it slid around in just a minuscule amount of butter. Cooked brussels sprouts and they crisped up brown and delicious.

With each thing I cooked, it got smoother and more beautiful.

I'm done with cast iron.

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 8:34 am
by Hanley
Root wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 6:16 pm Got the pan tonight. Seasoned with salt and oil and potato peels. Cooked bacon bits, and the bits at the edge sizzled the same as the ones in the middle. Cooked an egg and it slid around in just a minuscule amount of butter. Cooked brussels sprouts and they crisped up brown and delicious.
It's weird that they're not more popular in the US.

Root wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 6:16 pm I'm done with cast iron.
Now, now. The thinner stuff is really good. But similar in performance to the carbon steel pans. Which are cheaper.

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 10:40 am
by Root
Hanley wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 8:34 am
Root wrote: Mon Dec 03, 2018 6:16 pm I'm done with cast iron.
Now, now. The thinner stuff is really good. But similar in performance to the carbon steel pans. Which are cheaper.
Well I'm done with my thick, bumpy, shitty cast iron.

Who makes this thin cast iron you speak of?

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 5:09 pm
by Root
Cooked a prime ribeye in it. In ghee. So crusty and good.

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 6:44 pm
by Hanley
Root wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 5:09 pmIn ghee.
Oooohh. Fussy. I like it.

Does your entire house still smell like burning beef fat?

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:18 pm
by Root
Hanley wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 6:44 pm
Root wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 5:09 pmIn ghee.
Oooohh. Fussy. I like it.

Does your entire house still smell like burning beef fat?
Ghee is fussy? Or I'm fussy for using it?

I'd actually never used it before tonight. I'll be using it again. For like everything.

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:30 pm
by omaniphil
You sold me on this idea of carbon steel pans. I saw the America Test Kitchen videos and the eggs were sliding around which was cool, but it looked like a ton of fat. If they can do it with just a little oil, I'm definitely sold on this.

I'm in the process of selling my house and definitely dont need any extra pans at this point in my life, but once things settle down in mid January, I will definitely be purchasing one of these pans.
Root wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:18 pm I'll be using it again. For like everything.
Was it the flavor that did it for you or the high smoke point? I have ghee in the house for indian food, but have never used it for meat etc. I probably should.

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:45 pm
by Manveer
Hanley wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 6:44 pm
Root wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 5:09 pmIn ghee.
Oooohh. Fussy. I like it.

Does your entire house still smell like burning beef fat?
You definitely need to buy a $2000 Zephyr hood. Trust me. Appliance sales guy told me so.

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:49 pm
by Hanley
Manveer wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:45 pm
Hanley wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 6:44 pm
Root wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 5:09 pmIn ghee.
Oooohh. Fussy. I like it.

Does your entire house still smell like burning beef fat?
You definitely need to buy a $2000 Zephyr hood. Trust me. Appliance sales guy told me so.
Did you just get all new appliances?

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:57 pm
by Manveer
Hanley wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:49 pm
Manveer wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:45 pm
Hanley wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 6:44 pm
Root wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 5:09 pmIn ghee.
Oooohh. Fussy. I like it.

Does your entire house still smell like burning beef fat?
You definitely need to buy a $2000 Zephyr hood. Trust me. Appliance sales guy told me so.
Did you just get all new appliances?
Yes, except the hood. Trying to figure out what CFM I really need for an island hood over a 36” cooktop. Seems like 375 min. Probably will go with something 550-600 though.

Nothing is installed yet...remodeling the kitchen.

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:21 pm
by Skid
You may want to avoid Teflon lined pans made before 2014. Apparently they make you smaller... :shock:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/arti ... -pans.html

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:40 pm
by iamsmu
Manveer wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:57 pm
Hanley wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:49 pm
Manveer wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:45 pm
Hanley wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 6:44 pm
Root wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 5:09 pmIn ghee.
Oooohh. Fussy. I like it.

Does your entire house still smell like burning beef fat?
You definitely need to buy a $2000 Zephyr hood. Trust me. Appliance sales guy told me so.
Did you just get all new appliances?
Yes, except the hood. Trying to figure out what CFM I really need for an island hood over a 36” cooktop. Seems like 375 min. Probably will go with something 550-600 though.

Nothing is installed yet...remodeling the kitchen.
I have a Zephyr that goes to 685 cfm (IG below)! Powerful. Since it's not vented outside, it's a disaster. It just pushes smoke to all corners of the house. It would be great if I could run it outside. You'll be happy. . . (And it didn't cost nearly $2k. They might make $2k models, I dunno, but that sounds insane. This was like 1/4th or so of that. I can't recall.) It's so powerful, that if it were vented out, I'm sure that my furnace would start to backdraft.

I have strong but irritating Panasonic bathroom fans. They pull 200 or so. It's not nearly strong enough for lots of smoke. The low setting on the Zephyr is 200. In general that would be fine for most cooking in a small kitchen. But I would get something that can reach 600+ at peak. You will probably run it much lower most of the time.


Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2018 7:11 pm
by omaniphil
iamsmu wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:40 pm Since it's not vented outside, it's a disaster. It just pushes smoke to all corners of the house. It would be great if I could run it outside.
When we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago, I made sure that the range was up against an outside wall to make venting to the outside easier. It was a game changer. I used to preemptively remove the battery from the smoke detector whenever cooking steak or other meats. Thing of the past with a vented hood.

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2018 7:36 pm
by iamsmu
omaniphil wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 7:11 pm
iamsmu wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:40 pm Since it's not vented outside, it's a disaster. It just pushes smoke to all corners of the house. It would be great if I could run it outside.
When we remodeled our kitchen a few years ago, I made sure that the range was up against an outside wall to make venting to the outside easier. It was a game changer. I used to preemptively remove the battery from the smoke detector whenever cooking steak or other meats. Thing of the past with a vented hood.
Ya. Recirculating hoods suck. High powered ones suck in unexpected ways. . . . A few weeks ago we discovered that Nest smoke alarms won't allow you to mute them if the smoke percentage is too high. This was pretty frustrating. "Sorry. I cannot silence the alarm. The smoke level is too high. . ." The UPS guy came when this was happening. 5 or 6 of these were going off all over and refusing to shut up. . . I'm going to tunnel a vent outside between the floors for the fan. It's not that much demo if the joist are aligned the right way. There's about 10" between the floors, so I might be able to use some narrow rectangular venting if I have to go perpendicular. But I'll have to rip out so much ceiling to get it done. . . .

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Wed Dec 05, 2018 9:53 pm
by Manveer
iamsmu wrote: Wed Dec 05, 2018 5:40 pm
Manveer wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:57 pm
Hanley wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:49 pm
Manveer wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:45 pm
Hanley wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 6:44 pm
Root wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 5:09 pmIn ghee.
Oooohh. Fussy. I like it.

Does your entire house still smell like burning beef fat?
You definitely need to buy a $2000 Zephyr hood. Trust me. Appliance sales guy told me so.
Did you just get all new appliances?
Yes, except the hood. Trying to figure out what CFM I really need for an island hood over a 36” cooktop. Seems like 375 min. Probably will go with something 550-600 though.

Nothing is installed yet...remodeling the kitchen.
I have a Zephyr that goes to 685 cfm (IG below)! Powerful. Since it's not vented outside, it's a disaster. It just pushes smoke to all corners of the house. It would be great if I could run it outside. You'll be happy. . . (And it didn't cost nearly $2k. They might make $2k models, I dunno, but that sounds insane. This was like 1/4th or so of that. I can't recall.) It's so powerful, that if it were vented out, I'm sure that my furnace would start to backdraft.

I have strong but irritating Panasonic bathroom fans. They pull 200 or so. It's not nearly strong enough for lots of smoke. The low setting on the Zephyr is 200. In general that would be fine for most cooking in a small kitchen. But I would get something that can reach 600+ at peak. You will probably run it much lower most of the time.

Cool. The hood definitely vents to outside.

Probably going to get the Zephyr ZEME42DS. Should be plenty, at the low low price of $1300.

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 4:59 am
by Root
omaniphil wrote: Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:30 pm Was it the flavor that did it for you or the high smoke point? I have ghee in the house for indian food, but have never used it for meat etc. I probably should.
Both. Yes, you should. At least for steak.

I also just purchased some avocado oil, which is supposed to have the highest smoke point of any cooking oil.

All this talk about hoods is making me envious. Mine is really shitty and doesn't vent.

Re: Carbon Steel pans/heat diffusers

Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2018 7:37 pm
by Hanley
Root wrote: Thu Dec 06, 2018 4:59 amMine is really shitty and doesn't vent.
This is why God invented grills (my motherfucking fan doesn't vent to outside either).