I love to cook. I have hundreds of spices in my pantry right now from all over the world. I also have kitchen stuff that’s now turned into a financial regret so here are some lessons from my mistakes for all the cooks out there.
Pans
Our family became a fan of Ozeri pans largely because they were easy for our teenage (now grown) kids to use and clean as they were non-stick and free from chemicals. Unfortunately, these pans only tend to last about 12 to 18 months then need to be replaced. The issues we have are warping, blackening with layers of seasoning and cooking and food sticking after constant use. We’ve now spent so much money replacing these pans that we would have been better off buying higher end pans.
We have been de-cluttering and looked over all the pans and decided it was time to get rid of most of them and replace them with something better. I am a big fan of cooking on cast iron but cleaning cast iron is tough and time consuming so I’ve opted to start buying carbon steel pans and I’ve become a great fan of the French Matfer Bourgeat pans although there is controversy over heavy metals in these pans.
You can watch reviews here.
Knives
A similar story to pans, I am a snob about the knives I use to cook. For most everyday cooking I actually use a generic Six Star Cutlery to Cutco knives but I am a really big fan of Japanese Global brand knives. I avoided ultra sharp and high end knives while the kids were young because kids destroy everything nice in a home but now that our kids are grown, I’ve started investing in a nice set of knives and there is a world of difference in slicing & dicing.
Spices
My wife questioned why I spent a few extra bucks on spices from Burlap & Barrel and I opened a B&B jar of cinnamon then opened the grocery store bought cinnamon and asked her to take a whiff of both. The Burlap & Barrel Royal Cinnamon was full of aroma & spice while the other was fairly flat. It was night & day. The spices at B&B are a bit more but they are worth it. Once you start using spices from B&B, it will be hard to go back to the grocery store stuff.
Bottom Line
You’ve probably heard this a dozen times or more by now, “spend the money for quality because it will last longer and save you money in the long run!” It’s a valid and true statement but people don’t always have the money to spend $100 on a single pan or even if they do question the wisdom of spending that much money on a pan. But if you replace $30 pans every 18 months then it may be better to pay $100 for a pan that will last a lifetime.
Share The Wealth
Any lessons learned from your kitchen you want to share? Let me know in the comments below.