Maybe this might help???????
Of pots and pans
DENNISE WILLIAMS, Observer staff reporter
Sunday, March 16, 2003
Cheryl Chambers, store manager at Azan's, shows a small pot from the range of sizes. In everything there must be beauty. This includes pots and pans -- the workhorses of the kitchen. You use them everyday, but have you stopped to appreciate how much a good cooking set contributes to your enjoyment while cooking and to the overall taste and presentation of your dishes? In fact, maybe it's time to replace the old, burned-out pots and pans you are battering with each evening with a beautiful, new set.
Although most people stick to the dutch pot and reliable pressure cooker, there is more to the world of cookware. Consider these:
For the person with a family who needs the basics to prepare a tasty meal each night. Shown are fryers and double steamers. This stainless steel pot set costs around $10,000.
Double boiler: Two pans that work together; one fits on top of the other. Water in the bottom pan simmers gently to cook the contents in the top pan. If you do not own a double boiler, substitute a metal or heat-resistant glass bowl and a saucepan. The bowl should be wide enough so it fits in the pan but doesn't touch the simmering water.
Dutch oven or kettle: These large, heavy pots with tight-fitting lids and handles on opposite sides of the rim are used for soups, stews, and braising meats. When canning, a kettle is often used.
The single person can get away with smaller pots that is just enough for one- person meals. This featured set costs $3,000.
Saucepans (one- two- and three-quart, with lids): It's best to have a few different sizes of these versatile, long-handled pans.
Skillets: Sometimes referred to as a frying pan, a skillet is a long-handled, low-sided pan. Often the sides gently slope to allow steam to escape the pan. Large (10-inch) and extra-large (12-inch) skillets are most useful. A 10-inch non-stick skillet will also come in handy. Other sizes include small (six-inch) and medium (eight-inch). If you need to use the skillet in the oven, make sure the handle can withstand high heat; if in doubt, wrap handle in a couple of layers of heavy-duty foil or select a skillet with a removable handle.
For the person who loves to cook, this display demonstrates the variety of utensils and cookware that contribute to a memorable meal. Prices start from $8,000. Some of the pieces shown are a wok, colander, cutting board, sauce pot, seasoning dish, utensils, meat tenderiser.Vegetable steamer (collapsible or insert): A perforated basket that holds food over boiling water in a pan in order to steam it rather than boil it.
Specialty pans
While not essential for most of our recipes, these specialty pans offer features that make preparing a specific food easier:
Griddles: This flat, often rimless pan makes flipping pancakes a cinch. Nonstick griddles also help you cook with a minimum amount of fat.
Grill pan: The grooves of this heavy, stove-top, griddle-type pan allow fat to drain away from food and add appetising grill marks to the cooked items.
Omelet pans: Sloped sides and a nonstick surface makes it easy to fold and slide omelets from the pan.
Woks: Available with rounded or flat bottoms, these pans offer deep, sloping sides that help keep food pieces in the pan when stir-frying.
But don't think you have to go to 'foriegn' for all of these pots and pans to help perfect your cooking.
Home & Decor visited Azan's in the Springs plaza and was shown a wide variety of cookware by store manager, Cheryl Chambers and Elaine Jackson, the purchasing manager.
According to Jackson, there are pots that range from 20 gallons to seven ounces designed with specific dishes in mind. There are also fryers with domed lids to allow steaming and tiny pots that are just the right size to boil an egg. "The largest pot is the 20 gallon. It is bought for large functions and is really good to cook 'mannish water' and soup. From that size, the big pots range down from 18 to 12 gallons. Next is the flatter large pots for cooking curry goat. The little pots can be used for sauces, vegetables and boiling eggs. They are also very convenient. You can use them to heat up portions of previously cooked food. These pots are very popular with elderly and single people."
The next set of pots shown are the fryers in a variety of large sizes for dealing with chicken and browning oxtail and can also hold up to six lbs of curry goat. Chambers stressed that the majority of pots they sell are made here in Jamaica. But an interesting point came out of the discussion.
Interestingly however, while locally made iron and aluminium pots are sold by Azan's, it is largely visitors who purchase the old iron pots or 'dutch pots' and Jamaicans on the other hand, buy the imported Teflon pots. Both shared the same opinion as to why this is so.
"The dutch pot gives a sweeter taste. When you are overseas, it makes the food taste like home," concurred Chambers and Jackson.
Jackson explained how the 'dutchy' is made. "These pots are made out of ground iron and melted and poured into the shape of a yabba. It is then rubbed down with sandpaper." She added that the metal gives a special flavour. "You get a sweeter taste because more heat is held inside of the pot so it gives off more steam, and less water used. You also don't need plenty fire under the pot. The steam is held in." However, there are health concerns related to cooking with untreated metal. Because people want to get away from exposing their food to aluminium or iron, the stainless steel and Teflon pots are popular, not just because they are made overseas. "These are non-stick pots that prevent food from burning. The food will only get crisp. But there are special requirements to use Teflon. If you use scotch brite to clean the pot the Teflon coating will come off. You must wipe the pot clean," said Jackson explaining the benefits of Teflon.
Now I will not validate the accuracy of the prices in this article since it was taken from a paper called the Jamaica Observer but it does list certain pans, pots, cooking vessels or what ever you wish to call them and their respective uses.
