Cooking Utensils

Many professional chefs use copper pots and pans for their cooking. If copper pans are good enough for the pros, then they should be good enough for your kitchen... right? As with any type of cookware, copper pans have their pros and cons. What do you think would look nicer on your shelf... a set of dull, stainless steel pans, or a set of bright, shiny copper pans? The answer is pretty obvious, the copper looks nicer, which is one of the advantages. They brighten up the kitchen, and make a better showpiece than other pans. But copper has other advantages than just good looks. Copper is an excellenet conductor of heat. A good quality copper pan conducts the heat to the food quickly and evenly. This is copper's greatest advantage over other types of cookware. Many chefs use copper to cook foods that need to be cooked at precisely controlled temperatures. Despite these advantages, there are also some disadvantages to copper. Copper is a reactive metal, meaning that it readily oxidizes when it comes in contact with acids. If unlined copper pans are used in cooking acidic foods, such as tomatoes, then severe illness can result. This is why many copper pots and pans are lined with a non-reactive surface, such as stainless steel. This prevents the copper from dissolving into the food, and causing illness. Copper pans, lined with stainless steel are considered some of the finest cookware available. Unlined copper is just fine for foods that are not acidic. Many chefs use copper bowls for whipping egg whites. You should never store foods in copper pans though, whether or not the food contains acids. Transfer the food to an appropriate storage container. When choosing copper cookware, look for thick, heavy gauge pans. If you find some good heavy copper pans at a garage sale, or otherwise buy them used, look at the stainless steel coating. If the coating is scratched and copper is showing through, then you will need to get the pans re-lined before you can use them. Copper like silver tarnishes. But it is easy to make a tarnished pan bright and shiny again. Simply make a paste of lemon juice and salt, and rub it onto the pot with a cloth, then rinse the mixture off, and the tarnish will disappear. Never use abrasive materials in cleaning copper. Copper is a soft metal, and easily scratched by abrasives. Abrasive cleaners will also scratch the stainless steel lining, which will make the pans unsafe to use unless re-lined. If cared for correctly, then copper pans will serve you well over the years. They conduct the heat well, and they look good while doing it. Just take good care of the pans, and make sure that the lining remains intact. Happy Cooking. By: Tim Sousa - Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Find some great recipes, cooking tips, and other valuable cooking information at Classy Cooking.

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Okay, so you’re 18 and on your own. You just moved out of your parents’ house, left state and are in a new city with new people and a new college where you have no idea how to clean yourself, clothe yourself, or more importantly feed yourself. I was there, and I spent two plus years trying to figure out how to pull it off before I fell into a decent routine that kept me breathing day in and day out. But, let’s not forget the most important pieces. You’re poor, you’re probably living with a bunch of other people and you have no idea how to cook a damn anything. When your parents were preparing dinner you were entrenched in a pile of dirty clothes watching music videos or playing grand theft auto. Do you even own a pot? Not a problem. There are a few basic things that anyone can put together with the willingness to spend a few minutes preparing and actually mixing ingredients together. Your first recipe: Ramen Surprise When you think of Ramen noodles, you think dry, full of salt and often too hot and soupy. They’re good but, they give you heartburn and cause dehydration. Well, these little noodly saviors are more than just a 120% of your daily allotment of sodium. They’re cheap as hell and extremely filling. But, you don’t have to eat them as is. Head to the cheapest, biggest grocery store you can find and pick up ten of the little guys for a dollar, or if you’re really lucky they’ll be on sale for 20/$1. That’s five cents a piece for a full meals worth of noodles. First off get rid of the seasoning packet. That’s where your salt comes from, and you can do better without it. Trust me. Whenever you open a packet, chuck that thing in the trash. Now, you have a brick of hard egg noodle goodness. And with this lovely building block, you can go ahead and start your meal. First, boil it up and get those noodles ready to eat. Now, in another pan (or a bowl in a microwave if you’re in a dorm and sans cooking materials) sauté up some vegetables (gasp, vegetables?...yes) with butter or olive oil. Olive oil is expensive as hell, so you might want to stick with the butter, but don’t get carried away. Basically you throw butter in a pan with some broccoli and carrots, or whatever other easy, bagged vegetables you can find and turn it to medium, medium high and cook them until they’re soft. Takes 5 minutes at the most. Now, take your noodles, and throw in your vegetables….that’s it. Don’t complain about the meat being gone, because you’re not getting meat in those nasty seasoning packets either. Of course, if you’re feeling especially energetic, toss a few pieces of chicken in there. Chicken’s more or less the cheapest meat you’re going to find, so it’s the way to go with almost every meal. The total cost of the meal: Ramen – 10 cents; Vegetables - $1; butter – 50 cents; chicken - $1 Vegetarian = $1.60 Meat = $2.60 It’s a wee bit cheaper than the usual junk from McDonald’s, and not quite as pain inducing as straight up ramen. Next up: spicing up Macaroni and Cheese. I'm a self avowed unemployed writer, working on semi-constant basis to try and overcome the need to go and work a real job. I've written more than 200 articles and reviews and am constantly scouring the internet for any and all excuses and methods to make myself less dependent on corporate pay days. Visit my website at TheChatfield.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anthony_Chatfield

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