High-end Cookware - What you get for the money

[rotuts]

@TicTac 

 

this is also what Ive found :

 

""  MC2 harkens back to the original All-Clad Masterchef popularized in the 1970s, but with updated handles; the original Masterchef handles were rougher and more of a teardrop shape  ""

[weinoo]

1 minute ago, rotuts said:

@TicTac 

 

this is also what Ive found :

 

""  MC2 harkens back to the original All-Clad Masterchef popularized in the 1970s, but with updated handles; the original Masterchef handles were rougher and more of a teardrop shape  ""

 

Yes - they changed the handle composition and shape; when I use MC2 handles (I have  a few pieces), I just don't find it as comfortable as original MC. When i sent back my old, old MC nonsticks which really got beat up, they replaced them (lifetime guarantee) with MC2

 

I wonder if anything else was just ever so slightly changed - without telling us!!

[TicTac]

3 minutes ago, rotuts said:

@TicTac 

 

this is also what Ive found :

 

""  MC2 harkens back to the original All-Clad Masterchef popularized in the 1970s, but with updated handles; the original Masterchef handles were rougher and more of a teardrop shape  ""

Thanks for sharing - I was very interested in the topic as my desire was to get the "OG" AC sets but after much searching, I could only find a few random MC pieces, but nothing I found, information wise - suggested there was any major differences between the two.  So I pulled the trigger on the MC2's - so far, so good.

 

 

[rotuts]

here are the two references I found :

 

https://www.centurylife.org/in-depth-product-review-all-clad-mc2-master-chef-2-12-inch-skillet-frying-pan/

 

and

 

https://foodal.com/best-of-foodal/clad-collection-right-kitchen/

 

the acuracy and reliability of this information is for you to decided.

 

I got the small and medium MC2 because they were on a very deep discount ( at different times )

 

to introduce the MC2 line.   I did not have a saucier at the time

 

I didn't get any other AC pans , as I had a significant 3 mm copper collection i got in Paris

 

almost for fee (  FF was heavily discounted to the USD at that time , and the Paris firm

 

( you know the one )  shipped all the pans in a custom made wooden box , w wood shavings

 

inside ( 1980 ) free to NY via AirFrance.  I happened to live at that time

 

about a hour away from the freight section of the NY airport.

 

best deal ever of my life.

Edited April 11, 2021 by rotuts (log)

[gfweb]

40 minutes ago, rotuts said:

out of curiosity only

 

is there a significant difference between MC and MC2 ?

 

if so , what did they change ?

 

Handles are a little different.  Both cook well.

 

I'm convinced though that the exterior Al in MC2 is different.  It stains like a mother while MC doesn't at all

[rotuts]

interest9ng

 

my 2 MC2's  have very little iw any stains on them

 

batch differences ?

[gfweb]

9 minutes ago, rotuts said:

interest9ng

 

my 2 MC2's  have very little iw any stains on them

 

batch differences ?

Perhaps.  I abused my MC2 as much as the MCs, but only it has a stained bottom than BKF can't get clean.

[rotuts]

interesting.

[weinoo]

I think this is one of the reasons I dislike the handles of the MC2...

 

 

The angle change.  MC2 on the left, MC on the right.

[gfweb]

agree on the handle angle. 

[David Ross]

One of my dreams is to own some Mauviel French Copperware pans.  A local kitchen shop carries it and can special order from the entire line.  Anyone ever had the experience of cooking with it? This is a stock image of some of their pans

 

 

 

[TicTac]

2 hours ago, gfweb said:

agree on the handle angle. 

 

Interesting - as that's what the bottom of my 5ply AC's bottoms look like as well (dirty AF!)

 

I will try BKF - also heard something called 'goo off' works well...

 

I have challenged my wife

[rotuts]

interest continues

 

i have 2 MC2's

 

Ive used them

 

' Over Gas ' for years

 

hey don't have a ' gas clock time log '

 

but mine are close

 

enough

 

to your

 

MC

 

I Postulate

 

as Theoreticians Do 

 

its not the pan

 

unless it was a Mutant Run

 

for that pan itself

 

but something else

 

i.e. :

 

that ' something else ' + ' that pan ' = ' that result '

 

I know I qualify for some sort of Prize

 

given the Sent 

 

to others . they can work out the actual details.

[weinoo]

3 hours ago, David Ross said:

One of my dreams is to own some Mauviel French Copperware pans.  A local kitchen shop carries it and can special order from the entire line.  Anyone ever had the experience of cooking with it? This is a stock image of some of their pans

 

Absolutely - it's great stuff. As did @rotuts (??), brought back a bunch of pieces on different trips to Paris (1 piece at a time - stuff is heavy!). The first 2 pieces I got from them are old-school tin lined - a 3-liter saucepan and a "rondeau" 3-liter sized one but with one handle (called a sauté pan). I have one or two others. FWIW, Falk might be even more to some people's taste.

 

Here's the Mauviel stuff...

 

 

Front left is the tin lined sauté pan with one handle. Right is the low-sided stainless-lined frying pan.

 

 

Hammered 3 or 4 liter sauce pan. Tin lined.

 

 

Splayed sauce pans. Tin lined on left (1 liter) and stainless lined on right (2.5 or 3 liter).

 

Except for one, all purchased at DeHellerin. I don't even know if these tin lined hammered can be had any more. 

Mauviel now has about 10 different lines of copper (to say nothing of stainless and other stuff); when the first of those coppers above were bought, it was probably one of two lines then being made.

 

 

[rotuts]

@David Ross 

 

Know your dreams

 

I had them

 

and realized them by circumstances 

 

and an excellent exchange rate.

 

Paris.  

 

the pans you mention

 

and the ones I had and still have

 

can't be that different than what you picture.

 

http://ouialwayshaveparis.com/2020/01/18/edehillerin/

 

their web site is impossible for me to navigate 

 

my pans are 3 mm w a stainless interior ' Nickel '

 

I washed them but did not spruce them up :

 

 

 

I used these pans since 1982.  I think they are called Fry pans

 

I have two :  this one : 8.2/4  "  ( you get to do the Metrics "

 

and it weights 1600 grams

 

its sibling it 10.3/4 " and I did not take it down from the rack

 

5 minutes w BartenderFriends on the interior :  just like new

 

i never polished the copper surface , as its pointless

 

unless HomeBeatiful is on its way.

 

I had 4 true  saute pans , that's the same w a striating up side

 

and about 6 if not more sauce pans

 

pans you put water in and simmered your veg or made sauce

 

in 1982  they did not make a saucier.

 

I had a number of oval pans w handles for baking / broiling

 

and two stock/braise pans , for ' stew '

 

start ion the gas cook top

 

move to the oven and wait

 

I do encourage to get one or two

 

of the finest thickest Steel cooking surface pans you can afford.

 

don't bother w classic  straight sided sauce if you can get ' fry '

 

don't bother w ' sauce '  if its a strait sided pan you might

 

boil potatoes in

 

the key is the weight , the thickness of the copper and the cooling surface

 

after that , the cooper on the sides of the sauce pan just radiate heat

 

and take the water in the pan longer to boil

 

once in the oven , the stock / braising pan

 

heating characteristics do not matter much.  its just the bottom

 

then after you find one or two pans you are going to enjoy

 

then decided on others

 

1 - 2 is all your need for the pure enjoyment of profession cooper

 

its all about the bottom

 

good luck

 

I hope your are successful

 

as I was just about to push return and Post

 

the Pan spoke to me from the Kitchen

 

just just around a corner

 

I think it was in French , and i used to speak it well

 

a very very long time ago

 

could not make out the accent.  very guttural 

 

I did recognize  " gendarme " " DGSI "  " DGSE "

 

and possibly " Flying Squad "

 

so I went in and polished the pan w BTF :  3 minutes :

 

 

 

 

note the bottom changed a bit w no effort other than  slight movement over the wood board.

 

I have lived in France.  Lesson :  Official looking French folks

 

w those funny French hats :

 

 

and machine guns 

 

well  , avoid them

 

 

 

Edited April 11, 2021 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

I have three hammered

 

tin lined

 

hammered not made anymmore

 

workers went deaf   tru story

 

don't get involved w tin

 

its historical only

[rotuts]

@weinoo 

 

excellent post

 

@David Ross 

 

 

credit 

@weinoo

 

if you don't want ' fry '

 

get the saute on  the bottom L

 

in stainless steel , not tin

 

the pot on the upper R is sauce

 

and not worth the expense as the tall sides in heavy cooper 

 

waste heat and thus take forever for the pan to heat up

 

they didn't have splayed sauce when i was there

 

but nice :

 

if your burger permits :

 

One Fry / saute  8" min.  thickest you can get

 

0ne splayed sauce , not too small

 

goof luck

[rotuts]

the sauce pan , w the higher sides

 

is to maximize the surface on the heating element

 

and the high sides were to help you

 

(once yu figured out the correct motion )

 

for the pans contents to " Jump "

 

""  To sauté is to cook food quickly in a minimal amount of fat over relatively high heat. The word comes from the French verb sauter, which means "to jump," and describes not only how food reacts when placed in a hot pan but also the method of tossing the food in the pan. ""

 

I was never very good at getting the food to jump

 

the fry pan has sides that make it easier to use a spatula in the pan.

 

up to you

[rotuts]

@weinoo 

 

interesting again

 

my MC2  saucier pans have the same angle as you MC

 

flat pans

 

I never had either MC or MC2 flat pans.

 

go figure 

[rotuts]

@David Ross 

 

 

Is say the pan in the front middle L

 

would be very nice to have 

 

if the copper is thick, then the pan is heavy if not very heavy

 

if the copper is for ' show '

 

walk on by

 

the other two pans are ' nice '

 

butyoucan get much better pans for what those tow do

 

based on the price of copper the is thick.

 

or the pan on the 

[gfweb]

@rotuts

Hard to see what the explanation is.

 

I have 2 MC2, both badly stained.

I have 4 MC, one at least 25 years in my possession, the others about that old, but only fairly recently my own and none are stained.

 

You would think that aluminum is aluminum, whether MC or later.

 

I don't get it

[weinoo]

1 hour ago, rotuts said:

@David Ross 

 

if the copper is thick, then the pan is heavy if not very heavy

 

if the copper is for ' show '

 

walk on by

 

the other two pans are ' nice '

 

butyoucan get much better pans for what those tow do

 

based on the price of copper the is thick.

 

or the pan on the 

 

Mauviel has the  150 and 250 lines; they claim the 150 is for home cooks as it's lighter at only 1.5 mm thick. while the 250 is for pro and the copper 2.5 mm thick.

[weinoo]

2 hours ago, rotuts said:

I have three hammered

 

tin lined

 

hammered not made anymmore

 

workers went deaf   tru story

 

don't get involved w tin

 

its historical only

 

 Had no problem with the tin-lined pans. With proper care, the tin lasts - just no high heat and pretty much it's okay.  Of course, it's not being used every day or in a restaurant type setting. And that big saucepan is for soups.

As a matter of fact, once I took that particular tin lined pan into Bridge because maybe it would be nice to re-tin it.  They told me I was nuts, as no copper was showing through.

 

A couple of places do re-tinning:

 

https://eastcoasttinning.com/

 

https://rockymountainretinning.com/

 

https://brooklyncoppercookware.com/

 

Be aware that if you're afraid of spending money on new or vintage copper, these sites may be your downfall.

[weinoo]

 

This is the sauté pan in stainless, from East Coast - I certainly didn't pay anywhere near this.

 

https://eastcoasttinning.com/copper-cookware-for-sale-2/saute-pans/j-db-10-copper-saute

[rotuts]

if you have a tin lined pan 

 

don't toss it

 

but if you have no heavy copper pans , 

 

move toward SS

 

collecting old pans is different story