1. What type of pot should I buy; aluminium, copper or stainless steel?

 Well each material has its own pros and cons but some more so than others.

-          Copper is easily the best heat conductor, but it is expensive and can be pretty tricky to get properly clean.

-          Performance wise the next option is aluminium, but its well known that the metal can turn some foods grey, so it's nearly always coated with non-stick finish or made using anodized aluminium.

-          Stainless steel on the other hand is a pretty poor conductor of heat but it is extremely durable and can be attractive. However keeping the finish nice and shiny will require some serious elbow grease.

 

2. Do I need to buy a full set of pots and pans?

Purchasing a set can be economical if you are just starting your collection but if you already have some items then you’re probably best just buying single pieces as you can usually pick up decent ones for a good price.

 

3. I find some cookware to be a bit heavy for me, is it true that heaviest is best?

 Generally speaking heavier pots and pans conduct heat better than thinner alternatives. Although that doesn’t mean you need the heaviest for good results, just avoid the particularly thin and lightweight pieces and you’ll be fine.

 

4. Should I be looking for non stick pots and pans?

 Non stick is definitely the best option for the casual cook as it stops food sticking to the pans and therefore reduces the amount of fat/oil you require for cooking. The non-stick finish also makes cleaning up really easy.

 

5. I’m new to cooking what pots and pans will get me started?

 Everybody’s kitchen from beginner to professional should have at least 3 frying pans;

-          An 8 inch pan for Omelettes, pancakes, single burgers etc.

-          A 9 inch pan for chicken or steak maybe even a frittata.

-          A deeper 12 inch pan for making proper dinners with multiple ingredients like fajitas.

It’s also recommended to have a few pots of varying sizes;

-          2 litre pot for heating soup or steaming veg etc.

-          4 litre dutch oven/casserole pot for stews and pot roasts.

-          And an 8 inch pot for pasta or making stock.

  

 Hopefully these answers have helped please keep the questions coming and we’ll do our best to answer them.

 

 

Thanks for having a peek at our Kitchen Chat blog. We've moved here from the Friendster platform that we were on for a long time, but has now sadly gone the way of the Dodo. We are hoping to build a nice little blog here on Posterous, an excellent looking platform so far! Please forgive any formatting irritations that you may see in some of the posts, we are working as quickly as possible to sort them out. See you soon!

I just read that cooking things in cast iron cookware can be good for you, which took me a bit by surprise because it's just so counter-intuitive. But when you actually think about it, it does seem to make some sense, we need iron to survive, and a tiny, tiny bit of iron must rub off into the food. I still don't like the idea whether or not it makes sense. I would always have gone for the stainless steel version, mainly because of the look of it, but now I've got to re-think this whole thing. When I googled the terms, I came across a blogpost about it and was surprised that someone could go into such depth. I do like the look of some of the Le Crueset pans that are available and the name seems to be well respected for all their wares, but still how am I meant to decide? Cast Iron or Stainless Steel

Marco Pierre White has been one of our favourite Celebrity Chefs for many years - he seems to combine an incredible skill in the kitchen and a passion for food with a likable personality, something that not every chef in the public eye finds easy to achieve. Anyway, thanks to the magic of YouTube we can now remind ourselves of some of MPW best TV moments. Here is the first episode of The Great British Feast, enjoy!

Im sure most of the kitchen enthusiasts reading will have heard of Le Creuset Cookware, however just incase you happen to be unaware we thought that it would be useful to highlight this brand of pots, pans and (most famously) casserole dishes. The heritage of Le Creuset stretches back to its founding in 1925 in Northern France. It is probably best known for its colourful enameled cast iron casserole dishes which have the monikers of "French Ovens" or "Dutch Ovens". Le Creuset also manufacture other related cookware products including saucepans, tagines, corkscrews and wine openers. Their dishes are distinguished from other manufacturers by their bright and vibrant colours. Although the Le Creuset range is a little more expensive than the average High Street brands, there is little doubt that it will have a longer life than the vast majority of these cheaper options. You can read more about the history of the Le Creuset brand on Wikipedia and discover more on the company philosophy on the offical webpage. Here is an interesting video on the manufacture of Le Creuset dishes.

1. Common indire

ctions that are commonly made in sharpening knives are uncontrolled bevel angles, failure to establish a new edge, and leaving the final bevel too rough. 2. Choose an acute direction to sharpen your knife. When you discover what angle your knife is sharpened at, you will find the best practise is to sharpen at this angle again. If you can't find the angle but you wish to, ask the blade company or inquire at a knife specialist to determine what angle is appropriate for your knife. Otherwise, you may have to decide yourself on what angle to use: choose an angle of 10°-30° per side; shallower angles get the best results, but you may have to sharpen more often using this technique, steep angles are more durable, 17° is a good compromise: select an angle that matches the use the knife will receive. When searching for a blade sharpener, make sure it provides an edge guide mechanism that gives you a couple of options. 3, If you could, use an angle guide to control your edge's angle. Otherwise, you will have to try your best to decide what angle is correct, which is hard and requires a well-formed perception of angles. 4. For a symmetrical edge, sharpen the blade of your knife using this technique, drag it across the water lubricated stone in the adverse way you would use it to slice a thin layer off the stone. This allows a burr to form and that will give the stone sharpener a longer shelf life. 5. Continue grinding at this angle until your grind goes roughly half way through the steel. Don't worry if this is not accurate , just guess. For a one-sided edge ("scandi grind", "chisel grind", etc.), 6. Switch to the other side of the blade and continue creating a new edge; the easiest way to know if you have succeeded is to sharpen until you have raised a "burr", a feature that steel will naturally form when one bevel is ground until it meets another. It will generally be too small to see, but you can feel it scraping/catching on your thumb if you stroke away (dull side of the knife to the sharp) from the edge. Finer stones produce smaller burrs, but they are still there. 7. Turn the blade back to the other side and sharpen the other side of the blade in a similar fashion. 8. You can take away the burr of the blade by "cutting into" a hone (a finer stone). That is, by keeping the angle that you hold the knife controlled, move the blade in the opposite direction you moved the blade in steps 4-8. Some people prefer to use a dry sharpening stone but for reasons beyond the scope of this article. 9. If you wish, you may decide to polish or even strop the edge to the desired sharpness. For push cutting, stroping the edge's will give you better results (cutting directly into materials, pushing straight down without sliding the blade across the object) but will have detrimental results when it comes to slicing: without the 'microscopic serrations' left by grinding with a stone, the blade tends to not bite into things like tomato skins. I prefer to use the Global Sharpener for sharpening my own blades.

One of the most critical elements in any Chefs repetoire is the tools at his disposal - with the knives he uses being one of the most important elements. One of the most popular brands amongst professional chefs are Global Knives. [caption id="attachment_15" align="alignnone" width="111" caption="Global Knives - Quality"]

[/caption] Global knives were first produced in 1985 by industrial designer Komin Yamada, who set out to develop a   'new and revolutionary' selection of knives, utilising the best materials possible and incorporate the latest in modern design techniques. The concept of Global Knives is (quoted from Yamadas website)

The concept behind the development of the GLOBAL series was to bring together Italian design aesthetics, German durability, and Japanese precision. [caption id="attachment_16" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Global Knives Set - Professional choice"]

[/caption] The durability and lasting design aesthetic of Global Knives has ensured that they are a staple of chefs kitchens all over the world.

A Ramsay Curry, Mmmm, That Sounds Nice

With Britain’s growing popularity in Asian food it comes as no surprise that celebrity chefs are successfully plying their trade with recopies from such regions.

Gordon Ramsay has now put plans in place to start a T.V program dedicated to Malaysian food. The celebrity chef is currently working on a new show about Indian food and culinary. After this show is finished he is planning on rolling out the new show on Malaysian cuisine.

The plans were announced at the launch of the 2010 Malaysian Kitchen Campaign at the Westfield Shopping Centre in London.  The glamorous night that was organized to celebrate Malaysia’s culinary dishes was attended by a host of star chefs plus the Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia himself. 10 renowned chefs from the UK were in attendance along with 50 Malaysian restaurateurs and roughly 300 guests. I don’t think there has ever been a night when so many celebrity chefs have been in the one room together. Usually this would raise some eyebrows and possibly some fists as they are known to be fiercely competitive in the kitchen, if not bossy. One stat that stands out is the fact that there is more than 20 Michelin stars between them, Gordon Ramsay holding 12 of them. Ramsay has already been successful in Hell’s Kitchen; Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmare’s and is now looking forward to his new Indian and Malaysian cuisine shows. Good luck Gordon. I wait with anticipation.

Hello and welcome to Kitchen Chat.

Here at the Kitchen Chat we aim to bringing you all the latest news from the worlds top chefs (good and bad). Special deals on designer kitchenware. Secret recipies from grans cupburds and any celebrity chit chat that might be causing a stir in the kitchen.

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