What type of Pan

they really can be expensive, especially if you want to get the nice heavy restaurant quality ones that will last for ions... I do not have those, mine are decent and not light weight - but not nearly as heavy as the GOOD stuff. I was lucky to live in a town where Revere Ware was manufactured and the out let store often ran great specials.

my father made the best fried eggs using cast iron fry pans... the pans also served the dual purpose of being a threat to misbehaving kids. He would tell us if we kept it up he would spank us with the heated cast iron pan. Of course he never did do this - the threat was adequate enough.

Using cast iron for eggs, only heat the pan to medium and no higher.

Make sure the pan is lighted greased with butter or an oil. Nothing too heavy. you don't need it.

If you are frying rice and you get some sticking on the bottom, let the rice mixture just sit in the pan for a few minutes off of the element or heat and cover it if you can.

After about five minutes or so, the steamy mix loosens the stuff stuck on.

haha, yeah, we can be particular about such things, can't we?

I have never heard about aluminum pans getting people ill - we always used it for our camping gear, though I do not know why really, it gets dented up easily... perhaps because it is light weight.

Is it the Alzheimer connection with aluminum?

I have a friend that ate some food that sat in the pan for maybe an hour after it was cooked and she got very sick from it, like a mild case of food poisioning. Her doctor said it was probably from the aluminum pan, that food should be removed from the pan immediately after cooking because the metal.

I didn't quite type the last sentence right. I was saying the doctor said it was probably due to the metal from the pan. I don't know about the alzheimer connection, that would only affect the brain, right?

doesn't the fumes released from the teflon cause birds to die? birds are much more sensitive than us and other pets, but still it should give us a clue... like the canary sent into the caves if it dies you pay attention.

that's what i'd heard.there was a 20/20 type show awhile back on it.some woman lost all her birds before she figured out what was going on.sad.

Kudos to your mother's intuition!

oh! that sounds like something I had a home party demonstration for back in the early 90s I think it went by "lifetime" name, it was very expensive. My mother has a set that does the same, she got it when she was a teen by saving her points... I am thinking it was betty crocker points, but the cookware says duncan hines on the knobs - engraved on copper. It has held up more than 50 years and is still her everyday cookware that she would not think about replacing.

I did not know that about teflon (expanding) that must be why sacmom above noticed the differences in flavor when teflon was used.

what is "barkeeper's friend"?

Barkeeper's Friend is a cleanser. It is sold in the aisle where one might find dishliquids and such. It is a powder and comes in a gold round container kind of like AJAX. It is what the distributor of my cookware said to use on the cookware. I sprinkle a bit onto the dry pot and then take a wet papertowel and go in a circular motion. It makes the cookware gleam!

oh I will have to look for it then, thank you!

I did not know that about aluminum pans - thank you!
I wonder, though, if the porcelain coated ones cause the same trouble?

I am not sure about the porcelains because when they disected the brains of the patients who died of this diseas, the found big traces of aluminum.

hey book!

my father always cooked eggs in the cast iron - it got the edges nice and lacy - and cottage fries were the best....
but since he is not around to cook anymore Mother has been using teflon.... she likes it for the same reasons you mention.

hi my main reason for liking teflon is that I am totally unable to turn an omelette or crepe. It will tear and look like once eaten already and that doesnt happen with teflon.

and guess what I would soooo much like to own a pot with teflon in to make pudding without the milk burning

I had the same trouble for a bit - then a friend suggested I be patient and TURN THE HEAT DOWN! lol, it really has improved the outcomes.

oh thanks a lot Modestah I will try that next time I try to make omelettes.

sounds like you know your cooking surfaces and which are better for each purpose.