What can I do about scratched pots?

Question

I have a pot that is really nice, and I was silly enough to use a metallic spatula. It is not Teflon but looked ceramic, and it has scratches now. Can any repair be done?

Edit: I am including an image below

Asked by Vass

Answer

Laura is spot on on this one. Those scratches seem entirely superficial, and if they don't affect your ability to cook with this pot, you are best off doing nothing.

Enameled cast iron is a great material to cook with, but once it becomes seriously chipped or deeply scratched, you're pretty much SOL. There isn't a food-safe high-heat enamel paint or coating that would perform the same as the original coating, as far as I know. Luckily for you, your pot still seems completely usable.

I understand that the scratches may be "unsightly", but the best advice I can offer is to keep using it. If there's food in the bottom of the pot, you can't see the scratches! Problem solved!

Answered by heathenJesus

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Can I freeze soup in a pot?

Question

Can I freeze soup in a pot (I believe it's made of stainless steel)? Are there any health risks? Is there any risk of damage to the pot?

Asked by clueless

Answer

The possible risks I can think of are (1) the large thermal mass may mean that the soup cools off too slowly, leading to spoilage in the middle, and (2) freezer burn on the top of the soup, because there's no truly effective way to seal out air from a pot. In practice, (1) is unlikely unless you're talking about a 25-gallon pot or something, in which case it wouldn't fit in an ordinary freezer anyway. (2) on the other hand will be a problem, unless you're only freezing the soup for a short period.

The only risk to the pot is that it may not quite fit in the freezer comfortably, so as people take things out and put things in, they may shove the pot about and maybe break a handle or something.

Answered by Marti

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Dishwasher safe lids for copper cookware?

Question

I have a copper cookware set. I understand that the copper portion isn't dishwasher safe, but what about the lids? I assume since they have no copper on them, they are dishwasher safe.

My Cookware Set

Answer

Those lids appear to be stainless steel, and as such would be dishwasher safe.

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Does the cooking time, adding more water and using high quality and expensive rice help to produce soft and non-stick rice?

Question

Most of my friends told me that to prevent the rice from sticking at the bottom of the rice cooker pot (as shown in the picture below) and to prevent the rice from becoming very hard at the bottom of the rice cooker port, I have to do the following:

1. Decrease the cooking time
2. Adding more water and
3. Using high quality and expensive rice (e.g. Paw San Fragrance rice)

Currently, for each cup of rice that I added, I add two cup of water. The current cooking time is about 1 hour for two cup of rice and the rice use is the normal plain rice.

Would appreciate if anyone can confirm that I should decrease my cooking time to 30 minutes and add 4 cup of water for each cup of rice and the use of high quality and expensive rice?

Answer

This is what I do for cooking ONE cup rice:

1. Soak one cup rice in one and a half cup water for 20 minutes. This should be done after rinsing the rice properly since, the water used for soaking is NOT to be thrown away.
2. After 20 minutes put the vessel with the existing water on the gas stove (with a loose lid on) on a high heat.
   When the water reaches the boiling point (indicator: water starts to pour out of the top of the vessel), reduce the gas to a minimum.
3. After 4-5 minutes check whether the rice is done by taking the lid off sightly. Keep it on the minimum gas till the water bubbles on the top of the rice vanish completely.
4. Switch off the gas.
5. Let the rice vessel (with the lid on) be on that switched off gas for 15 minutes. The inherent heat of the gas helps in setting the rice properly and reduces the chances of the rice getting stuck at the bottom.

Also, using a thick bottomed vessel for cooking rice is a must. In a thin bottomed vessel, the food is more likely to get burnt if less water is used.

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How to clean my unanodized aluminium pot?

Question

I got some acidic food in the pot and its starting to look ugly.

Can this pot be saved, or do I need to throw it out?

Answer

If it's a small spot you can rub half a lemon on it till it's gone. If the entire inside has darkened you can fill it with water, add several tablespoons of cream of tartar (2 per quart) and boil it for 10 minutes.

You can also buy aluminum cleaner, but the do it yourself is typically cheaper.

In case you're wondering why I'm suggesting an acid for cleaning. It's actually alkali foods that stained your pot, not acidic. e.g. boiling potatoes. Acid actually cleans the spots put there by alkali foods.

The common warning against cooking acidic foods in an aluminum pot is to prevent excessive amounts of aluminum being leeched into your food.

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What to look for in a pot?

Question

What to look for in a pot. I'm supposing somebody that's just starting to live alone or a couple. Help me complete this list.

Size: small, but not too small. Maybe 2L or 3L.

Material: Stainless steel with a thick bottom. As you are going to buy only one pot to begin with, spend some extra money on quality.

Bottom: A thick bottom is a must on electric or ceramic stoves as they don't bend out of shape so easily. Also, a thick bottom is handy for slow cooking as the heat diffuses more evenly.

Handle: Same material, stainless steel. This is handy if you want to put the pot in the oven. Look at the fixture to the pot, it must be riveted on, with thick rivets.

Stove: if it's going to be induction - Glass, Ceramics, All Aluminum etc. are all out.

Price: Not too expensive. 20€ - 30€?

What am I forgetting?

Answer

Modifying your original terms:

Size: 2-3 quart/liter. I consider 2.5 quarts to be ideal.

Material: Two options: hard-anodized aluminum nonstick, OR stainless-steel interior/exterior. With stainless, it should have either an encapsulated aluminum disk base or a tri-ply construction (aluminum layered with stainless)

Bottom: Thick is good, and you absolutely must have aluminum here for conduction

Handle: stainless is good, as long as it stays relatively cool. The handle absolutely must be riveted on, with thick rivets. Screws, glue, or welded handles do not last long-term. Tack-welded handles are the bane of the restaurant I work for right now; we've had several handles snap off in the last year.

Additional things to look for:

Weight: HEAVY. You want fairly thick cookware for even heating, but most of that weight should be from thickness of the aluminum disk.

Design: A flared lip around the pot, to facilitate clean pouring.

Shape: I'm partial to shallow designs, which flare out at the top. Although it's nonstick and not stainless, I love my Calphalon Contemporary shallow 2.5 qt saucepan for it's extra-flared design. This lets it transmit heat more efficiently from the range, and allows it to safely hold a larger capacity of food. It also allows for faster and cleaner reduction of sauces.

Lid: TEMPERED GLASS with a handle on top, and a flange to help seal tightly on the pot/pan. Tempered glass is very durable and lets you see the progress of your cooking without releasing the steam. The handle also remains cool, so you don't burn yourself on it; this is the second problem I have with solid stainless lids on many premium cookware lines (All Clad, and most manufacturers' tri-ply products).

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how can I tell if my pots and pans are ferrous?

Question

I am looking into replacing my hob with an quick, induction type electric hob, but they stipulate that the the cookware must be ferrous. I have decent cookware, but how do I know if it is correct?

Answer

If a magnet sticks to it, it's ferrous.

I'd like to give a more elaborate answer, but there isn't anything more to it.

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