Cookware & Kitchenware Blog - Kitchenware Direct

Picnic Glory!

noreply@blogger.com (Blake) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:48:00 +0000

I think a picnic is one of life’s little luxuries. Relaxing outdoors with family and friends with no worries and great food and drink is what a picnic should be. Here at Kitchenware Direct, we believe these products will go a long way to facilitating this.

The Ocho and Thermos range of products couple style with functionality to make your next picnic worry free; from watching a romantic sunset with cheese and a bottle of wine to a full blown family outing with copious food there is the product for every occasion. Thermos also offer a great range of mugs, drink bottles and vacuum insulated flasks to keep your drinks at their optimal temperature.

With the picnic sets, the cutlery and utensils are all very durable and hard wearing. There is ample storage area and they even fold in on the sides to reduce space when not being used. The smaller bags have the same high quality accompaniments, but, like the Ocho Black Vigne Picnic Set, is designed to keep a couple of bottles of wine cool and comes with a cheese knife, board and bottle opener!

The picnic rugs that we stock are the final piece of the puzzle for a great picnic. The comfortable fleece covering is protected by a waterproof PVC base that ensures you stay dry even when sitting on wet grass.

These stylish and durable rugs are available in two colours; light tan and cool grey. Perfect for the summer months, these would make an ideal gift for Christmas.

For all your liquid picnic needs, Water Bottles Direct stocks a wide range of 100% BPA free Sigg water bottles, who are regarded as one of the finest makers of water bottles in the market.

With a wide range of styles and sizes for all ages, these safe and fashionable drink bottles are the perfect addition to any picnic. Water Bottles Direct stocks kid's water bottles, sports bottles, Sigg Classic and Sigg Designer bottles, and stainless steel insulated mugs.

Now that you have all the equipment you can think about what you want to take with you on your next picnic. Why not make something really special that people of all ages will love. Here at Kitchenware Direct we recommend making this amazingly simple and tasty chicken club sandwich. Here are the simple ingredients you will need to easily feed 4 people:

• 2 whole chicken breasts
• 4 rashers of crispy bacon
• 12 pieces of lightly toasted bread
• Chopped iceberg lettuce
• 2 sliced large tomatos
• Your favourite mayonnaise
• Your favourite Dijon mustard
• Salt and Pepper.

Simply cook your chicken breast in your preferred way and then slice into generous segments. Cook the bacon and cut in to equal sized pieces.

While you are toasting the bread prepare the lettuce and mix the mayonnaise with the mustard at a ratio of 4 to 1.

To prepare the sandwich coat the bread with the mayonnaise mix and apply lettuce, a few slices of tomato and approximately half of a chicken breast on top. Then add another slice of bread covered in the mayonnaise mix and repeat the process, but this time add a generous amount of bacon instead of chicken and seal with the top piece of bread. Slice diagonally and repeat the process four times and you will have a sumptuous meal for four people that will stay fresh in the insulated compartments of our wide range of coolers and hampers.

Having used this recipe many times I can guarantee you will find it as delicious as I have. You can season the chicken with herbs and spices to your specific taste if you desire.

Take advantage of our low prices and the beautiful weather and head outdoors for one of life’s simple pleasures – the picnic.

Pizza Perfect

noreply@blogger.com (Blake) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 05:41:00 +0000

I am a big fan of pizza, but was beginning to get fed up with the same old recipes from all the local pizza places. I never really had any freedom to have a pizza just the way I like it. That was until I got my hands on the Multifunctional Pizza Oven. Now I can add my favourite sauces and toppings on any base that I chose without it costing a fortune and waiting 30 minutes for it to be delivered.

I, like so many of you, love fresh ingredients on my pizza. I feel that from the big chains that you just don’t get the best quality ingredients. Being able to create your own pizzas you know exactly what is in them and that it hasn’t just been thrown together quickly in a production line.

At the moment my favourite pizza to make at home consists of:

Salami
Sundried Tomatoes
Capsicum
Onion
Rich tomato and herb base
Topped with mozzarella and a sprinkling of parmesan cheese

It is so simple and so tasty and the biggest bonus is that from the time you begin to think about making it, within 10 minutes you will be eating it. In the 5 minutes it takes for the Pizza Oven to heat up I can easily have all the ingredients chopped and ready to go. You can slice everything thin or thick, the beauty is you do it the way you like it!

WHY?: The Pizza Maker is perfect for families of all sizes and tastes. Instead of squabbling over what pizzas to get for everyone in the family now we simply just make our own. The range of pizzas I have seen is amazing. From simple ham and cheese to an experimental ‘nacho pizza’ I made that featured refried beans, corn chips, salsa, cheese and a generous helping of sour cream once it came out of the oven. There aren’t any restrictions, only what you do and don’t like.

Simplicity: Many times I have come home from work and been too tired to make a big meal. Even with the emptiest fridge I have been able to find ingredients for a pizza. Any sort of base cooks perfectly and using my pizza cutter I had a hot and tasty meal in front of me in no time.

Extra: The interchangeable deep dish adds a new dimension to the Pizza Oven. Simply take the stone base out and replace with the deep dish to cook a wide range of other foods such as:

Omelettes
Frittatas
Fish fingers
Warms up pies, quiches and pasties

My honest opinion is that once you start using this Pizza Maker you won’t want to go back to buying from the big chain pizza stores. I have had a lot of fun making and eating the pizzas I have made and am sure that you will have the same experience too.

Start cooking: To find out even more information and how to purchase a Pizza Maker, please visit Kitchenware Direct - Australia's premier cookware and kitchenware retailer.

Home-made Peanut Butter Ice cream with Mini Marshmallows and M&M's

noreply@blogger.com (Not Quite Nigella) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 15:43:00 +0000

One thing I know for certain about almost every single child in the world: they love ice cream. And come the hot summer months, there will be a lot of begging and pleading for said icy confection. I've seen it too many a time and when it's sooo hot outside and they're just begging sooo hard, it almost feels like bad parenting to refuse to buy them a scoop.

Let me put another proposition about children forward: they love to act like adults and make things. Therefore they love tinkering about in the kitchen, usually making a mess, in an approximation of what a grown adult does in the kitchen. My mother feared our culinary attempts so much that she convinced me at age 7 that wholemeal Lebanese bread would do as an Apple Pie Crust. It doesn't in any way, shape or form and I still recall my disgust at seeing my slowly and carefully peeled and sliced apples in the wholemeal crust. It scarred me for a good 15 years. I digress...

Let me put through a proposition about parents throughout the world, they're all trying to: cut down on additives, keep the kids amused and save some money. This is bizarrely where I've found a soft serve ice cream machine comes into play. I had some hungry boys to feed one weekend and I had to keep them amused for a short period of time while I was minding them. I've witnessed their mum spend a small fortune fueling their growth spurt with ice cream so I figured this was the best way to amuse them, amuse me and to feed them.

I decided on a Peanut Butter ice cream as it's a kid's (and adult's) favourite flavour and one that would go well with the mix ins. Assembling the unit wasn't too hard, but what I needed to do was make sure that my freezer was at least -18c or colder. If it wasn't then it just wouldn't work. It required a quick defrosting of the freezer but it was about time that it was done and I set the bowl inside a plastic bag and checked the temperature. -24c, excellent!

The next day (although you could do it a minimum of 12 hours later) I filled in the mix ins and made the ice cream mix and put it in the fridge to remain cold. The mix ins had to be a certain size, mini M&M's were ok but full sized ones weren't. Hundreds and thousands and other miniature sized sprinkles were the go. Skittles are fine but probably best saved for a fruity ice cream.

With everything ready, I removed the rock-hard, freezing bowl from the freezer, shaking it to see whether it had any liquid sloshing around (which means that it's not frozen enough). I slotted it in the machine, snapped the lid on, turned it on and started pouring the mix in.

The kids were delighted, it was like a science project coming to life only better as they got to eat it. We waited 15 minutes while it churned and it was fairly firm but not quite right. Then at 23 minutes it looked about the right consistency. They devoured it hungrily, one even briefly getting brain freeze. Their mum was inordinately impressed when she came to pick them up as there was no more whimpering for ice cream and they got a box of it to take home with them (with a warning that they weren't to get it all over the car).

I tasted some too and it was sweet and creamy, if anything I'd add a little salt into the mix to make it more Reese's Peanut Butter Cup-ish. I also preferred it when it was harder (which you can easily do just by leaving it to churn for longer and then scooping it out instead of using the soft serve dispenser).
I got excited about the possibilities, not just for kids but for desserts like the Tetsuya's Green Apple Sorbet I had bookmarked in his cookbook. So whilst this amused and delight the kids to no end, it will also do the same for me and my grown up dinner guests.

Pros: very cheap per batch of ice cream (although there is the initial outlay for the maker), healthy, no additives. easy to understand instructions and easy to put together, mix ins have a very cool way of being dispensed into the ice cream. Kids love it and for the cost of buying 1 child a $5 scoop of ice cream you can feed 8 or 9 kids a scoop.
Cons: A few nooks and crannies when cleaning and mix ins have to be very small. Can make one flavour at a time with 12 hours in between.

Peanut Butter Ice Cream

• 350g smooth peanut butter

• 2/3 cup of caster sugar

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 3/4 cup milk

• 3/4 cup of cream

1. Whisk peanut butter and sugar in a bowl until combined

2. Whisk in milk and cream until smooth and the sugar has dissolved. You can make this ahead of time and cover and keep in the refrigerator.

3. When ready to use, remove from fridge and pour into frozen bowl via the top opening. Churn for 15-25 minutes depending on how soft or hard you want your ice cream.

Smoked Trout and Fennel salad with Wasabi Mayo dressing

noreply@blogger.com (Not Quite Nigella) — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 17:22:00 +0000

I don't think that I need to convince anyone in Australia that salad or seafood is a good idea at Christmas. One Christmas Eve I attempted to buy fresh fish from the Pyrmont Fish Markets only to be greeted by a scene of utter chaos. Luckily, everyone was in a fairly jolly mood knowing that there was a lot of fish to be bought, although I sensed the mood could have turned ugly had they run out of seafood (Seinfeld Chocolate Babka episode flashback).

Considering our temperatures can reach 40c in December, a salad is always one of the more welcome items on the table. And this salad pairs a fish that you don't need to get from the Fish Markets, indeed it's one you could buy a few weeks ahead of time, with some fresh yet substantial ingredients. Sold? OK the final pitch is the taste: a smoked trout with a scattering of salad leaves, crispy fennel and waxy kipflers and a hint of zing (or a ferocious growl - your choice) with the creamy wasabi mayonnaise.

I found that using a Vslicer was something I was at first trepidatious about, hearing about lost finger tops and cuts. So much was my fear that I asked my husband to supervise me. We removed the VSlicer from the holder (held snugly with a safety catch). What I needed to do was slice the fennel thinly so I spread open the multilingual instructions and followed the directions on which attachment to use. I V-sliced the fennel in two thicknesses: the number 1 producing a gorgeously thin slice whereas number 2 gave it a sturdier slice for frying. Not so bad-although I admit that I am still scared of the julienning attachments which look a bit medieval.

If you've never removed the flesh from a whole Smoked trout, do not fear, it's easy. Using a sharp knife, cut deep all the way along the belly of the smoked trout (which should already have an incision) like you were slicing a burger bun in half to fill, and flip the fish open and remove the head, backbone and tail in one.

There may be smaller bones within the fish itself, look out for those, especially smaller ones like the ones along the top fin that people may not notice. The skin will also slide away easily from the meat.

I had shunned salad spinners for years. Not for lack of wanting one but from hearing from friends that the ones with cords wore out after a while. But the Kuhn Rikon one has a turning lever and a more sturdy construction so I came with an open mind. I also think that if you can’t buy organic all of the time, with the amount of chemicals used, it’s always good to wash salad leaves as much as possible. This one dries the salad beautifully and you should lose patience with watching it spinning (I didn't) you can always press the button down firmly and it will stop spinning. It’s surrprising how much water it does remove from the delicate leaves and you can see this collect at the bottom.

There's no fancy way to present a salad, on a plate is about it but to give it a special touch, the Laguiole Salad Spoons in a Christmassy red would do the trick. I'd first seen Laguiole cutlery when I dined at Gordon Ramsay's Royal Hospital Road Restaurant in London. My sister recognised the trademark Bee symbol on her steak knife and we set about looking for them in the stores in London. I hunted down a lovely set at Waitrose but missed my opportunity to buy them and have pined for them ever since.

Smoked Trout and Fennel salad with Wasabi Mayo dressing

• 3-4 Kipfler potatoes peeled

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

• 2 fennel bulbs with fronds reserved

• 1.5 tablespoons of flour mixed seasoned with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper

• Grapeseed or olive oil for frying

• Baby Spinach leaves

• 1 avocado

• 1 whole smoked trout, deboned and skin removed

For first dressing

• 1/3 cup of Extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and 3 tablespoons of lemon juice for dressing.

For second dressing

• Wasabi

• 1/3 cup of whole egg mayonnaise (Hellmans, S&W or similar)

1. Boil potatoes for 15 minutes in salted water until done and then drain and slice each potato diagonally into 3-4 pieces. Add the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and some salt and pepper and set aside.

2. Cut off fronds from both the fennel and cut it in half. Using a VSlicer slice one fennel bulb using the number 2 thickness (3mm approximately if cutting by hand). Heat the frypan with some of the 1/2 cup of oil and dredge the fennel slices lightly in the seasoned flour and fry until golden and crispy. Drain on a paper towel.

3. Then slice the other fennel very thinly using the Vslicer on the Number 1 thickness.

4.Using the Kuhn Rikon Salad Spinner, take out the green sieve and wash the thinly sliced fennel, baby spinach leaves, and the fennel fronds (that resemble dill). Spin until dry and place in a large bowl along with the potatoes and half of the trout meat and pour over the first dressing.

5. Make second dressing by combining the two using the amount of wasabi that you prefer.

6. Place 1/2 of this salad mix onto a serving plate or bowl and using a Stockholm avocado slicer place 1/2 of the avocado on top of this layer. Then add the rest of the salad and the rest of the avocado and place remaining smoked trout and crispy fennel on top.

7.Drizzle over second wasabi mayonnaise dressing and season with salt and pepper.

Mango and Cranberry Fruitcake: an Australian Christmas cake

noreply@blogger.com (Not Quite Nigella) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:28:00 +0000

I know that fruit cakes divides people. There are some that find it possibly the vilest cake on earth and others that adore it, soaking their fruit for months and polishing off pennies to put in the cake. I always think of grandmothers as the keepers of the fruit cake. They're the ones I usually see making them although I can't say that either of my grandmothers ever did so, one notoriously preferring to socialise than cook.
So please do allow me to throw another variation into the mix. Something a little more Australian that your traditional English fruit cake. For our Christmases, we have a bounty of fresh fruit and one of the best fruits in season is the Mango. A tray of these juicy, sweet mangoes can be yours for $20 which is one of the best things about Christmas (my husband going so far as to request a tray of these last Christmas).

If I could urge any fruit cake lover to do anything, it's to make this cake. You will be duly rewarded in your endeavor with an incredibly moist, dark, rich cake that is unusually light too. The darkness comes courtesy of the muscovado sugar and the lightness comes from the method including the bicarb and the rest of it. My husband, a fruit cake enthusiast (read=maniac) claims this is the best fruit cake he has ever eaten.

Viola! All the meat removed from the pip and no stringy mango between your teeth
I used an Oxo Good Grips Mango peeler to help remove the pip from the meat and found that it worked a treat in removing almost every bit of the meat from the pip. Macadamias are also an Australian ingredient and whilst I know that cranberries aren't exactly Australian but they are certainly festive looking. I also found that the Analon Suregrip Square Springform Cake tin was a much easier way of easing out the cake. As it's somewhere in between a heavy fruit cake and a regular cake, I didn't want to risk it using a non springform cake tin.

This won't be one of those cakes that you sit in the living room until Christmas. Like most things around Christmas, making a fruitcake falls to the wayside while you are battling Christmas queues in a last dash attempt to avoid buying Christmas presents from a petrol station. You can make it a week or a few days ahead and it will be good as it's so moist, but you will need to keep it in an airtight container in the fridge.

Mango and cranberry fruitcake
• 500g mixed dried fruit (premium mix)
• 150g dried cranberries
• 100ml rum
• 1 large fresh mango (400-430g)
• 100g chopped macadamias
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 large eggs
• 150g muscovado sugar or dark brown sugar if not available (or 200g if you like your fruit cake quite sweet)
• 1 1/2 cups of self raising flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of bi carb of soda

1. Soak the dried fruit and cranberries with the rum overnight or for as long as you have patience for.
2. Prepare an Analon Suregrips Square Springform 22x22cms baking tin with greaseproof paper. Using a Mango peeler, remove all of the flesh from the mango and chop it up into smallish pieces.

3. Preheat oven to 160c. In a large saucepan, place dried fruit, cranberries, mango, rum liquid and water and bring to the boil and simmer on a low heat for 5 minutes. Cool.
4. Add sifted flour, bicarb and crumbled muscovado sugar.

5. Lightly beat 2 eggs and add them to the mix. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 50-60 minutes until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
6. I decorated these simply with blanched almonds although you could continue the theme with some bought honey roasted whole macadamias. To blanche almonds, pour boiling water over almonds and rest for 5 minutes. Then slip the skins off by rubbing them with your fingers. You can also bake them briefly in a low oven to dry them out.

Recipe Christmas Pork Roast Porchetta

noreply@blogger.com (Not Quite Nigella) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:00:00 +0000

A Traditional Christmas Roast-Porchetta

I often find myself torn at Christmas. Torn between wanting something traditional, much like everything that you see on television and at the movies of softly falling snow, bright glowing Christmas lights, huge trees and convivial family scenes indoors where tartan features regularly. And then I'm confronted with the reality. An Australian Christmas where the weather reaches up to 40 degrees and the idea of slaving over a hot oven for hours would make a party pooper and martyr out of the most well intentioned cook.

I usually choose a bit of both in order to satisfy the traditionalists and the modernists. This year what caught my eye was an Italian Roast Porkcalled Porchetta. I ate this once at a London restaurant Arbutus (a place with 1 Michelin star) and it was one of the most delicious entrees I've had, the pork fall apart soft and sliced paper thin.

Which brings me to another point. I hate overeating. I feel uncomfortable when I do it and afterwards all I want to do is curl up and sleep or hide so I don't do it often. Although I feel compelled to do it at Christmas where the spread is so bountiful and delicious. But this is where the Porchetta can actually help. By slicing it paper thin, you eat a much smaller amount of the meat. It's so richly gorgeous and fatty you don't really need to hoe into a thick slab anyway. Not unless your Christmas Wish was an angioplasty.

The advantage of cooking the meat on a low heat for such a long time is that the meat is meltingly tender and the fat melds into the meat perfectly. The lemon zest is the perfect antidote to the fatty meat giving is a zing where it is needed. I usually do like a Pork Roast with an Apple sauce but this one doesn’t need it, although you could certainly pair it with one if you’re missing it terribly.

And if I can offer any advice, save your sanity, don't make everything yourself and instead have everyone bring a plate. I tried making everything myself one Christmas and it was the most miserable Christmas ever for me. The year afterwards, everyone sensed my impending crisis and offered to bring a plate each. And it became a magnificent Christmas where I was only committed to making two dishes and everyone else brought something fantastic and home made which invited even more conversation. And conversation about food and passing on recipes during a family Christmas is much more pleasant than reliving Festivus and the "Airing of Grievances", in which each person tells everyone else all the ways they have disappointed him or her over the past year. Trust me, we've done it.

Christmas Pork Roast Porchetta

1.8kg large square of pork belly. Ask the butcher to remove with the excess fat and bones but keep the bones to use as a trivet
1 tablespoon salt flakes or sea salt plus 2 teaspoons for seasoning after roasting
1/2 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
2 fat garlic cloves skinned and sliced into pieces
zest of 1/2 a large lemon
2 tablespoons rosemary
1 tablespoon fennel seeds
5 fresh sage leaves
olive oil

1. Preheat oven to 220c or 200c fan forced. Using a large mortar and pestle, pound salt, pepper, garlic, lemon zest, rosemary, fennel seeds and sage leaves until it resembles a rough paste

2. Place bones on the bottom of the baking dish so that the roast can sit on it.

3. With an absolutely dry pork belly place it skin sin down and with your hands rub the herb paste into the pork and then roll meat up into a roll and secure with a few pieces of string (I used 5). Drizzle oil over the skin and sprinkle salt over the top.

4. Place on top of the bones and place in the oven for 15 minutes. Then lower the temperature to 180c/160c fan forced and cook for a further 2hours and 15 minutes.

5. Baste every half an hour using a baster such as the Cuisipro Dual Baster.

6. Throw out bones (tempted as you may be to nibble on them, they will be like deep fried ribs). Rest for 15 minutes before carving thinly.

Cookware Comparison

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Macaulay) — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 00:32:00 +0000

Stainless Steel, Aluminium and Hard Anodised Pans. Which ones?

I’ll put up my hand now and admit that my cupboard is an exercise in how not to choose your pans. I, like a lot of people I suspect, used the trial and error way of honing in and deciding on my favourite pot and I know little about the difference between Stainless Steel, Aluminium and Hard Anodised pans, going more by the brand than by any inherent quality they may possess. The one thing I do know is that once you use a good pan you’ll find that you’ll have difficulty going back to those $15 supermarket jobs that seemed alright when you first moved out of home but then swelled at the base and scratched on the surface.

Not all pans are the same, as I learnt with some research. Without boring you with all of the details (and I sometimes nodded off) here is the quick lowdown, all you need to know before you buy when comparing Stainless Steel, Aluminium and Hard Anodised pans (all 3 make up 85% of the world’s cookware business and 90% of department store cookware business). “Traditional” means that there is no non stick coating applies to it, while “Non stick” obviously means that they have non stick properties.

Non stick versus traditional

The advantage of non stick versus traditional is obvious. You food won’t stick to the pan. Non-stick is the most slippery substance in the world, shorted to "PTFE" in trade talk.

Non-stick coatings are apparently safe and do not pose a hazard to human health. If particles of non-stick coating are ingested, the coatings are inert and nontoxic.

Stainless Steel traditional

The quality of SS depends on the nickel content. 18/10 stainless steel with 10% nickel content is the grade to look for although for pans 18/8 is also acceptable. How shiny it is depends on how it is polished.

Nerd fact: The number "18" stands for the chromium content, which is the same for all stainless steel. Chromium prevents rusting.

As Stainless Steel cannot conduct heat well, you either need an aluminium base or a copper one (a aluminium base needs to be thicker, up to 3 times thicker than copper). They’re bonded either by using “Brazing” or “Impact” bonding (eg Scanpan Impact), Impact bonding being the more favoured way as the process for Brazing bonding means that if you expose the pot to prolonged overheating or boil it dry for an extended period the base will separate.

BUT of course it’s not that easy and as aluminium and copper are soft metals, you may have heard of Tri ply, where there is an additional Stainless Steel protector under the copper or aluminium base. This is the pan I have and if it’s possible to love a pan, then yes I do. There are also “tri ply clad” like All-Clad where the whole base and sides of the pan or pot have 3 layers, not just the base, and obviously these will conduct heat up the sides well as well as the bottom. And stay away from any tri ply with a carbon steel core instead of aluminium, just because it’s heavier, doesn’t mean that it’s better. Carbon is a poor conductor of heat.

And as for which is a better base, copper or aluminium for heat control, copper is better but for retained heat, aluminium is better. French chefs prefer copper pans but a copper pan gets hot very quickly and cools off very quickly. This level of control is why copper has always been the French chefs' choice. If you have chef fantasies (and no I don’t mean Mr Darcy fantasies about Gordon Ramsay but being a chef), you may favour copper.

But the obvious advantage to the aluminium retaining heat is that when you go back for seconds, the aluminium will keep the food warm for longer whereas a copper base will cool off quickly.

Brands: Scanpan Impact, Essteele Australis, Scanpan Fusion 5, Scanpan Fusion 5 Copper, Scanpan Coppernox

Stainless Steel non stick

The above applies for non stick and like most pans as you’ll see, thickness is the key to quality in pans. We’ve probably been drilled into us by now that non sticks can only be used on low to medium heat so I’ll dispense with that warning. Brands:Jamie Oliver Professional Series Stainless Steel, All-Clad Non Stick, Tefal Ingenio, Circulon Steel Elite

Aluminium traditional

Aluminium is the most popular finish because it is inexpensive compared to Stainless Steel and Copper and conducts heat well. Thickness is the key, the thicker the pan the better. They can either be very good quality (huge stock pots found in restaurant kitchens) or shockingly bad (the kind you’ll find in variety stores or supermarkets). Needless to say, steer clear of the latter.

Aluminium Non stick

Again thicker is better. Don’t be dazzled by pretty patterns on the base of the pan. It is size that matters!

One thing to look out for is that aluminium expands when it heats up so if the base of an aluminium pan (or stainless steel pan with an aluminium disc) is absolutely flat prior to heating, it will most likely become convex when heated, due to metal expansion. This creates what is called a "spinner," which is very dangerous when cooking as the surface is not steady or flat to the heat.

Good cookware has a concave base so that when it heats up and the metal expands, the base remains flat and steady on the heat. You can test this by turning a pan over and putting a ruler on the base. The centre of the pan's surface should not be touching the ruler, rather slightly concave. It is this concave base that prevents warpage.

One thing that aluminium is is soft, so cooking utensils will start to break down the surface quicker than other finishes and thus the non stick coating will gradually decrease.

P.S. We have all heard about aluminium and Alzheimers. The latest is that there is no correlation between the two and that Alzheimers is due to a gene mutation.

Brands: Scanpan Classic, Scanpan Professional

Hard Anodised non stick

This is the most popular and fastest growing category. Again the toughness and durability of these are better than regular aluminium or Stainless Steel pans. The non stick coating is also protected due to the durability. Again, like a lot of pans, the thickness is what determines the quality (rather than price).

And the reason for this category’s popularity is the durability of the non stick. It is at least 100% more durable than aluminium non stick pans. Like aluminium the surface is porous allowing the non stick coating to be lokce din permanently but it is much harder than aluminium which means that whilst cooking utensils can break down the surface of aluminium, it cannot with the Hard Anodised surface because it is so hard.

Brands: Circulon Infinite, Jamie Oliver Hard Anodised, Anolon Advanced

All the best in cooking,

Not Quite Nigella

Buying Non-Stick Cookware Part 3

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Macaulay) — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 02:50:00 +0000

Is Nonstick Any Healthier?

From the very beginning, nonstick pans have been marketed as a healthier alternative to traditional cookware. Manufacturers claimed that because nonstick pans need little or no oil for cooking, they allow you to make food that is lower in fat than ever before.

The truth of the matter is most nonstick pans do require the use of at least a little oil for optimal results. SCANPAN, for instance, recommends that their pans be lightly coated with a drop of oil before cooking to help release food and to extend the life of their surfaces.

However, nonstick pans do allow you to cook with significantly less fat than stainless steel or aluminium cookware. In some cases, as when cooking rice in a nonstick saucepan, the coating will prevent burning or sticking with no fat at all.

PFOA & PTFE

The real controversy surrounding the healthiness of nonstick pans doesn’t involve our dietary choices. It involves the materials used to make nonstick coatings.

The primary chemical involved in this controversy is called perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA for short). Used in the manufacturing of Teflon for decades, PFOA has been linked with cancer in humans and has been shown to produce negative symptoms in animals.

Concerns over PFOA, however, actually have more to do with its presence in our environment than in our cookware. A notoriously stable compound, PFOA does not deteriorate. Once released into the water or air, it will stick around forever.

Fortunately PFOA does not find its way into our nonstick cookware. Most if not all of it is extracted from our pan coatings before they are ever applied to our pans. Multiple studies and endless testing has proven that if any trace amounts do remain, they are completely eliminated during the curing process that fuses the coatings to the pans.

In light of these recent concerns, nonstick manufacturers have taken significant measures to reduce PFOA’s impact on the environment. DuPont have recently reduced their PFOA emissions by 98%. Other companies such as SCANPAN are employing advanced technologies that remove PFOA from the manufacturing process altogether.

Other concerns have also arisen over the possible dangers of PTFE (polytetrafluroethylene), the material from which nonstick coatings are made. Known popularly as Teflon, PTFE has been shown to release potentially hazardous fumes at temperatures of 350EC or greater.

As for how toxic these fumes really are, the issue remains debated. Although PTFE fumes have been known to aggravate the sensitive respiratory systems in birds, few if any negative systems have been observed in humans. PTFE is widely used in the medical industry and it has been approved for use in cookware by every major health organization around the world.

Our Thoughts

In our 12 years of selling cookware, we have never personally experienced any negative side effects from using nonstick pans. From what we’ve read, they are perfectly safe so long as they’re properly used. Plus there are still some things we can’t do in the kitchen without a nonstick pan!

If you still have concerns over older pans, there are some precautionary measures you can take. Cooking at lower temperatures will ensure that your pans won’t overheat and cooking in a well ventilated space will prevent the buildup of fumes in your kitchen.

If you’re in the market for a new set of pans, you may be glad to know that the number of available environmentally-friendly options is growing! In our next installment we’ll discuss many of these new PFOA-free technologies (such as GreenPan’s revolutionary Thermalon coating) as well as a few traditional choices that work just as well!

Kind regards,

The Kitchenware Direct Team

We are a proud sponsor of 'The Best'

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Macaulay) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:50:00 +0000

Hi Everyone,

A quick note to let you know about our involvement in the latest series of 'The Best'. Starring Ben O'Donoghue (of Surfing the Menu fame), Darren Simpson (River Cafe London - also on Channel 7's Sunrise) and Anna Gare (Rock chick, caterer and cool cook), The Best sees these 2 chefs and 1 cook go head to head in a competition to see who can produce the the best food as judged by a panel of ordinary diners.

This locally produced food show will be screening on Foxtel Lifestyle Channel and Lifestyle Food Channel. We were excited to have a range of products be selected for use in the show which we will let you know more about as the series goes to air.

Cheers,

Peter

©MagoFilms

Choosing Nonstick Cookware - Part 2

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Macaulay) — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 07:02:00 +0000

Choosing Nonstick Cookware - Part 2

Nonstick cookware was truly one of the first kitchen miracles of the modern age. The first pans caused such a sensation that Tefal – pioneers of the nonstick skillet – were selling a million units a month only five years after going into business.

Although those first pans made home cooking easier and more convenient than ever before, they weren’t perfect. The technology was new at the time and there was plenty of room for improvement – particularly in terms of durability.

The original nonstick surfaces were notoriously fragile. They had a tendency to scratch when used with metal utensils, bubble up when exposed to high heat, and could crack or chip if dented. Even when cared for, most would eventually wear out over time.

So ever since the introduction of the original Tefal skillet in 1956, the story of modern cookware has largely been one of improving the durability of nonstick surfaces. DuPont (the company behind Tefal), Scanpan, and many others have spent decades working toward the ultimate ultra-convenient cookware.

Consequentially, the number of nonstick options available to consumer today is staggering. Every major brand offers a unique coating that promises to perform better and last longer than any before. So to help you better navigate your choices, we’d like to provide a overview of the basic nonstick surfaces you’re most likely to encounter.

Single-Layer Nonstick Surfaces

If a nonstick pan features only a single-layer nonstick coating, its not likely to announce it. That’s because these pans are made pretty much the same way that Tefal was making them 50 years ago. Unfortunately technology – unlike fine wine – doesn’t generally improve with age.

Most single-layer nonstick pans you’ll find are of the inexpensive, generic variety. They may be cheap, but they don’t remain cheerful very long. Although some chefs recommend buying bargain pans and replacing them after a year, we believe you’ll end up spending less money in the long run buying a pan guaranteed to last for life. You’ll probably see better results in the kitchen too.

Textured Surfaces: The Raised Rings of Circulon

The first nonstick pan to come with a guarantee, Circulon pioneered long-lasting nonstick cookware with their TOTAL Hi-Low system: a pattern of concentric raised rings built into their cooking surfaces. The idea here was logical. Because cooking utensils would only ever come in contact with the tops of these rings, a majority of a pan’s surface would be protected from wear.

Although revolutionary in 1984, we don’t think modern Circulon pans offer any significant advantages over other high-end brands. Their new high-tech surfaces are already highly resistant and don’t gain much in terms of durability from the TOTAL system. However, many people still like the unique results they get from cooking on a textured surface.

DuPont Multi-Layer Surfaces or Tefal Today

DuPont – the chemical company behind the original Tefal pans – were naturally the first to develop the first truly durable nonstick surface. Utilising the latest materials and methods, DuPont have created multi-layer surfaces that stay permanently affixed to pans, resist abrasion, and remain viable when scratched.

DuPont’s state-of-the-art nonstick surface (known by the name Autograph II) utilises three distinct layers as shown above. A primer layer ensures that the nonstick layers firmly adhere to the pan. Two upper nonstick layers – which are reinforced with powdered metals or ceramics – resist wear, are thickly applied, and are difficult to scratch through.

DuPont surfaces are most prominently used on Anolon, Circulon, Tefal, and Jamie Oliver pans. Many other manufacturers such as All-Clad use similar surfaces. Although these pans aren’t recommended for use with metal utensils, they are extremely durable and are guaranteed for life. Additionally, they often rank at the top of consumer reviews for performance. We recommend them highly.

Ceramic Titanium Pans: The SCANPAN Innovation

The most durable nonstick surfaces available are based on a technology developed by Scanpan in 1986. Instead of applying their nonstick coating directly to a smooth interior, Scanpan first fires a rough coating of molten titanium onto their pans. Multiple layers of a nonstick polymer are then used to fill the crevices in this surface.

The result of this process is that tiny points of titanium protrude through the surface of the coating. Being almost diamond-hard, the titanium takes all the abuse from utensils while the nonstick materials remain untouched. A few companies like Woll now make lines with a coating of diamond to achieve the same effect. You can actually cut food in these pans without damaging them – the pans would actually do more damage to your knife.

In our opinion, the primary disadvantage to these types of pans is their price. After making the initial investment, however, you’re guaranteed a lifetime of trusty service in the kitchen. They do require a light oiling at the least to be completely nonstick, but they brown and crisp foods excellently.

But What About PFOAs?

Although the durability of polymer-based nonstick surfaces has been resolved, a new issue has taken centre stage in the controversy. This is the presence of potentially harmful chemicals in the nonstick materials themselves. Next week we’ll discuss PFTEs and PFOA as well as some of the more environmentally friendly options now available on the market.

Warm Regards,

The Kitchenware Direct Team

Monday Blog Roundup - 16/06/08

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Macaulay) — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:47:00 +0000

Hi Everyone,

We have decided to take the opportunity on Monday's to draw your attention to some of the fantastic food related blogs that abound in Australia and overseas. Talk about mouth-watering, I love to visit these blogs just before lunch time to get me in the mood!

Seriously though, there are some great restaurant reviews, recipes and other 'foodie' secrets that are there for the browsing.

Chubby Hubby - One of my personal favourites - his photography is awesome. If you haven't heard of El Bulli - check this out
www.chubbyhubby.net

Winos and Foodies - Incrediblely simple tomato tart & a great idea about making spiced salts
http://www.winosandfoodies.typepad.com/

Not Quite Nigella - Has been hooked on cupcakes for the past week. Check out the awesome pics of a Friday the 13th "Buried alive" cupcakes. Apart from the incredible pics, she's running a competition, giving away 2 cupcake carriers to the best cupcake ideas submitted before 23 July.
http://www.notquitenigella.com/

Wandering Gourmet - Been busy this week. Dishing the dirt on eating in Perth. Including a tip on finding great chinese food in Perth.
http://wanderinggourmet.net/

Margaret River Blog - Oh my gosh, I so wish I was here - Currently on holiday in Italy, has some incredible pictures of the Italian country side. Incredible pictures of the wine land.
http://www.margaretriverblog.com/

Stone Soup has what looks like an incredible recipe for a raw beetroot salad.
http://thestonesoup.com/blog/

At My Table - I love spuds cooked in alfoil in the campfire and neil has some great ideas for cooking baked potatoes. I'm particularly fond of the idea of spiking them with garlic or wrapping them with bacon.
http://tankeduptaco.blogspot.com/

Cook Almost Anything is on a Custard Kick - Has a recipe for the "Queen of Puddings" that looks particularly delicious
http://cookalmostanything.blogspot.com/

There is a wealth of information, recipes and restuant reviews out there on the 'net. Just a matter of tracking them down - hopefully we can give you a head start :)

Best Regards,

Pete

Choosing Nonstick Cookware - Part 1

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Macaulay) — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 00:19:00 +0000

If you take a look at the cookware on our website, you’ll probably notice that the options available to the modern consumer are truly amazing. Pans today come in a vast number of shapes and sizes, are made from a wide range of materials, and feature an ever-increasing selection of finishes and surfaces.

One of the things we want to do here at the Kitchenware Direct blog is explain these many options in detail to help you find the cookware that’s right for you. Unless you’re already shopping with a certain brand or style in mind, you do have a number of decisions to make before buying a new pan. Not the least of these decisions is whether or not to buy nonstick.

The Controversy Over Nonstick

Although nonstick cookware accounts for up to 80% of all cookware sold in English-speaking countries, it isn’t for everybody. In fact, ever since Tefal introduced the original nonstick pan in the mid 1950's, cooks around the world have been arguing about whether or not nonstick is any better than traditional metal cookware.

The problem with this controversy (and one of the reasons why it continues even today) is that people on both sides of the argument make equally valid points. Even though nonstick cookware does offer significant advantages over traditional metal cookware, it also has its limitations. In this first installment in our series on Choosing Nonstick Cookware, we’re going to discuss these advantages and disadvantages.

The Beauty of Nonstick Cookware

The argument in favour of nonstick cookware is twofold. Above all, the primary advantage offered by nonstick cookware is convenience. Because foods tend not to stick to nonstick surfaces (as the name may suggest), nonstick pans are ideal for cooking delicate dishes. Foods like fish, eggs, and crepes can easily be lifted from a nonstick surface without breaking, letting you achieve perfect results time and time again with little difficulty.

Nonstick pans are also easier to clean than traditional ones. You don’t have to soak them for hours to loosen the burnt bits stuck to the bottom and you generally don’t have to worry about staining or discoloration. In most cases a nonstick surface can simply be wiped clean with a damp towel, meaning you can cook several dishes in the same pan without having to stop and wash it (particularly useful when cooking a big meal).

The other primary benefit – the one most often touted by manufacturers – is that nonstick pans let you cook with little to no oil. Fatty foods like steak or chicken can be cooked in a dry pan without worry. Foods like eggs only need a light coating of oil to prevent sticking. Either way, nonstick pans let you cook meals that are lower in calories and cholesterol than those traditional pans that require heavy oiling to prevent sticking.

The Case Against Nonstick Cookware

The first complaint any cook ever made against nonstick cookware had to do with the fact that food didn’t seem to brown and crisp the same as in a metal pan. In the case of the original nonstick pans (those coated with a single, impervious layer of teflon) this complaint is wholly valid.

The problem with teflon pans is that they’re too good at their job. Nothing sticks to teflon. And although this is great when cleaning, during cooking it allows a tiny layer of steam to form between your food and the cooking surface. This steam, in turn, keeps the bottom of your food from getting as hot as it would if it were in direct contact with metal, preventing efficient caramelisation or browning. The moisture also keeps the surface of the food from forming a good crust.

Newer multi-layer and infused nonstick surfaces, however, aren’t completely nonstick. Many manufacturers actually refer to them as “easy release” surfaces. Because they let food stick just a little, they eliminate that layer of steam in those crucial first few minutes and let you achieve results comparable or equal to those produced by all-metal pans. At the same time, they prevent just enough sticking to let you lift your food easily from the surface. It’s the best of both worlds, really.

The principle argument made against nonstick cookware today involves the chemical stability of nonstick materials. When exposed to high heats, most nonstick surfaces begin to break down, often releasing toxic fumes in the process. Not only does this make most nonstick pans potentially dangerous (an issue we’ll discuss in depth later), it also limits their versatility. In general, nonstick pans should never be heated empty, should only be used over medium hob settings, and can’t be used beneath the grill.

Another disadvantage to nonstick cookware is that it may not be as durable as traditional cookware. Inexpensive teflon-coated pans chip easily and can flake into your food. Other surfaces may scratch if used with metal utensils. All nonstick pans will eventually acquire a carbon residue that diminishes their nonstick properties. And few can be washed in a household dishwasher.

Our General Opinion

Ultimately we think the choice between nonstick and traditional cookware is one of preference. High quality nonstick pans can produce exceptional results. If properly used and cared for, they are completely harmless and will last a lifetime. And in addition, new technological advancements are beginning to make nonstick cookware safer and more durable than ever before.

We have, however, only briefly touched the tip of this nonstick iceberg. Over the next few weeks we’ll delve even deeper into this subject, beginning with a comparison of the numerous nonstick options currently available and moving on through the dangers of PFOAs to the proper use and maintenance of your nonstick cookware.

So please join us again next Wednesday for our next installment.

Warm Regards,

The Kitchenware Direct Team

Welcome to our New Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Macaulay) — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 00:31:00 +0000

Hello Everyone,

Here at Kitchenware Direct, we’re rather quite excited to finally have our very own blog. Although we’ve always offered educational opportunities by hosting tutorials and cooking classes in our brick-and-mortar stores, this is our first real chance to provide something of value to our online culinary community.

Our intentions in adding a blog to our website are twofold. First and foremost, we want to help fortify the incredible community of food bloggers here in Australia by creating exposure for the amazing pictures, recipes, and commentaries you share with us each week. Your passion for cooking deserves recognition for the way it inspires us all!

At the same time, we also think there’s a niche that needs to be filled by online retailers like ourselves. For us, selling you the best brands at the best prices isn’t enough. We want to provide the information you need to make the most informed purchases – plus a little extra info to help you make the most of them!

For the time being we’ll be posting 3 times a week, but in the future we’d like to add even more. Here’s the initial line-up we have planned:

“Best of the Blogosphere” Mondays – Since all our best cooking gets done on the weekends, its only natural that the most tantalizing posts appear right before Monday! We’ll be starting each week with a spotlight on the food blogs that inspire us most!

“Kitchenware 101" Wednesdays – There’s no sense in spending good money on good equipment if you don’t know how to use or care for it. Every week we’ll feature the latest installment in a series of discussions on choosing the right cookware and on making it last!

“Hot off the Hob” Fridays – The only thing more exciting than getting new toys is cooking with them! We’ll wrap up each week with recipes, tips and techniques to help you turn amazing meals out of your new pots and pans!

So please drop by regularly and give us a read. There will always be something new here at Kitchenware Direct!

Cheers,

Peter Macaulay

KitchenWarehouse is now KitchenwareDirect

noreply@blogger.com (Peter Macaulay) — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 14:42:00 +0000

Australia's Premier Internet Kitchenware retailer.