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I just recently purchased an old-school West Bend Electric Skillet and cannot express how much it's changed my life in the kitchen in terms of simplicity and clean up. No oven/stove top burners/pots and pans to clean and the one vessel type of cooking is great for people who work all day and want to cook something good+healthy minus all the work. The best $40 I've spent in a long time!
It's the cutest thing. All the old school recipes and some updated trendy ones.
All the expensive cooking stuff I have including a Zojirushi but I use my Presto CONSTANTLY.
The only other cooking item I use alot but much less... is my Instant Pot. (not including the Vitamix which gets a work out too)
Haha - well this thread just got me to purchase a vintage (but never used) electric skillet! I thought about it overnight, but I did love the last one I had, and there are tons and tons of great skillet recipes online, so I went ahead and took the plunge. The great thing about these is that they heat up and hold their temp nicely (I have a glass top stove, which does not do well on that) plus, it is easy to keep the food warm for a period of time. Lastly, only one pan to clean up and no stove cleaning - what's not to love?
The dangers of non stick coatings are like radiation damage from your micro wave - great theory, but exactly ZERO empirical evidence. Concern about them is entertaining, but hobbling for serious cooks.
You are correct about the slow cooker and pressure vessel. Both perform well what the electric skillet takes hours to do.
But, there is still one question. Does your convection oven actually heat up faster than the electric skillet? I have a Jenn Air convection oven and I would estimate it takes 5 times as long to heat to temperature as the electric skillet.
Oh, serious cooks?
Well, OK, first of all - no. High temp generic non stick coating fumes kill birds. A well know fact. The first thing you do if you bring a parrot into your home is get rid of your "teflon". Especially if you're a careless or high heat type of cook. So your zero empirical evidence is inaccurate.
But I agree with your premise that it's not huge worrisome hazard for some daily light use or whatever...as long as it's in good condition... to humans and use some myself. When I used a client's Anolon Nouvelle Copper Hard Anodized I immediately ran to get some pieces and rely on them for things like an egg or two, some proteins and most of all a pot of sauce or messy layered stir fry. Even my Demeyere and All Clad are now only used for a couple things. Even my Zojirushi Grill hasn't seen much action since I got my cheap little Presto Electric Skillet. But that's because I do alot of bulk cooking in my electric skillet like food prep.
The best part about the electric skillet is the no clean up situation and variable temp gauge. And it's lightweight. Have FUN cleaning and dragging that Zoj around.
I disagree with you conflating slow cookers and pressure cookers with the electric skillet.
Have you actually used all THREE? With ANY regularity? With ANY variety?
Slow cookers release a tremendous amount of liquid into your recipe. Not at ALL similar ...nor is the actual flavor compared to other methods.
Pressure cooking is another thing altogether and good luck making Tuscan Chicken effectively in one. UNLESS you're using it like you would an ELECTRIC SKILLET! LOL Sure, I use my Instant Pot all the time. Even for frozen chicken wings to make a 1.5 hour bone broth a couple times a week. Or definitely to poach some chicken in that bone broth for meals. But that's not what we're really talking about, right? If I'm making the broth, then poach the chicken and want to make it a soup by adding vegs, all I do is place them in the hot liquid and DONE. No "pressure cooking" required, just a soak in the "keep warm" setting. But if I were to use carrots, maybe I'd give them a shot of pressure first.
Yes there are techniques using the slow cooker and pressure cooker without liquids for persons dead set on "set it and walk away" but you can't claim as a serious cook, that the end result is anywhere NEAR the attended pot/pan or oven roasted version. Even though I HAVE made Laurie Colwin's Chuck Roast in the slow cooker when pressed for time...it doesn't COMPARE to the original in the oven. And I bet I'd have better luck in my Presto Skillet with that one, too if I had the nerve to run it for three hours LOL.
Agreed, NO WAY does a convention oven heat up anywhere near quickly. Just this Thanksgiving, my neighbor's turkey came out RAW inside using her new one....and of course she didn't even THINK to calibrate it, use an oven timer or a thermometer! LOL Because she "smelled it cooking" and it was brown, obviously from coating the thing with oil.
I remember those growing up. They're so easy to burn yourself on, I would be scared to have them around kids. I guess any pan can burn, but there is something about their structure that makes them worse IMO
I agree though, they make great fried chicken cutlets!
Well, OK, first of all - no. High temp generic non stick coating fumes kill birds.
When I become a bird I'll be especially careful about this.
I've read that turtles are very susceptible to toxicity from salt.
Do you cite any actual cases where a live human being was injured as a result of cooking with a non stick pan? I don't mean being present but unconscious in a room where a fire occurred).
We spend 4-5 months in our camper each year and I cook practically everything in my electric skillet. It saves on the propane for the stove (we don't pay for electricity in campgrounds). I make soups and stews, cook roasts, fry up bacon and eggs, boil pasta, you name it. I couldn't make it without my electric skillet.
I love mine, and it heats super-fast. My only complaint is that it's not as big as my Dutch oven. I can't find one that's big enough. The one I have just isn't big enough for me to do the huge batches of certain dishes I like to make and then freeze.
We spend 4-5 months in our camper each year and I cook practically everything in my electric skillet. It saves on the propane for the stove (we don't pay for electricity in campgrounds). I make soups and stews, cook roasts, fry up bacon and eggs, boil pasta, you name it. I couldn't make it without my electric skillet.
If you put a fire proof pad in the skillet and a baking sheet over it and put on the lid, it bakes as well as a large toaster oven. I have baked frozen lasagna, baked potatoes, casseroles, rolls, etc.
I just recently purchased an old-school West Bend Electric Skillet and cannot express how much it's changed my life in the kitchen in terms of simplicity and clean up. No oven/stove top burners/pots and pans to clean and the one vessel type of cooking is great for people who work all day and want to cook something good+healthy minus all the work. The best $40 I've spent in a long time!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jamary1
We spend 4-5 months in our camper each year and I cook practically everything in my electric skillet. It saves on the propane for the stove (we don't pay for electricity in campgrounds). I make soups and stews, cook roasts, fry up bacon and eggs, boil pasta, you name it. I couldn't make it without my electric skillet.
We went fishing in the keys for ten days this summer and stayed in my brother and sister in laws RV and fried fish in our electric skillet every, single day. We also cooked bacon and eggs in it every morning.
Between the electric skillet and the grill, we never used the indoor or outdoor kitchen in the RV.
Haha - well this thread just got me to purchase a vintage (but never used) electric skillet! I thought about it overnight, but I did love the last one I had, and there are tons and tons of great skillet recipes online, so I went ahead and took the plunge. The great thing about these is that they heat up and hold their temp nicely (I have a glass top stove, which does not do well on that) plus, it is easy to keep the food warm for a period of time. Lastly, only one pan to clean up and no stove cleaning - what's not to love?
Can't wait to receive mine (purchased from ebay).
Exactly. I have the glass top stove and no matter WHAT I cook on it and how careful I am, lately, I have something like scorch marks in the rings of the burners. Even if nothing spilled and my cookware has nothing on the bottom. I'm guessing it's on it's way OUT.
Enjoy your new skillet.
New never used on eBay is great. Just yesterday I bought two vintage NWT Pepperell muslin pillow cases. You can't find that stuff any more today.
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