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You might look in thrift stores for another old GE like you have. Keep the heat controller from the current one, to replace the new one if that breaks.
I have found that most older appliances can be bought quite cheap and frequently have more service life still left in them than a lot of the cheaper new ones.
Depends how well that Regalware stainless oil core skillet works out. Think I bought it more cause I had never used skillet with oil core and curious, though might be $40 mistake. But yea I see another old American made GE or Sunbeam without the nonstick coating, might buy it if $5 or whatever. Didnt see a GE but there were several old Sunbeam on Ebay, but crazy prices. Not sure why. Guess they were selling that 1960s look or something. Mom had one of the old Sunbeam from 50s or 60s, they were good skillet, better made than the 70s/80s stuff. One she had, the heat control built into the handle, the cord was just like used on old electric percolators and such.
Cast iron also needs to be seasoned properly. Carbon steel is good too, I just got one this year. The thing about cast iron and carbon steel is that they can be heated to higher temps than aluminum and they are more non-stick than stainless steel- this is especially good if you want to sear meat at a high temp. Some types of pans do some things better than others, you need to use the right pan for the job, kind of like not using a BMG .50 to hunt rabbits or a single-shot .22 to hunt buffalo.
I have a heavy gauge aluminum non-stick griddle that's great for grilled-cheese sandwiches and pancakes, but I wouldn't use it to sear a roast; the cast iron is great for searing, but I wouldn't try to cook pancakes in it.
As far as the 'gimmicky' non-sticks- I saw those copper ones on the infomercials and wondered if they were any good...but I wasn't willing to part with the dough just to see. Well, a few months ago I saw one in a discount store, for less than $10, one of those copper/ceramic jobs. I've wasted $10 on worse things so I figured it was worth the risk. I gotta say, that thing is 'the balls' for doing eggs, seriously, you can burn those suckers bad and they'll still slide right out. I don't know if there's a difference between brands, but this one says CRUX on the bottom. It was well worth the few bucks I spent on it.
Cast iron also needs to be seasoned properly. Carbon steel is good too, I just got one this year. The thing about cast iron and carbon steel is that they can be heated to higher temps than aluminum and they are more non-stick than stainless steel- this is especially good if you want to sear meat at a high temp. Some types of pans do some things better than others, you need to use the right pan for the job, kind of like not using a BMG .50 to hunt rabbits or a single-shot .22 to hunt buffalo.
I have a heavy gauge aluminum non-stick griddle that's great for grilled-cheese sandwiches and pancakes, but I wouldn't use it to sear a roast; the cast iron is great for searing, but I wouldn't try to cook pancakes in it.
As far as the 'gimmicky' non-sticks- I saw those copper ones on the infomercials and wondered if they were any good...but I wasn't willing to part with the dough just to see. Well, a few months ago I saw one in a discount store, for less than $10, one of those copper/ceramic jobs. I've wasted $10 on worse things so I figured it was worth the risk. I gotta say, that thing is 'the balls' for doing eggs, seriously, you can burn those suckers bad and they'll still slide right out. I don't know if there's a difference between brands, but this one says CRUX on the bottom. It was well worth the few bucks I spent on it.
I would be surprised if the non-stick stays non-stick. I did run across some little mention somewhere that modern coatings get plugged up if you ever use lot oil I think. I think these were designed to not need much oil. They mentioned someway to unplug it so get non-stick back, but I dont remember. Wasnt that interested. But yea $10 experiment not that big of a deal. It either works or it doesnt. Wont really know until you try. Cause the commercials truly lie.
Just made my hotcake. I finally got it timed perfect, toasty brown top and bottom, nothing darker anywhere. So whatever cooking tools you have to work with, you probably can compensate with technique once you realize devil is in the details, dont blame the tools. Course if I had known, wouldnt bought another electric skillet. Long as no black charcoal bits, actually like it cooked in the cast iron better.
Yea to sear meat you want really hot pan. For "baking" you really dont. Oh for me eggs were never problem in the GE electric skillet, you of course needed bit oil. But they always turned out well.
Ever used one of those fancy European enameled cast iron skillets? I havent, though I looked at them. I once bought a cheap Chinese enameled cast iron stove top dutch oven. I seriously was not impressed. Had a small French enameled cast iron sauce pan I got in box stuff at auction. Crazed and some chips out at top edge. New these are truly crazy price. It was ok I guess. Not sure what happened to it, wasnt impressed enough to regularly use it. If you are going to cook water based liquids or acid foods, the enamelware better than seasoned plain cast iron. Cooking oily or fatty things, probably not.
recently my 1970s era ge electric skillet died. My vom wasnt working, so first suspected the heat control as thats the usual suspect when electric skillet wont heat, but ordered new cheapie vom and heating element open circuit. The heat control still functional. So its dead, you cant replace the coil.
I mostly used it to cook my morning hotcakes (low carb, oily seed hotcakes) and it did great. Well dug out my old el cheapo taiwan cast iron skillet. It did ok but it has hotspots so always get some char. Not sure if its just cause its a crappy cast iron skillet or all cast iron skillets do this....
Not impressed at all with modern era electric skillets, too expensive, too much plastic, and just try to find one without the latest miracle coating. And in pandemic not crazy about shopping thrift stores for a bargain.
Have an old regalware double bottom oil filled stainless steel skillet on way. Hey it was same price as antique cheapie aluminum electric skillets on ebay. Will see, never had one of those liquid bottom pans before. The oil supposed to hold heat and prevent any hotspots. Meaning lower heat and shorter cooking times???
In meantime while crunching my bits of charred hotcake, was curious on how the aluminum vs cast iron, whether it was the electric skillet or just anodized aluminum pan that made difference. Got out the angle grinder and ground off the electric coil welded to bottom of the ge. Hey skillet is scrap metal anyway at this point so just well experiment. Giving it flat enough bottom to be used as stove top pan. All handles/legs removed too. Interestingly it did sorta ok, not as handy as it was as an electric skillet, too light and no handle. But heated fast and the hotcakes didnt char and pretty much same as when it was a functional electric skillet. Aluminum obviously spreads heat evenly.
So does anybody know if its just that i have el cheapo crappo taiwan iron skillet that causes hotspots or all cast iron? Other than the bits char, i would just use the cast iron. More crispy crust than the ge.
Anybody have experience with the double bottom oil filled electric skillets? Any suggestions using it. I watched some youtube video for a $400 saladmaster cooking a pineapple upside down cake in it. Impressive, but seriously not sure a $400 pan of any kind is economically viable for average person for whom $400 is not just chump change. I gave $40 shipped for the regalware skillet on its way. That would be my top spending price for any skillet.
And what about the older uncoated anodized cast aluminum skillets, the truly heavy duty high quality ones, not the light gauge cheapies. I know used to be all those scares about using uncoated aluminum pots and pans. Hey i wouldnt cook acid kinds food in them, that will leach metal out of anything except stainless steel.
We had a really good electric wok that we bought in the mid 80s. Used that thing heavily for years. It was our go to pan in the kitchen for so many things until it finally gave out after about 25 years. Try as we might, we have not found a decent replacement. The new ones just don't have the same quality and heat control that one had. The base would get screaming hot like it's supposed to, yet we could distribute foods up the side to get whatever temp they needed. That's one of the problems we had with the new ones; they just didn't maintain temp as well.
A good cast iron pan shouldn't have hot spots. It needs to be properly seasoned and then allowed to come to temp before using.
Quote:
Originally Posted by harry chickpea
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The romance of cast iron aside, it is a poor heat conductor compared to aluminum or copper (which is why you see copper bottom steel pans). Sorry, but that is indisputable science.
...l.
That's one of the reasons cast iron cooks so well -- it doesn't gain or lose heat rapidly so once you get it to temp, it stays evenly.
Volt-Ohm-Meter. Its a common tester for electrical circuits. I knew my old one was bad. Last time I got by just using an old lamp with plug cut off acting as sort of test light to test for live circuit. But that is very limited and probably not super safe. The GE going bad made me order new VOM. Cheap one is like $7 on Ebay, same exact thing significantly cheaper if you buy from Chinese seller and wait for the slow boat rather than buying from USA seller. But you get it far faster from USA seller.
We had a really good electric wok that we bought in the mid 80s. Used that thing heavily for years. It was our go to pan in the kitchen for so many things until it finally gave out after about 25 years. Try as we might, we have not found a decent replacement. The new ones just don't have the same quality and heat control that one had.
Alas its like that with lot products, maybe most products anymore. Back in 50s and 60s, still lot small American manufacturing companies usually started by some engineer that cared about quality. Only compromising a bit to keep cost affordable. Now its all about cheapest labor and maximum profit and only enough quality to not get lot returns soon after sale. Nobody is interested in great engineering or longevity. Cause that doesnt sell more product and reduces overall profit. Low price and enough lipstick on the pig, thats way to make money in todays culture. And financing product is far more profitable than selling it for cash.
I've got plenty of cast iron and we have an awesome little electric skillet too-
Got it at Costco years ago and it is the bomb. We use it for fritters, pancakes and tons of schnitzels. It was cheap too. Use it 4x a month easily.
Those look tasty... what are they? What's in them?
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