Fat To Skinny

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Doug Varrieur on March 13, 2010, 12:36:27 PM

Title: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Doug Varrieur on March 13, 2010, 12:36:27 PM
So....which pots and pans do you absolutely love? When I filmed the pilot for my reality show FAT TO SKINNY I bought all Caphalon pots and pans. I really enjoy cooking with them however they are all in the mountain cabin. Here in Florida it's come time to buy some new stuff....the old T-Fal has finally seen better days. Being the studious shopper type I went on the hunt. The easy thing to have done was to simply buy more Caphalon but I searched around anyway and I'm really glad I did. In my hunt I found a really great deal on a Circulon Infinite 12 inch covered buffet casserole brand new for 50 bucks, that's a $130.00 savings! I snatched up two of these pots from the website and they just arrived. Well I'll tell you what....I love them! The pan is heavy, well made and cooks great. The non stick surface is as good as it gets and being dishwasher safe is a big bonus. I simply leave these two pots sitting on my stove top and they handle 90% of my needs...even stove top to oven.

Which is better, Caphalon or Circulon.... the debate rages on. Do you have an opinion?
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Doug Varrieur on March 28, 2010, 11:55:33 AM
Well I've got to tell you I LOVE my new buffet pots. They cook evenly and clean up quickly, so far so good  ;D
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Doug Varrieur on March 28, 2010, 02:03:59 PM
What a mistake I made this morning! I placed 4 country style pork ribs on med heat in my new circulon buffet pot to braise, covered the pot and walked away. Of course I had the intentions of coming right back....but.... as things go I got pre occupied with something in my workshop. 2 hours later I came back up stairs (work shop is down) and what a stink! Yes I destroyed the ribs, they turned into leather, see photo below. Fortunately they had enough fat on them that it melted and they continued to dry up to nothing in their own fat. But what about the pot? I'm happy to announce it survived this event with flying colors. I think any other pot I have in the kitchen would have ended up in the trash. After I through the ribs away and let the pot cool down (it was very hot) I wiped it out with a paper towel, washed it gently with a sponge and hot soapy water and dried it off. It still looks brand new  :)

The next thing I did was take another pack of ribs out of the freezer, I made Southwestern Ribs n' "Cauli Rice" turned out wonderful, check the recipe board for recipe and pix.
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: snobles on May 07, 2010, 09:51:44 PM
Question for ya? Do they sell those kinds of pans at walmart? That's all we have out here! Or can you order them online? Thanks!!
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Doug Varrieur on May 07, 2010, 10:25:18 PM
I'm in the islands the closest Wallmart is 135 miles away :) I bought mine on line from Amazon. I still think they're great, use em every day :)
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Joanne on May 07, 2010, 10:30:22 PM
I bought mine on sale @ Bed & Bath
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Doug Varrieur on May 08, 2010, 08:43:42 AM
Do you luv em?
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Joanne on May 08, 2010, 10:08:50 AM
Absolutely!
My folks had bought me Revereware when we got married. Finally last spring I had had enough of warped pan bottoms and uneven cooking and splurged on the Caphalon.Cleanup is easy, of course I wish they could go in the dishwasher but...I still love them!
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Doug Varrieur on May 08, 2010, 11:35:05 AM
Yep, I've got a few of thoughs  ;D  Here's my kitchen film stage in the NC cabin
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Joanne on May 08, 2010, 01:54:44 PM
Beautiful! I love all the wood and I notice you have a Keurig on the counter.
Don't you love the convenience of 1 cup at a time, anytime?
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Doug Varrieur on May 08, 2010, 02:11:14 PM
Oh yea, coffeeholic :) I built this kitchen, wanna see?

How to turn TRASH to TREASURE! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SE8FoMWJQE#)
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Joanne on May 08, 2010, 05:53:48 PM
Wow! Beautiful job.What did you do for work before Fat to Skinny?
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Doug Varrieur on May 08, 2010, 06:35:22 PM
Always been a business man but have always been handy. I enjoy working with wood, relaxes me.
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: rae2 on May 16, 2012, 09:12:41 AM
Hello... I'm a new reader of yours. Love the FAT to Skinny book. Thank you.

A question regarding CROCKPOT cooking. I can't find any reference to this methodology either in the book or on this site.

It sounds as if cooking a roast (say round, etc.) in one is a sort of braising. Or is the crockpot temperature too low (I don't think it gets anywhere near 325 degrees).

Love to hear your comments.
Richard
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: owensmath on May 16, 2012, 09:19:02 AM
I use my crockpot all the time for chicken, pork roasts, and beef roasts.
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Doug Varrieur on May 16, 2012, 09:20:16 AM
Hi Richard, welcome to the forum :) Crock pot cooking is a great way for pot roasts, ribs, boston buts, chuck roasts and stews to "do their thing" while you do yours. As a chef I use a dutch oven inside my oven for these kind of meals. Choose meat with a higher fat content for a tender result. Don't worry about the fat, it melts away. A good starter would be to buy a boston but pork roast, season it well with salt and pepper, place it in the crock pot with large chunks of Jicama and 1 1/2 cups of white wine. Turn it on,set the temp to med/high, cover it and walk away. In a couple of hours check to see if it's fork tender, if not cover it back up and give it more time :)

Welcome to the family!
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: umpa on May 16, 2012, 09:26:36 AM
Welcome Richard   :) I am Umpa,Dougs wife.If  I can help you please ask.I have a column on the homepage called ask umpa where i can convert your favorite recipes to fat to skinny friendly.Ask alot of questions and enjoy the forum.We are here everyday if you need help. ;)
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Andrea on May 16, 2012, 09:56:14 AM
Welcome to the forum, Richard.  I, too, use my crockpot all the time.
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: umpa on May 16, 2012, 09:58:21 AM
Good Morning Andrea ;)
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Andrea on May 16, 2012, 09:59:19 AM
Good morning, Umpa.  It's nice to hear from you this morning.
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: rae2 on May 16, 2012, 12:56:58 PM
Thank you to both Doug and Umpa for your replies.

I've been "low carbing" it for 6 months now, losing about 1.4 lbs per week on average, and feeling great.

I'm going on 73 and have been chubby since I quit smoking about 23 years ago. No one told me that I would lose weight (http://www.fattoskinny.com/) from the INSIDE OUT. As far as I can tell I have just as much skin now as before but instead of nice, compact fat between the skin and bones, which filled out the wrinkles beautifully, now I have something that looks and feels more like wet bread and leaves me with all the tone of a deflated weather balloon!

Not complaining. Just sayin' I'm still not prepared to head to the nude beach anytime soon. Ha!

Anyway... time to put my two tiny top round roasts (about 1.25 lbs each) into a crock pot... seasoned and swimming in red wine. Will let you know what happens.

Bye for now...
Richard
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: mouseissue on May 16, 2012, 01:14:18 PM
Welcome to the FTS family, Richard!!! :) :) :) :) :) :)

You most definitely got the hang of this lifestyle! ;D

Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: umpa on May 17, 2012, 10:51:23 AM
I am making Izzets Cumin lime steak tonight.I will post a picture sounds heavenly.Alot of people on the forum are interested in crock pot recipes if you want to post them Richard ;)
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: KFAITH on May 17, 2012, 02:20:20 PM
Wow Doug I really enjoyed  your movie of you building your kitchen, awesome looking job, absolutely beautiful and wow that stair railing, totally amazing!!!! Definetely talented and or gifted in that area for sure.
I love to cook in a crock pot, use mine lots.
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Andrea on May 17, 2012, 02:37:30 PM
Hello, Rosie!

How have you been?  It's been a while since we've heard from you.  Is your life still really busy?
Title: Re: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: Doug Varrieur on May 17, 2012, 03:35:36 PM
Thanks Rosie, building furniture and projects is very relaxing for me :-)
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: mouseissue on May 17, 2012, 04:01:15 PM
Hello Rosie!!! :) :) :) :)

It's so nice to hear from you again!
I pray all is well with you and yours.
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: BigTex on May 17, 2012, 06:30:53 PM
yes Richard please share the crock pot recipes you have ;D ;D
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: umpa on May 18, 2012, 08:56:51 AM
HiYa Rosie! :-*
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: KFAITH on May 18, 2012, 01:20:49 PM
Hi ya all, yep I been so 'desperate' for change in my life, I give up, than I try again, and on it goes, like a broken record. But I remembered how much help and hope I found at this forum with you all, so here I am back again and "hopeful" again.
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: mouseissue on May 18, 2012, 06:15:59 PM
Hi ya all, yep I been so 'desperate' for change in my life, I give up, than I try again, and on it goes, like a broken record. But I remembered how much help and hope I found at this forum with you all, so here I am back again and "hopeful" again.

Hi Rosie! :)

I've prayed for you and about your "broken record".
And feel compelled to share what's in my heart.

To insure success with FTS, you MUST be committed to making it work for YOU!
Short of that, it's like "hoping" that 7 comes up with a roll of the dice.

The Good Lord wants you (and all of us) to have the best of health.
He already paid the price for it and so much more.
Remember, by His stripes, we were healed.
He REALLY wants you to succeed and be healthy!!!

You can't just "hope" to succeed... You MUST believe that you not only can, but that you WILL succeed!
This is exercising faith in what the Lord has given you... The way out of weight problems with FTS!

He's also given you your FTS family to help you along the way.

So go for it, Rosie!... We are all right here to help you make it real. :) :) :)

Tony
Title: Re: Best Pots and Pans.... the debate rages on :)
Post by: umpa on May 19, 2012, 08:21:18 AM
I agree Tony ;) If you have the WANT we have the WAY Rosie :) Your hand in mine I will do everything in my power to help you. Sherripie is down 230 pounds and started a new life in the real estate business!Her son and husband also got on the program and got healthy. You are a strong woman. :)