I was wondering when you need to boil water for hard-boiled eggs or pasta or whatever, do you put the pot on high heat then (and cover it, to save time and electricity/gas)?

I use stainless steel but I really love my cast iron. I have 3 cast iron skillets that I used daily. I'm also beginning to invest in Le Creuset, which is enameled cast iron. I found out how to save over $200 on a Dutch oven -- I shared it in my post:

http://www.cheeseslave.com/2009/04/07/save-money-on-healthy-cookware-how-to-find-discount-le-creuset/

Ann Marie (CHEESESLAVE)

One thing I try to remember when cooking in my stainless cookware is the old adage "hot pan, cold oil food will not stick" so far this has worked for me. I tend to cook eggs on my cast iron griddle because they come out so much better on them, same thing with pancakes. I am still replacing pans as they wear out with better quality ones. I make my bacon in my stainless steel wok the high sides contain the grease so much better!

Mary in Ohio

I have never been able to master cooking scrambled eggs in stainless (but I love cooking in it), so I have my fingers crossed someone has the answer! :) For omelets, what works best for me is preheating the pan thoroughly (but not too hot) and then adding the butter to the pan. If I have a little pat of butter left in the middle and pour the eggs on top of it, I can sometimes avoid that one spot in the middle that sticks.
laura
eatingwellanywhere.com

I gave up non stick cookware about four years ago. When I cook eggs- if it is just for one or two people I grease a ramekin and microwave the eggs. As long as you stop midway and stir they are perfectly suitable for a breakfast sandwich. I have used my seasoned wok for larger quantities of eggs with great success.

When I got married, my husband and I decided if we could give our family health benfits just by registering for stainless steel instead of Teflon, we would do it. But as a brand-new wife, trying to make meals for my sweet husband in a type of cookware I'd never used before led to many tearful nights in the kitchen. I've grown a lot since then, and I love my stainless cookware now. Just a couple of weeks ago we had the most perfect batch of French Toast I've ever made - stainless cookware or otherwise!

Some things that helped worked for me with my cookware (18/10 Calphalon stainless):
- I heat my pans empty just until I can feel the heat rising from it, and then add olive oil. When the oil is hot, I add my food.
- I never put items in the skillet right out of the fridge, (as I was accustomed to doing with non-stick coated pans). The closer to room temperature a food is when you put it in a hot pan, the less likely it is to stick.
- Finally, I once read that food will grip to a stainless pan until it's "done." I thought this sounded bogus at first, but I've found it to be true. If something (especially things like pancakes) is sticking to your pan, it might just be because it's not done yet.

Hope this helps anyone who is new to stainless steel. It can be frustrating at first, but it's worth it!

I've heard (on a cooking show) that the problem with food sticking (eggs in particular) is in the temperature differentiation between the pan and the egg itself. For example, if you preheat your pan, then get an egg straight from the refrigerator, it's going to stick because the pan is extra hot and the egg is extra cold. If you allow the egg to sit out of the refrigerator, so it's not so cold when you put it in the pan, it doesn't stick. I've been doing this for years (I just take out the eggs I'm going to use and put them in a bowl on the counter 20 - 30 minutes before cooking) and I've had really good luck with it!

~ Mia

We have stainless steel saucepans and skillets--the set was cheaper than buying just the saucepans--plus we have a stainless steel stockpot we use for making spaghetti or large batches of spaghetti sauce. But we pretty much never use the stainless steel skillets and I'm considering getting rid of them. I just can't get food not to stick.

I grew up using cast iron skillets and that's what we use now.

I recently switched over to all stainless steel and while I was worried about stickage, I haven't had many any problems except one omelet gone wrong.

Since we are on a student budget I did a lot of research before buying my set and eventually went with a $100 set of Wolf Gang Puck from Sam's club. It is a simple set (just 6 pots and lids, plus a few other pices) but the price is great and it is still good quality. I have known others who have the same set and love it too. So for those of you looking to try stainless steel but not invest too much, I would recommend it highly.

that calls itself 'hard coat enamel' i cant find any info on it. is it the same thing as teflon?

Hi Tammy!

When I got married last September, I registered for a really nice set of Calphalon stainless steel. The reason was less than noble- I thought it was prettier than the non-stick cookware. But now I'm very glad I did, after reading the questionable safety of Teflon. Overall I've had no problems with the cookware, except, as you mentioned- eggs! Argh! I ended up going out and buying one piece of non-stick for just that purpose. But I will try the Bar Keepers Friend, my mom has used the regular stuff for years for cleaning- I didn't know they made one just for stainless. I love having a nice high quality set of pans, I just want to make sure I care for them properly so they last.

I love love love my stainless steel...my mom gave me the "teflon is bad" speech and bought me the stainless. No complaints here!

I would like a pizza crust that is thin and crispy.
I most always use a packaged mix and they are ok but would like one that would come out more cracker like.

I use a set of stainless steel Revereware (w/ copper bottoms) that belonged to my mother. The pieces must be at least 40 years old or more and last forever!

Put some whole milk in the eggs when you mix them up this will make them lighter and fluffier, but not too much or they will get watery, an once should do per egg. Then wipe the inside of the stainless steel skillet with crisco before you set the skillet down to heat. If the Crisco smokes it's too hot for the eggs.

My method from keeping eggs from sticking is to use equal parts EVOO and butter. Add them to a preheated pan. I have no problems at all. I use the copper core line of All-Clad and am very happy with my pans. I really don't have any problems at all with sticking regardless of how high i set the heat. I cook stir fry at the highest setting and still dont have any sticking issues. I dont know if its the pans or my dumb luck!

I just bought the set of Stainless Steel pans at Costco last night. I've known for some time that Teflon was not good for us and am so excited to finally have stainless steel. The set at Costco is a pretty good deal. 18/10 Steel, 16 piece set for $199. Anyway, thanks for all the advice. I cooked an egg this morning - no problems. I preheated the pan - a bit below medium heat, added lots of real butter after it was heated, and cooked it with no sticking! Is it my imagination or did my egg taste better?! :-)
FYI - look into microwaves - they really are not good for us! I've thrown mine out and don't miss it a bit.

I'm not much of a cook at the moment (but getting there...lol)...but the ONE thing I can do perfect in SS is scrambled eggs- anytime! I use an olive oil-based butter- one from a tub. And while I don't go overboard, I don't skimp. Add the the milk and eggs...shouldn't matter how many eggs and cook on lower heat.
I don't even eat scrambled eggs, but my almost 2 year old and sig. other much on them all the time!! My son won't eat the eggs unless they are done perfectly...so I know I've done them righ ;)