I'm learning the fine art of cooking...

[Jugernot]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
bacon makes everything better

This man is a genius!

 

[Arcadio]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: torpid

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken

Originally posted by: torpid

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: torpid
You don't need an expensive chef's knife if you are just getting into cooking. Go with a Forschner which is nearly as good as the more expensive ones anyway.

i disagree. get a quality knife and never look back. they can literally last you a lifetime.
if you get crappy knives, you'll constantly be replacing them. and when you finally get a quality one, you'll realize how much time you wasted on a cheap knife.

i'm partial towards the german brands so i stick with wusthof and henckels.

Agreed. The Wusthof's and Henckel's will maintain an edge much longer than cheaper knives. I rarely have to have my Wusthof's sharpened (about once a year), hone them once a week, and I use them every day.

Get some good cookware too. Some heavy-bottomed, stainless steel/copper pots and pans that maintain their shape under high heat are a must. Cheap pans tend to warp under high heat which will make for hot spots and uneven cooking. I use All-Clad but a cheaper alternative is Wolfgang Puck's line of cookware. It's good stuff for the price.

Edit: And stay away from aluminum cookware and non-stick coatings. Both tend to add nasty things to food that you don't really want.

Forschner is a fairly high quality knife made in similar manner to the better Henckels and Wusthof knives. It is certainly WAYYYY better than the cheap Henckels. As for sharpening, it sounds like rubbish to me. I have the twin pro Henckels and they still need to be professionally sharpened just as often as the Forschners. I'm not suggesting he get farberware or anything. They sell Forschners right alongside other high quality knives at many kitchen stores. They are also highly touted on sites like cheftalk.com

Nope, not rubbish. I have had my Wusthoffs for over two years and have had them professionally sharpened twice. It's getting around that time again but a quick honing and they'll still go through a tomato (which I consider the benchmark for how a knife performs) like nothing's there.

Same here with Forschners, which are cheaper knives. Thus, it is rubbish. Price of the knife has little bearing on quality of a knife.

Typical ATOT: You need to learn how to do something, but you need to buy top notch equipment before you even think of beginning.

"I want to learn how to ride a motorcycle!"

"You can't ride anything less than a BWM K1200---anything less is crap!"

Well, the IKEA knife I got is really bad. So I might want to buy something better, but you're right, there is no reason to buy the most expensive knife if I'm just a beginner.

I'll check the prices and reviews first......

 

[Mr Pickles]

Originally posted by: Arcadio
I am tired of buying food at take-out places and crappy restaurants. I am ready to learn the basics of cooking. I already make scrambled eggs, rice, and some basic salads and chicken recipes. Last weekend I spent $60 buying the basic condiments, spices, and sauces that I will need, according to "Cooking for Dummies"...

Anyone willing to share some beginner cooking tips?

That's not cooking, that's called "heating things up".

 

[Carmen813]

Beer-can Chicken is Amazing, and easy if you've got a grill. Oven would probably work too (around 350 degrees).

Buy a can of your favorite beer (metal container) and a Whole Chicken (about 5 bucks)

Open Beer, Drink Half

Spring Salt/Pepper on outside of chicken.

Shove half drinken can of beer up chickens behind..

Stand chicken up Grill/in oven until cooked to 160 degrees, usually about an hour. (measure thickest part of chicken)

Profit.

 

[DisgruntledVirus]

Originally posted by: Strk

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: torpid
You don't need an expensive chef's knife if you are just getting into cooking. Go with a Forschner which is nearly as good as the more expensive ones anyway.

i disagree. get a quality knife and never look back. they can literally last you a lifetime.
if you get crappy knives, you'll constantly be replacing them. and when you finally get a quality one, you'll realize how much time you wasted on a cheap knife.

i'm partial towards the german brands so i stick with wusthof and henckels.

Victorinox (Forschner) is actually a great buy for knives. They're pretty affordable and they're incedibly sharp. They aren't cheap, but you can buy a santoku, chef's knife and a paring knife for the cost of one Shun or Global. I'd wait to find out how into cooking he really is before spending a few hundred just on cutlery.

Proper maitnance also plays a big role in keeping the knife as good as it was when you first got it. I suggest going to Alton Brown's website. He has a nice little video on it. It's worth noting he has a line with Shun, so he is a little biased towards them (not that they aren't good knives).

Very good starting knife set, for reasonable price

While I agree you don't NEED the best to start off with, the only possible other option I could suggest is buy a decent one at around $50 to get you by while you learn things. If you decide to continue cooking and get really into it, then I would highly suggest buying nice cutlery (be that Shun, Global my preference, Whustuf, Henkels, etc). The counter point to that is that you can get a good chef/pearing knife from one of those 4 without spending too much. Chef+pearing for $110 with tax and everything vs $40 for a decent chef and $30 for a pearing=$70. So for $40 more you can just get the good cutlery, and skip the buying twice crap.

Unless OP wanted to just spend like $40 on a set (which those will work, but nothing like a nice blade), it just makes more sense to spend $100 on two knives that will last a lifetime. I know the chef is small because it's only 5.25 inches, but it would get the job done.

 

[torpid]

Originally posted by: DisgruntledVirus

Originally posted by: Strk

Originally posted by: BlahBlahYouToo

Originally posted by: torpid
You don't need an expensive chef's knife if you are just getting into cooking. Go with a Forschner which is nearly as good as the more expensive ones anyway.

i disagree. get a quality knife and never look back. they can literally last you a lifetime.
if you get crappy knives, you'll constantly be replacing them. and when you finally get a quality one, you'll realize how much time you wasted on a cheap knife.

i'm partial towards the german brands so i stick with wusthof and henckels.

Victorinox (Forschner) is actually a great buy for knives. They're pretty affordable and they're incedibly sharp. They aren't cheap, but you can buy a santoku, chef's knife and a paring knife for the cost of one Shun or Global. I'd wait to find out how into cooking he really is before spending a few hundred just on cutlery.

Proper maitnance also plays a big role in keeping the knife as good as it was when you first got it. I suggest going to Alton Brown's website. He has a nice little video on it. It's worth noting he has a line with Shun, so he is a little biased towards them (not that they aren't good knives).

Very good starting knife set, for reasonable price

While I agree you don't NEED the best to start off with, the only possible other option I could suggest is buy a decent one at around $50 to get you by while you learn things. If you decide to continue cooking and get really into it, then I would highly suggest buying nice cutlery (be that Shun, Global my preference, Whustuf, Henkels, etc). The counter point to that is that you can get a good chef/pearing knife from one of those 4 without spending too much. Chef+pearing for $110 with tax and everything vs $40 for a decent chef and $30 for a pearing=$70. So for $40 more you can just get the good cutlery, and skip the buying twice crap.

Unless OP wanted to just spend like $40 on a set (which those will work, but nothing like a nice blade), it just makes more sense to spend $100 on two knives that will last a lifetime. I know the chef is small because it's only 5.25 inches, but it would get the job done.

Those are weak options for a new cook, IMO. A santoku is not as versatile as a chef's knife, and a 5.25 chef's knife borders on worthless. For $50 or so he could get the Victorinox chef's, paring, and slicing knife. The chef's and paring knives were the top pick by Cook's Illustrated. Maybe the Globals would be better, but I doubt any sane person on the planet would prefer a short chef's knife from global over an 8" chef's knife from Forschner.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Typical ATOT: You need to learn how to do something, but you need to buy top notch equipment before you even think of beginning.

"I want to learn how to ride a motorcycle!"

"You can't ride anything less than a BWM K1200---anything less is crap!"

:roll:

I prefer items that retain some value. The Wusthof's retain their value, just like All-Clad does. If I find I no longer need a piece of cutlery or cookware, I can get rid of it on eBay without a massive loss.

Nor have I heaped scorn on the other brands or called them crap. If the OP wants to use an alternative that others have suggested, no problem.

The real problem on ATOT is that people can't even make suggestions anymore without someone being an ass about it.

 

[Fritzo]

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Typical ATOT: You need to learn how to do something, but you need to buy top notch equipment before you even think of beginning.

"I want to learn how to ride a motorcycle!"

"You can't ride anything less than a BWM K1200---anything less is crap!"

:roll:

I prefer items that retain some value. The Wusthof's retain their value, just like All-Clad does. If I find I no longer need a piece of cutlery or cookware, I can get rid of it on eBay without a massive loss.

Nor have I heaped scorn on the other brands or called them crap. If the OP wants to use an alternative that others have suggested, no problem.

The real problem on ATOT is that people can't even make suggestions anymore without someone being an ass about it.

I'm just saying that he can use any knives and cookware if he's just learning, he doesn't need a $150 chefs knife (hell---MY knives aren't that nice!).

Also, does anyone else find it a bit weird that you buy cookware with the hopes of selling it on Ebay when you're done with it? It there actually a market for used knives?

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Originally posted by: TastesLikeChicken

Originally posted by: Fritzo

Typical ATOT: You need to learn how to do something, but you need to buy top notch equipment before you even think of beginning.

"I want to learn how to ride a motorcycle!"

"You can't ride anything less than a BWM K1200---anything less is crap!"

:roll:

I prefer items that retain some value. The Wusthof's retain their value, just like All-Clad does. If I find I no longer need a piece of cutlery or cookware, I can get rid of it on eBay without a massive loss.

Nor have I heaped scorn on the other brands or called them crap. If the OP wants to use an alternative that others have suggested, no problem.

The real problem on ATOT is that people can't even make suggestions anymore without someone being an ass about it.

I'm just saying that he can use any knives and cookware if he's just learning, he doesn't need a $150 chefs knife (hell---MY knives aren't that nice!).

Also, does anyone else find it a bit weird that you buy cookware with the hopes of selling it on Ebay when you're done with it? It there actually a market for used knives?

i dont know if theres a market, but if i knew someone with a 10" chef they wanted to get rid of in favor of something shiny id be all over it if i knew they had taken care of it. sometimes the 8" is too small for me

i spent $200 on a forged sabatier set a few years ago, be hard to find something like that now, but damn it was worth the money!

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Arcadio
I am tired of buying food at take-out places and crappy restaurants. I am ready to learn the basics of cooking. I already make scrambled eggs, rice, and some basic salads and chicken recipes. Last weekend I spent $60 buying the basic condiments, spices, and sauces that I will need, according to "Cooking for Dummies"...

Anyone willing to share some beginner cooking tips?

fo you? i recommend rat poison or adding radiator fluid to whatever you plan to eat/drink.

 

[Capt Caveman]

Yes, take cooking classes. It'll get you out of your basement, away from the computer and posting here.. And you'll actually be able to interact with umans. And don't bring your laptop.

 

[Born2bwire]

Eat jelly doughnuts and lose twenty pounds a day.