Geo wrote:I've also got Misen's carbon steel and their SS skillet and saucier. It is all top-notch stuff. I highly recommend their non-stick 10". I use it for sure at least once a day, have done for over a year, and it isn't even *scratched.* Rugged.
If I may go off-topic for a moment: you are obviously the go-to knife guy here. I've tried just about everyone's typical home cook's line of knives--all the usual French, German, Brazilian, etc.--and since about two years ago have settled on the Misen small chef/utility knife for the 90%-of-my-everyday-tasks knife.
But I ask you: if YOU had to choose that one knife for your 90% of everyday kitchen tasks, what would it be?
No Japanese? I think many people consider them to be the finest knives. In any case, considering everything, including cost, it'd be something like this:
Yahiko VG10 Damascus Custom Gyuto 210mmReasonably priced
(especially relative to mainstream German brands), excellent, VG10 stainless steel, and 60 HRC, so it will maintain a decent edge while not being overly prone to chipping. And it's a beautiful piece. But it's important to remember that knife preferences are personal and highly subjective. What I don't like about the Misen -- it's relatively thick above the edge -- might be the exact thing someone else loves about it. I think another big thing that drives knife preferences is the belief that durability equals quality. For some people that's entirely true. For others, performance, versatility or aesthetics may be higher priorities.
But even something like this Mac, is a great, reliable performer:
MAC Chef's Series 8" Chef KnifeGeo wrote:For skillets/frying pans, that task is performed for me by the Misen 10" non-stick. And the saucier is my pot of the day. I'm thinking about buying the sauté pan.
What do you use the rondeau for? I've never used one.
I use it for everything from oil frying, to steaming, to simmering, to smaller braises
(it does have low clearance). I especially like it for saute/simmering chicken thighs, pork tenderloin, sausages, etc. There's room for about 9-10 pieces of chicken, 2 tenderloins, multiple sausages, plus vegetables, sauce components, etc. I sear and remove the pieces, dump in veg to release the fond/start a sauce, add whatever liquid components I want, add the chicken back, cover it to cook everything, then remove the cover to reduce it all to where I want it. It can also go in the oven if you want to crisp things up. Extremely versatile, durable and easy to clean/maintain.
Talking a step back, I must own at least one Misen nonstick piece because I received the following email just a few moments ago . . .
in an email, Misen wrote:To Our Misen Community,
We wanted to give you a heads-up that tomorrow, 9/21, we’ll be announcing a new Kickstarter campaign for Misen Nonstick Essentials.
Since you previously purchased our Nonstick Pan, we wanted to share the news with you directly — and by signing up for our SMS alerts, you’ll be the first to hear when the campaign goes live.
Our Nonstick Pan is a truly great product at an exceptional value. And its long-lasting nonstick system and compatibility with all stovetops aren’t changing at all.
In the spirit of taking a good thing and making it better, we’ve made some design improvements to our Nonstick Pan to make it even more enjoyable to use (including a highly requested handle improvement).
We’re also introducing five brand-new cookware pieces, all with the same high-quality Nonstick System.
We hope you’ll be as excited about this new chapter of Essential Nonstick Cookware as we are.
As always, we’re deeply grateful for your support — we truly could not have grown to this point without you. If you have any questions, please reach out to our team at hello@misen.com
Thank you,
— Misen Product Team
I guess they're "improving" the product, though, such proclamations are often indicative of something else.
=R=
Same planet, different world