Ha! Your answer is a not cast iron pan, but I’m pretty sure the cast iron collection I have totalled under $100 and has been used for thousands of meals, plus bread baking, making lard from pork skin, and like flannel it gets better with time, instead of wearing out. I don’t like cooking on aluminum though. You have some funny ideas about cast iron - you can’t ruin it with a spatula, or with dish detergent, it’s not fussy at all.
I joke that I’m doing overhead press when I take them off the high shelf. But am a mid 50s lady and would worry if I couldn’t wrangle the iron pans. I do agree that it depends on your cooking style though. I am not careful enough for nonstick pans and a lot of what I do make works best in those wonderful heavy nearly indestructible pans. I have one steel not heavy skillet, and pasta pots and loaf pans and baking sheets and cake pans, so much stuff at this point but the things I need most and use everyday, my essentials, are those cast iron pans, the big chef knife, and the cutting board.
Ha! Your answer is a not cast iron pan, but I’m pretty sure the cast iron collection I have totalled under $100 and has been used for thousands of meals, plus bread baking, making lard from pork skin, and like flannel it gets better with time, instead of wearing out. I don’t like cooking on aluminum though. You have some funny ideas about cast iron - you can’t ruin it with a spatula, or with dish detergent, it’s not fussy at all.
I love my big ass cast iron skillet but my girlfriend says it’s too heavy and that is completely understandable. It’s not for everyone.
I joke that I’m doing overhead press when I take them off the high shelf. But am a mid 50s lady and would worry if I couldn’t wrangle the iron pans. I do agree that it depends on your cooking style though. I am not careful enough for nonstick pans and a lot of what I do make works best in those wonderful heavy nearly indestructible pans. I have one steel not heavy skillet, and pasta pots and loaf pans and baking sheets and cake pans, so much stuff at this point but the things I need most and use everyday, my essentials, are those cast iron pans, the big chef knife, and the cutting board.