#also side note. use lemon w ur vinegar for extra Clean

[catching-fire-in-the-wind]

Side note for a very specific subgroup of people: NONSTICK PANS CAN KILL YOUR BIRDS. ITS NOT GOOD FOR YOU EITHER.

If you MUST use it (i.e. have limited to no control over your situation), NEVER USE METAL UTENSILS, IT WILL SCRAPE THE COATING. Also, try not to go above medium heat. Otherwise, follow basic safety to avoid overheating: Don't ever, EVER leave them on heat empty. Do not preheat them. Ever.

KITCHEN BASICS

Or: Nobody Taught Me How To Cook

Ok so you find yourself in the position of needing to cook for yourself but have no idea what you’re doing. This is a quick overview.

This is a combination Oven / Gas Range

It’s a box that gets hot. Fire comes out the top. Very useful. Do your Cooking here. Medium heat is ideal for most things. The urge to crank the heat to cook things faster is a Rookie Mistake; you have been warned.

This is a Frying Pan. You want Stainless Steel with riveted handles. No cast-iron, no tricks, no non-stick coatings, no copper bottom. Every Commercial Kitchen I ever worked in used these basic-ass frying pans. You can hit ’em with steel wool and throw them in the dishwasher and get them so hot it’ll set your shit on fire and they’ll never wear out. Absolute miracles of modern metallurgy and you can get a really decent one for like $40.

You need 3 Knives: a little one, for fine work; a big one, for chopping; and one with teeth, for tough stuff you gotta saw through. These are generally called Paring, Chef’s, and Bread Knives, respectively. You can get really good ones for $10-30 per knife; all further costs are mark-ups and decoration. All other knives are derived from these three, and are only necessary for very specialized tasks.

This is a good Cutting Board. Wood is ideal, and this one has a channel along the edges to catch juices that run out. Running through the dishwasher is unnecessary.