Most of you know that I love to cook and I am getting pretty good at it. As a mechanical engineer, I also like tools. So it should be no surprise that I have a lot of “tools” in my kitchen. A couple of years ago, I got sucked in by a Facebook ad with a celebrity chef, Gordon Ramsey, endorsement, a non-stick pan on which you could use any metal utensils. It sounded too good to be true but I had to buy new non-stick pans every couple of years because the surface became damaged. These pans also carried a lifetime warranty so I bought one just to try it out. It was better than advertised. Made by Hexclad, it features aluminum core clad in high grade stainless steel. A hexagonal pattern is etched into both the inside and outside surface to create ridges. The pan is coated with a ceramic non stick surface which does not contain PTFE and does not outgas. The coating is removed from the peaks which creates a raised bare stainless steel surface which protects the non-stick coating. But probably my favorite feature is the stay cool handles. So I bought three more pans.

When I was in Phoenix for last year’s GCSAA show, I stayed behind and visited my sister-in-law, Lisa, for a couple of days. She and her husband cooked me a couple of delicious meals. As a thank you gift, I sent them one Hexclad pan. Apparently her husband liked them so much, he bought a whole set. They literally take two or three swipes with a brush to clean but Lisa complained when her husband asked her to dry them after washing so they did not spot. Not an unreasonable request for something so expensive. So I bought her some nice microfiber towels which will dry a pan in 5 seconds and told her to quit her bitching and enjoy all the meals her husband makes for her.

You probably also know that my daughter is a first time mom to my two year old granddaughter, so she is hyper careful. She became very concerned with the outgassing of her non-stick pans and the micro plastics that are created by using plastic utensils on the pans. She is getting rid of all of her plastic cutting boards for the same reason. For Christmas, I bought her a Hexclad pan and since then she has bought two more. Her birthday was yesterday so I bought her a 7 quart deep sauté pan that can also be used in the oven to roast a chicken. For good measure, I bought one for me too. She texted me this last night “Best batch of chicken and yellow rice I’ve ever made!! Love the new pan, thank you!”. I also bought her a nice, big, grooved, wooden cutting board.