Your Batterie de Cuisine
The French use the term batterie de cuisine for all of the pots, pans and utensils used in the kitchen. Your new kitchen may require you to rethink the way you use these tools and may require some upgrades. Restaurant style high BTU ranges and many new home ranges provide a much higher level of heat than the older appliances you may be used to. Your older lightweight pans may not hold up to these heat levels.
While we’re not suggesting you replace all of your kitchen equipment, you should consider starting to accumulate higher quality tools to go with your higher functioning kitchen. It takes a lot of work to create a kitchen that truly works better and much of your appreciation for your new kitchen will be affected by the tools you use. Along with appliances that function like their commercial counterparts we’ve seen many new tools come on the market in recent years that also are of restaurant quality.
The difference is construction, weight and the materials used. Heavy tools hold up to repeated use and washings, make work easier by working as they were designed to and are built to last forever. Restaurant style cookware is much heavier with thick bases made of a sandwich of stainless and aluminum that evenly distributes heat, holds up to extreme temperatures yet does not interact with foods the way aluminum can. Non-stick technologies have also seen vast improvements especially in their ability to resist scratching and hold up to high heat. Very old non-stick pans may actually represent a health hazard and should be discarded.
Besides these very practical considerations there is a less logical reason for starting to upgrade. The over all feel and look of quality kitchen tools contributes to your enjoyment of your new kitchen. These tools are purchases that will continue to be useful for the rest of our lives as cooks and will even achieve a patina and grace of their own over time, as will your kitchen.
