DiamoTech Skillet

So many skillets, not nearly enough eggs.

The nice folks at DiamoTech sent me one of their 9 1/2 inche skillets to test, and I've left it out on the stove since it arrived, so I remember to use it every time I cook something.

This is a nonstick skillet with an interesting finish. It's extremely smooth and it's very dark gray with tiny glitter-like spots that look blue and purple in the light of my kitchen. When I took it out of the package, I thought, oooh, that would be a cool look for fabric. Or jewelry. Or some kind of decorative vase.

Alas, it's just a skillet.

So, I lived with this glittery skillet for a while, cooking everything from eggs to meat to sauces. After a couple of nonstick pans that failed after a short time, I simply don't trust the first test. This one, however, is still nonstick, still not scratched, and still very glittery.

I've only washed it by hand, because that's the way I wash all my pots and pans, but this is supposed to be dishwasher safe. Good to know, if I ever actually have space in my dishwasher for cookware. It's also oven safe which is actually more important to me than dishwasher safe. If I'm cooking something on the stove and want to finish it in the oven, it's nice to be able to do it in the same pan.

On the other hand, nothing sticks to it, so hand washing it isn't all that much of a chore. These new nonstick cooking surfaces are kinda spooky, right?

It's fairly lightweight, so it's good for flipping vegetables, and it has good balance when holding it. It's also on the inexpensive end, when we're talking about cookware, so even if it only lasts a couple years because you backed over it with your car, it's still a good deal.

This stuff comes in single pieces, there are lids, and there are sets. Overall, it's a nice pan. I'm going to keep using it and see if it starts getting weird after many months. But for now it seems like it should last.

The one downside of this pan - and it's not a big one - is that you're supposed to season it before the first use. The instructions are on the label, and you just need to wipe a little oil on, and put it in the oven. To be honest. I'm not sure if that's actually necessary (skeptical that I am) since the oil didn't actually want to stick to the surface of the pan, so it kind of beaded up ... but I did it anyway. If it helped the pan, that's great. If not, I wasted a couple drops of oil. No big deal.

I got a sample pan from DiamoTech for testing, at no cost to me.

Field Company Lightweight Iron Skillet

I've been using cast iron skillets since I was a kid using my mom's cookware, and I'm a big fan. Properly seasoned and cared for, a cast iron skillet will be just as nonstick as your modern nonstick cookware, and it can last for generations.

Aside from extreme thermal shock, I can't imagine how you could seriously damage a cast iron pan. Even if you left it out in the snow all winter and it started to rust, you could sand off the rust and re-season the pan and it would be just fine.

Speaking of thermal shock, I'm not talking about the kind of shock that can break a glass casserole. More like heating it red hot, then pouring liquid nitrogen into it. And I'm not sure that would actually damage it. Not that I want to try. I like my cast iron.

So anyway, the folks at Field Company offered to send me one of their lighter weight cast iron skillets.

Let me be clear here. There's no voodoo involved. It's still real cast iron, just like your foremothers used. The metal is the same. But the skillet is just a little thinner, so it's lighter. It's also smoother, so you don't have a bumpy surface. I'm guessing that rather than just casting it and doing some rough finishing, these are machined to get that smooth surface and thinner metal. But, I'm just guessing. It could be voodoo.

Now, when I'm saying that this skillet is lighter, it's lighter than a standard cast iron skillet of the same size. It's not as light as aluminum. Because that would be actual voodoo.

I went through my usual seasoning process, using the skillet in between. Mostly searing steaks, because that's something that cast iron is excellent at.

As far as performance, there's a slight difference between this pan and my other cast iron pans. Cast iron is desirable for its ability to retain heat, and this did that very well. When I was first heating it, it heated a little unevenly, getting hotter faster right above the flame. However, once it was hot, it all evened out. Since I always preheat cast iron pans, I can't even say this was a drawback. Just something that I noticed. You know, with an infrared thermometer in my hands. Otherwise, I'm not even sure I would have noticed.

Overall, this is a nice pan and I can definitely feel the difference in weight, so I'll be keeping it handy for cooking. And baking. And roasting. And in the grill. And pretty much every way I use cast iron pans.

Like many of the things I review here, I got this pan at no cost to me.

Quick Peek: Ninja Foodi

Ninja has made some innovative products, and I've reviewed a few of them over the years. Their slow cooker was on my kitchen counter for many years, and their blenders are real beasts.

The latest from Ninja's warped mind is the Foodi. As soon as I saw it, I pre-ordered the danged thing because I just had to try it. I had to.

And then I waited for it to show up.

And then it arrived. I had the box ripped open and it was on my counter running through a test before the delivery guy had gotten to the end of the block. puff, puff

The Foodi is the mutant stepchild of a pressure cooker and an air fryer. Yeah, you heard that. It pressure cooks AND it air fries.

That's why I had to have it. This is a new category of product, and it actually makes sense.

I've owned pressure cookers of all types, and I use mine regularly. Air fryers, though ... I've used them, I've liked the results, but I never loved them enough to keep them on my counter top long term. The idea of combining an air fryer with a machine I use often just made sense.

I did a quick pressure test to make sure the pressure cooker function was working correctly, then I browsed through the recipe book that came with the machine to see what I could make right away. I settled on potato wedges because I had a bag of potatoes and I knew I liked them in an air fryer.

The instructions were a little different than what I made in the air fryer. These were pressure cooked for a short time, then I drizzled on some oil, and then I air fried them. The result was very much like what I'd gotten from the previous air fryer, but faster.

The cooking bowl of the Foodi is wider than any of my other electric pressure cookers - a bit over 9 inches in diameter - so it will fit larger accessories and larger hunks of food, as long as they're not super tall. And for sure it can hold more than the air fryers I've used, so that's a bonus. It also seems to be willing to work with less liquid than some pressure cookers I've used. For the potatoes, I only needed 1/2 cup of water, which isn't much at all.

I'm kind of curious about that wide bowl, particularly for cooking cheesecakes. I've made cheesecakes in my other pressure cookers before, but they were pretty small, since larger pans wouldn't fit. With this wide pan, I can fit at least an 8-inch springform pan, and possibly even a 9-inch pan. I guess I'll be experimenting with cooking times.

Besides the machine and the nonstick cooking pot, this comes with a "cook and crisp" basket that I used for the potato wedges. And I have to mention that the potatoes got brown and crisp on both the top and bottom. It also includes a rack that can be used in two different ways, either as a steaming rack to keep food low in the cooking pot, or as a broiler rack, holding the food close to the top where the heat is generated.

It has one lid that's permanent - that's the air fryer lid. And there's a removable lid for pressure cooking. When you use the pressure cooker lid, you simply flip the fryer lid up.

I plan on doing some more testing with this, but I wanted to give you a heads-up on it, since it's so new and weird.

So far, I like it. Next, I'm going to try some chicken. There is a recipe in the book for a whole "roasted" chicken that is first pressure cooked, then air fried, and that's kind of fascinating. This could also be great for ribs, since they could be pressure cooked, then slathered with sauce and air fried or broiled.

I haven't tried all the buttons yet, so I'm not sure how they all function. Unlike many of the electric pressure cookers that have buttons for everything from cake to poultry, this doesn't have presets for different foods. And that's fine with me. I seldom use the presents on my pressure cooker.

When you're ready to press buttons, this senses whether the fryer lid is in place or not, and the cooking options change based on that. If you're already cooking with the fryer lid in place, the lid will turn itself off while you check the food. Then it turns on again and cooking resumes when the lid is down again.

But back to buttons ...

With the fryer lid down, you have options to air fry, bake/roast, or broil. With the fryer lid lifted, you have your choice of pressure cook, steam, slow cook, and sear/saute. It won't actually pressure cook without the lid, but the settings are there. Up and down buttons let you change the temperature and set the time. There's also a keep warm function, a start/stop button, and a power-off button.

So, yeah, I have a lot of testing to do. Lots of buttons to press. But first, I need to buy a chicken.

I bought this. Nada freebies.

Note: as I'm writing this, Amazon only has these from third-party sellers at a considerably higher price than I paid. Wait until the price comes back down if you're as crazy as me and you need one of these.