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My grandma's stew recipe lost its soul when I switched pans
She always cooked it in this beat up aluminum pot that was older than my dad. Tasted like home, every single time. After she passed I got the recipe written in her shaky handwriting. First try with my nice stainless stock pot in my new apartment in Columbus, Ohio, came out flat and watery. Took me a year to figure out it was the pan, not me. The aluminum conducts heat so different, everything caramelizes better. Bought a thrift store pot just like hers for $8 last month and finally got that same rich flavor. My wife says I'm crazy but she ate three bowls. Anyone else have a dish that only tastes right in the old worn out cookware?
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webb.ben10d ago
Aluminum is a great heat conductor, better than stainless actually, so saying it conducts heat "different" is a little off. The real magic is that those old pots are thin and beat to hell, so they get hot spots and the bottom builds up a seasoned layer over decades. That's where your browning and depth come from, not the metal itself. A brand new aluminum pot from the store would not give you the same thing. What you bought at the thrift shop was really the years of use baked into it. Also your grandma probably cooked on a gas flame, so if your new place has electric, that changes everything too.
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oscar74310d ago
I read somewhere that serious BBQ guys actually hunt down old aluminum pots on purpose for this exact reason. They say the layer of baked on grease and smoke over the years is what makes the food taste right, not the metal. @webb.ben you nailed it with the hot spots point too, because those uneven spots are what give you the dark crusty bits instead of a flat even cook. A shiny new pot off the shelf is just too clean and even to do that. The gas vs electric thing is huge also, my mom switched and said nothing ever browned the same after.
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