Todd English’s Green Pan

The other day I was in Target, shopping for odds and ends, when I remembered to check the cookware aisles. I’ve been needing to beef up my supply of stove-top cookware, and have been window shopping for the perfect items to fill in the gaps in my artillery. I happened to stop when I saw a powder-blue and grey skillet. It was 12″ with high sides. I almost moved on because of the non-stick coating, but then I noticed the name: Green Pan.

It was one of the pans that National Geographic’s Green Guide recommends. I checked the price: $39.99. Not bad. I was in the market for a wok and an 11″ skillet, but it occurred to me that this would suit both purposes adequately. So far I’ve cooked Indian curry, eggs, turkey meatballs, and pancakes in it, just so I could test out its performance range.

Things to love: According to the packaging, you can use this pan on any type of cook top surface (gas, electric, flat, coil) and it is safe up to 800 degrees–which is pretty safe. The high-temp tolerance means that the pan won’t emit fumes or leak toxins into your food the way other non-stick pans do when heated past their idea temp (usually less than 500 degrees, I believe). The green technology that Green Pan utilizes greatly reduces their carbon emissions during different steps of the manufacturing process and they use less packaging than most (just a bit of recycled paper).

The pan heats evenly and cooks beautifully. At $39.99, that’s a bargain for a great, multi-purpose piece of cookware.

Less than perfect: I can already tell I’m going to have to be careful not to scratch the non-stick coating. My bamboo cooking spoons and my silicone spatula are the only things that are coming near this. I also wouldn’t feel comfortable sticking it in my draining rack. I wash and dry it by hand. But that’s what you sign up for when you buy non-stick cookware.

Final analysis: Pretty, functional, human and eco friendly. Sold! I plan to stock up on a few more of their products.

Posted by: Catie

Atlas Original Italian Pasta Machine

A few months ago, my significant other and I had a huge group of people over and made fresh ravioli. To expedite the process, we enlisted the help of the Atlas Original Italian Pasta Machine which we borrowed from some friends. We loved it so much that I bought one for his Christmas present (sh! don’t tell). I did some research and Atlas seems to be the gold standard in pasta makers. This machine is entirely stainless steel and has a regular set of rollers and two other settings: fettuccine and vermicelli. The machine consists of the base with rollers and cutters attached, a removable handle, and a clamp to secure the machine to a counter or table top.

Things to love: This machine is sturdy, made in Italy, and fairly compact. It’s incredibly low-tech, which is always a bonus for me; the simpler the better, and this machine is simple. Once you get the hang of it, making fresh pasta doesn’t take much longer than boiling packaged pasta since the pasta cooks so quickly. The regular set of rollers adjust in thickness. At $76.99 on Amazon.com (I found mine a lot less expensively with some internet time), this is a good price for a sturdy machine. (A Kitchen Aid pasta attachment is upwards of $100!) The dough came out smoothly and we had no problem using the cutting attachments–something that my friends tell me is an issue with many pasta machines they’ve tried.

Less than perfect: Not the easiest thing in the world to clean. I would always recommend running a batch of test dough through the machine to make sure that it’s cleaned out ahead of time. Also, the clamp is too small to attach to my kitchen counters (which are a fairly average thickness) so you’ll need another spot to roll out your pasta. You need both hands or a friend to help when using this machine: one to turn the handle, the other to keep the dough from piling up and getting stuck together. Getting the coordination down might take a couple of tries.

Final analysis: This is a great machine for the money. We were very impressed and had fun using it. I can’t wait until Christmas so I can hijack this!

Tips for use: Run the dough through the plain rollers a couple of times, even if your plan to use one of the cutting attachments. This ensures that the dough is the right consistency. Also, get yourself a pastry brush and reserve it for cleaning this machine only. You can’t use water on it, and you’ll need something to help get in all the nooks and crannies.

Posted by: Catie