Paid In Grapes
Assistant Cook
I have a 9 x 15 Chantal enameled steel roasting/lasagne pan. I bought it years ago when a cooking store was closing up shop. It was a very good price. I thought it would work for something, but it wasn't better than what I had. As time went by the pan was only used to roast duck, which was our preferred main for holidays and such. It did an ok job, but wasn't better than any other pan I had. My problem is it wasn't worth the effort and time needed to clean it. Our diets changed about 7 years ago and the pan went into storage.
This morning I pulled it out thinking I'd give it another try. I made roasted Greek potatoes. I used a standard recipe that has olive oil and fresh garlic. The potatoes came out as expected, but the amount of time to clean the pan still wasn't worth the result. My question is what is the best use of this pan? When it was our duck pan I'd line it with parchment which made "harvesting the fond" for gravy easier and also aided in clean up-- somewhat. Does a pan like this actually have a best use? Is it more suited to lower temps around 350 F or lower? I bought it so cheap if I can't use it now with my veg based diet, I do have a use for it. I would use it as my water trough for my water stones. It's nice and sturdy and would work well with a stone bridge, but it seems a waste since the pan looks nearly new.
I welcome any input. Thanks very much.
This morning I pulled it out thinking I'd give it another try. I made roasted Greek potatoes. I used a standard recipe that has olive oil and fresh garlic. The potatoes came out as expected, but the amount of time to clean the pan still wasn't worth the result. My question is what is the best use of this pan? When it was our duck pan I'd line it with parchment which made "harvesting the fond" for gravy easier and also aided in clean up-- somewhat. Does a pan like this actually have a best use? Is it more suited to lower temps around 350 F or lower? I bought it so cheap if I can't use it now with my veg based diet, I do have a use for it. I would use it as my water trough for my water stones. It's nice and sturdy and would work well with a stone bridge, but it seems a waste since the pan looks nearly new.
I welcome any input. Thanks very much.