Cooking For Engineers

[glenthompson]

Has anyone ever used titanium cookware? Comments about it?

[eltonyo]

titanuim cookware is the latest (stupid) idea, that i bet, will draw lots of stupid (i.e. stoooopid) people to its greatest, and yet totally non-related, uses yet!!!

first of all... the word "titanium" almost vibrates, with all too many, as something only "superman" can possess, let alone understand and own!

if they make a titanium "razor blade" (with only hints of titanium), for ten times the money, for one stupid example... then a titanium "frying pan" must make food ten times better!!!!

sigh!

look people.... first of all, no pan you buy will be made of pure titanium, and the name is only used to sucker you in to pay more!

the mere thin veneer you recieve of titatnium, will be on a "non-stick" surface.

HINT#1 to serious cookers: Just say "NO", to outragiously priced, non-stick, pans, with the latest voo-doo mineral, or element.

most serious cooks, want a somewhat "sticky" surface, with a high heat capacity, like the good'ol iron pans, or all-clad stainless surfaces, or aluminum, that leave good concentrated food bits on the bottom (for de-glazing and taste goodness).

it is a fact, that stainless steel cooks more consistently than the most expensive material, and latest new-comer, titanium.

unless you are a Mt. Everest climber on a daily basis, and you need the maximum strength to weight ratio (i.e. as if you will be cooking an omelette and need a non-stick pan!!!!, whilst using the pan to beat a "sasquantch", in those conditions!!!!.. AS IF!!!), you are wasting your money, and time, on something less desirable, but way more expensive!

who gives a crap, about a "new" non-stick surface, that costs loads of money, that does not offer anything above the normal non-stick pan, other than a fancy strength_and_material name... that hopes to sucker in a bunch of new_age cookers.... for lots of extra money... who should NOT be worrying about the strength_to_weight ratio of their god damn frying pan cuz they burn their eggs to begin with!?!?!?

sigh... (sorry... i lost my head!)

* picks up head, and asks 'clown#3' to screw it on. *

sorry.

i lost my head there. its back now.

just say "NO" to expensive new-age-metal non-stick pans.... and learn to cook an omelette on your great grandmothers ol'iron pan (with butter)... (or cheaper non-stick-non-titanium pan if you must!)

p.s. just say NO!

p.s.2 sorry to get clown#3 involved. i was hoping to keep secret the fact that i have a family of clowns that live within my head (and sleep under my bed), who bicker and snicker all night long... with their big, huge, clown feet.... and stuff and such.

[nonstickfred]

But, it is, after all, just an assumption.

Personally, I love the idea of washing my frypan with a cheap paper towel. But, the practical side dictates a bit of soap and a rinse, then a towel.
I was just crushed, however to learn that scanpan has PTFE. In your rampages, have you EVER seen a truly non-toxic non-stick pan, and if so, give it up. SHARE!
Thanx,
NonStick

[eltonyo]

shea... 'crushed' is a relative term theses days.

if you opted to get a "flu shot", you just got inoculated with mercury.

are you 'crushed'?

but hey.... keep worring about the little things.... like paying 5 times the money, for a non-stick pan,.... (that all it is, but ain't).

that don't even "cut the cheese"...so to speak.

p.s. repeat: "that doesn't even do!", relative to a flood of cheapness that does.

[grantmasterflash]

Maybe you've missed the point of titanium? It's not a strength to weight ratio or anything else. For some reason the "Teflon" sticks better to it allowing them to make a tougher non-stick surface so you can use metal utinsels. That's it. I have several titanium lined pans (sautee and small frypan) that I use for eggs, bacon, stirfrys etc... Everything else I use my "stick pans" for.

P.S. You don't have to pay a fortune for titanium. I paid $20 for my egg pan and $40 for my Sautee pan at TJMaxx

[CookNewb]

I heard that titanium cookware is used only for camping (due to weight advantage and prohibitive price).

[Howard]

[GaryProtein]

[CookNewb]

I read on The New Scientist magazine (my favorite all time favorite science magazine, they had a large article on a new extraction process of titanium) that titanium is so expenxive becaue of how involved the extraction process is. The article was featuring a new method of titanium extraction that would have made titanium possibly cheap enough to make cutlery out of. I have not seen any titanium cutlery recently however so I guess the process was not a success.

[Howard]

Even if a cheap process for extracting and refining titanium were to be invented, it would still have no place in kitchen knives because of its low hardness and wear resistance.

[jagstyle]

I've seen titanium cutlery at The Japan Woodworker:
Titanium Kitchen Knives

[CookNewb]

That is so interesting. I did not know titanium cutlery existed. When the first Blade movie (starring Wesley Snipes) came ou I saw a few threads on why his "acid etched titanium sword" would not work in real life. The major issue would be hardness. A titanium sword might be stronger than a steel one, but not harder, so it would lose its sharpness very quickly. I wonder it the titanium cutlery in the above post is actually a titanium alloy. It probably could be made harder than titanium alone.

[SirSpice]

Titanium cutlery sounds like a gimmick (or fraud). Even though JWW is a respectable source.

The only advantage would be weight.

[GaryProtein]

check out this page regarding titanium and swords/knives/cutlery

http://swordforum.com/metallurgy/titanium.html

I agree with SirSpice, titanium/titanium alloy really has no practical place for knives unless you need the acid resistance for cutting sulfuric acid infused tomatoes all day long!

[Cucina Pro]