Where can I find a cast iron skillet with a removable metal handle?

February 15, 2006 9:12 AM

I want to cook delicious things without needing the bulging biceps necessary to move a laden skillet from oven to stove. Help!

I saw Alton Brown cooking steak with one on a recent show. I tried looking for a way to contact the show to find out what kind it was but can't find a link.

What I liked about it was:
It was a medium sized skillet
The (metal) handle was removable and rubberized (protects against heat!)

I found a similar, very small one at my local TJ Maxx. The handle wasn't rubberized. I could buy that and then dip the handle in that tool stuff from Home Depot but that's a little more involved then I really want to get. I've checked at local kitchen supply stores and haven't found anything.

Appreciate the help!

posted by bomboleco to Home & Garden (18 answers total)

I believe the pan he used was a grill pan and not a skillet. Specifically, I believe he used this pan by Staub.
posted by bDiddy at 9:17 AM on February 15, 2006

Um, just get some oven mitts. That's what I do, and it works like a charm.
posted by JekPorkins at 9:22 AM on February 15, 2006

Why not just use a skillet with a non-removable handle and take it out of the oven with a pot holder? What am I missing here? Having to re-attach a handle to a hot pan in the oven seems like a good way to accidentally sear some flesh to me.
posted by caddis at 9:25 AM on February 15, 2006

Even better than a potholder or over mitts, get some welding gloves. they have by far the best combination of heat protection and manual dexterity retention.
posted by dersins at 9:35 AM on February 15, 2006

If the removable handle is only for taking a the pan out of the oven, then it doesn't need to be rubberized. The handle won't heat up that fast. We used the same deal type of handle when I worked at a pizza joint. Those pans got significantly hotter than what you'll be working with, and never did the removeable handle get too hot to handle.
posted by clearlynuts at 9:39 AM on February 15, 2006

Alton Brown is notorious for recommending all sorts of totally unnecessary equipment.

Get a good cast iron skillet for $10 and either use an oven mitt or a dish towel to pick up the hot pan.
posted by rxrfrx at 9:42 AM on February 15, 2006

As for the bulging biceps part, just get a pan with a little handle in front like this one which make for an easy two handed lift. I am not specifically recommending that pan, beautiful as it is. If you have enough money to comfortably afford that pan then you probably have enough to hire someone to come in and take it out of the oven for you.
posted by caddis at 9:51 AM on February 15, 2006

just buy a supply of chef's/kitchen towels at a restaurant supply store, or hardware store if you're lucky, and use them. they're useful for tons of other things, they're cheap, and it's pretty much what you'll see on every "real" chef's shoulder and hand for just this purpose. ask for "side towels".
posted by kcm at 9:57 AM on February 15, 2006

I should add that I own a Lodge cast iron skillet that I bought for $20 or $30 and it gives me great joy to use it whenever I can. I loves me some cast iron.
posted by bDiddy at 10:02 AM on February 15, 2006 [1 favorite]

Alton Brown is notorious for recommending all sorts of totally unnecessary equipment.

Since when?
posted by keswick at 10:19 AM on February 15, 2006

Since the beginning of Good Eats? I'm thinking of things like adjustable-volume measuring cups, unusually shaped measuring cups, a squirty oilcan of oil for putting a tablespoon of oil in a pan, using an ironing board to cut ravioli, using a greased-up turkey baster to get hot syrup from a pan into a bowl, numerous large plastic-bin-inside-plastic-bin setups for storing food, and a flat griddle with removable handle (because the normal-size sides of a regular cast iron pan "get in the way" of turning your steak???)
posted by rxrfrx at 10:23 AM on February 15, 2006

Actually - Alton Brown's swears by never having a tool in his kitchen that does only one job (he allows for one exception - a fire extinguisher) He's not recommending you go out and buy an ironing board to cut ravioli - he's recommending you make use of the board you probably already have.

All the items you mention above are used for more than one job (the griddle also cooks pancakes, pressed sandwiches, etc.)

That said, a cast iron skillet and a side towel works extremely well ! BTW - Keep your side towels dry - otherwise they lose ALL their insulating value.
posted by AuntLisa at 10:58 AM on February 15, 2006

Yeah, rxrfrx, I think you're off base on this one. I'm a huge Alton Brown fan and I love his hate of uni-taskers (except for the fire extinguisher).

If memory serves, I don't even think he has a branded cookware line out there. I bought his variable-volume measuring tube, but I think that and the salt cellar are his only branded goods. I could be wrong though, haven't checked his website/store in a while.

I even have one of his books on my shelf (I forget the title) that goes through suggestions for kitchen tools and how to improvise tools or multi-task existing ones.

I agree with AuntLisa and Keswick.
posted by GreenTentacle at 1:25 PM on February 15, 2006

Alton Brown does endorse at least one line of cutlery, but I forget which. That's not the point, though.

I know that his line is "don't have unitaskers in your kitchen," but he just gets ridiculous trying to get this across in a "fun" sort of way.

I know that by greasing up the turkey baster and using it as a syrup transfer device, you're turning the turkey baster into a multitasking device. But really, you're better off not having bought the thing in the first place, and just pouring the damn syrup from the pot to the bowl. Regular measuring cups are cheaper and easier to clean than the fancy ones he uses. so forth.
posted by rxrfrx at 1:57 PM on February 15, 2006

He's the MacGyver of cooking. It's part of his schtick and why some people watch. Still, the food is quite good and he does a good job of showing you how to make it so that it comes out how it should.

By the way, here is an inexpensive, cast iron version of what I described above (notice the little handle on the opposite side from the main handle. I recommend you stay away from rubber or removable handles for the oven. Rubber ones still get darn hot, especially in a 500 F oven for steaks, and you can burn yourself trying to get a removable handle on or if it doesn't seat properly and the hot pan drops off of the handle.
posted by caddis at 2:15 PM on February 15, 2006

Response by poster: fine fine fine. Okay, I guess I'll just go the regular old skillet and kitchen towel routine. I think I partly just wanted something fun. But seriously, my mother has a really old set of le Crueset pans and her 10 incher is so darn heavy on its own, let alone with an extra pound of meat in there. Maybe I am just a wimp.

I really like the idea of welding gloves.
posted by bomboleco at 11:48 AM on February 16, 2006

I also like the idea of welding gloves. As for the weight, suck it up and start going to the gym. ;)
posted by keswick at 12:31 PM on February 16, 2006

set of le Crueset pans and her 10 incher is so darn heavy on its own, let alone with an extra pound of meat in there

Le Crueset is heavy even by cast iron standards. For making a steak on the stove and in the oven an aluminum pan would work fine. Here is an inexpensive one which is anodized, will weigh far, far less than a Le Crueset, and looks decent. For higher quality pans try the company in my first link up above.
posted by caddis at 3:11 PM on February 16, 2006