New Pasta Bowls on Offer – And a Common Nonstick Concern Answered

A great question

I’ve got some rather nice pasta bowls to tell you about this week in a wide variety of colours and patterns, which wouldn’t normally be my thing, but read on to see whether my friends at Kitchencraft have won me over this time.  

Before I get to the pasta bowls though, a few weeks ago, Mohammed, a customer, wrote to me asking a good and yet very simple question. Let me set the scene.  

He had just read my newsletter from the 19th April, in which I was replying to an article in the Telegraph that had a number of inaccuracies in it regarding Le Creuset nonstick cookware. The subject of his question was related to my assertion that the journalist had chosen to ignore the problem that overheating destroys all plastic nonstick surfaces. And specifically, if you heat your pan much over 270 °c, I said,  then that is it. There is no going back. New pan required.

So, Mohammed's question was simply “How does one tell if their frying pan is heated to over 270°c?” *

 *Once a coating has been overheated (over 270 degrees) then it starts to degrade (this applies to all plastic based nonsticks, not just Le Creuset’s) and will start to become less and less nonstick with time, so making it harder and harder to cook on.

My answer to him was this:

So, that was my answer to Mohammed. If you do want the reassurance of a thermometer then you can find them here, otherwise do as I suggest, and if by chance you go too high and the oil starts to smoke, seriously consider throwing it away, it won't taste so good if you continue, and it isn’t good for you.   In so doing, you are safeguarding your health and extending the life of your nonstick pan because if you cook below the smoking point of your oil, you are well below the burning point of your plastic nonstick coating.

To product:

Kitchencraft Mikasa Pasta Bowls £9.95

Back now to Kitchencraft’s Pasta Bowls. Some years ago Kitchencraft came out with a range of rather delightful, patterned Cereal Bowls. And they sold extremely well and in fact continue to be a staple line for us.

Back in February, when Em (General manager)  Jeanne (Cobham Manager) and I went to the AIS Index Show in Solihull, we had dinner with Matthew Canwell the managing director of Kitchencraft, now owned by the Lifetime Brands, a large American outfit. And the next day on our way home went into the impressive showroomthat they opened a year or two ago. 

There we saw some lovely stuff amongst which were the next development in this range, namely Pasta Bowls in similar patterns, and boy were they sexy.

And, as I write this, I’m mulling over where this enthusiasm comes from? Is it that the glaze in some designs is almost 3D, is it the unobvious, contrasting but complementary colour combinations, or is it the textural feel…? I don’t know, but we’ve only had them a few weeks and we’ve already had to reorder them in Cobham.  So, on this occasion there’s actually a chance that my taste and yours are not going to argue, too much, if at all!

The offer this week that I’m going to tempt you with, is, buy two or three bowls for £8.95 each or about 10% off or buy 4 or more for £7.95 each or about 20% off.

All the same, or mix-and-match, it's up to you.

If you're shopping online, then just put however many you want in your basket, and the software will work out the discount for you. 

If you have already bought them and are cursing yourself, or me, for being too quick off the mark, worry not. Just come in, preferably with your receipt (but we are pretty trusting bunch, so don’t worry too much, if you’ve lost it), and we’ll give you a refund on the difference.

The last word

I’ll leave the last word to a text conversation I was having with a friend the other day about the emotional maturity of people that we knew.  

We discussed how emotional maturity is influenced by our ability to accept and love ourselves fully, completely, warts and ugly side as well.

At some point in that exchange I think we agreed that “the degree to which we love ourselves, enables us to love others, and this is never more true and powerful, than in relation to our partners, wives, husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends, family members, and our children of course”.

I'm thinking of talking about this further next week, so should this subject be cause of either self examination or a discussion over the  dinner table, and you felt like sharing it with me (andrew@artfolivingcookshop.co.uk or better with everyone) then I’d be most interested to know what you think and whether you agree or disagree or just have a different slant on the premise.

In the meantime, I trust that you have a peaceful, pleasant and a possibly discursive weekend!

Warm regards,

Warm regards,

Andrew