Category Archives: Jamie Oliver
Best Induction Pans for the Future
Prepare for a new way of cooking with cookware that will last an age…
Induction stove-tops are becoming increasingly popular; consequently I have more and more people coming into the store asking what induction is and what pans are suitable.
The first thing I tell them is there are A LOT of options out there, usually far more than you think.
Induction cooking is a magnetic friction based method of heating which means the bases of your pans must be strongly magnetic. What this gives as far as a cooking-top surface is concerned is a very fast heat up and cool down time, very easy cleaning and an inbuilt safety feature in that there’s no flame and you simply can’t forget to turn your stove off. The element will not heat up unless there is a magnetic pan on it so no pan, no heat. Consequently more and more people are installing induction hobs in their kitchens; some universities are now even putting them in their student flats!
CHOOSING INDUCTION PANS
Now here’s the best part: the vast majority of our pans are perfect for induction. Practically anything with a stainless steel base is good to go. For example, the whole Le Creuset range online is perfect (with the one caveat that cast iron is heavy and your stove top will be made of glass so you must be careful), the whole Stellar range is also now completely induction ready. Sadly, for my long standing love of Mauviel copper pans they are not induction suitable, although there are magnetic interfaces on the market that allow you to use existing pans. These tend to cost as much, if not more than the new pans you would be buying. Anything that is aluminium, enamel or hard anodised aluminium will need to have a steel base, so check their specifications. Circulon Infinite is one of our most popular non-stick ranges which is induction safe, as is the Le Creuset toughened non-stick, Jamie Oliver Professional Series Hard Anodised Range, Stellar 3000 and 6000 to name a few. Top tip: don’t forget to take a magnet to the base of the pans you already own, hopefully you’ll be able to keep your Gran’s jam pan if the magnet sticks!
OUR TOP 3 INDUCTION READY PANS
|
1) Stellar 1000 Top selling stainless steel pan range.
|
 Stellar 1000 |
|
2) Le Creuset Toughened Non-Stick Top quality non-stick.
|
 Le Creuset Toughened Non-Stick |
|
3) Jamie Oliver Professional Stainless Steel Super popular range.
|
 Jamie Oliver Stainless Steel |
I hope you find this guide useful!
Nina,
Manager
Pots and Pans, St Andrews.
Jamie Oliver gets fired up…
|
As we reported back in June, Jamie Oliver is opening a new chain of restaurants called Union Jacks. He’s got together with award-winning American chef, Chris Bianco to open the first of the chain in Holborn, London in November 2011.
|
 |
 |
“Where wood-fired flatbreads meet great British flavours.“
The PR for Union Jacks concentrates heavily on the sourcing philosophy of the food; “We take a lot of pride in our sourcing philosophy, and look to our own back garden first in order to celebrate the wonderful growers, farmers and winemakers we have here in this country.”
|
| “A journey of discovery through Britain and reintroduction to familiar flavours, cooked and presented the Union Jacks way.“
You’ll be guaranteed incredible flatbreads and wood-fired cooking methods, with great British flavours. Jamie’s partner, Chris Bianco is a pizza hero in America, hand making all of his pizzas and cooking them in his faithful wood-burning oven in Phoenix, Arizona.
|
 |
Fancy trying your hand at a homemade pizza? Make sure you’ve got the tools; Jamie Oliver pizza slicer, pizza stone and pizza baking pan.
Will Jamie save our wonky fruit and veg?
| Union Jack’s
Keeping up with Jamie Oliver’s latest ventures is not an easy task. This weekend he announced plans to open a new restaurant chain called Union Jack’s, though he’s yet to tell us what type of food the restaurant will be serving, the clue may be in the name. One rumour is that he plans to support Britain’s farmers by sourcing much of his ingredients from their rejects pile of bent cucumbers, wonky peppers and other produce that is rejected by supermarkets because it does not conform to a standard size or shape. |
 |
 |
Straight as a cucumber
Our perfectly straight cucumbers and uniform peppers are a legacy of EU regulations that restricted the size and shape of 26 types of fruit and vegetables. The restrictions were lifted in 2008 after it came to light 20% of fruit and veg were being rejected, but the supermarkets continue to demand perfect fruit and veg to keep us happy.
Sainsburys, who pay Jamie over £1m a year to endorse their brand, is one of the biggest supermarket offenders, grading food based on appearance. |
| Jamie goes worldwide
Jamie’s Italian chain has been a huge success in the UK with 18 restaurants (soon to add 5 more) across the country and plans to open the first branch in California. Fifteen has three branches in London, Cornwall and Amsterdam. And Jamie’s also opened his first restaurant in Dubai, with another venue set for Syndey next month. He obviously knows the formula for a successful restaurant so we’ll be watching developments with great interest.
|
 |
Jamie in your kitchen
And if Jamie hasn’t opened a restaurant on your high street yet, then it’s up to you to recreate one of his great recipes for yourself. We’ve got a huge range of Jamie’s best selling cookware on sale, with significant discounts available across the collection.
Latest Tefal TV Ads
The latest Tefal TV adverts started showing in the UK last month – there’s a non-stick cookware advert and one for the ingenious Actifry, Tefal’s low fat fryer.
The Tefal non-stick ranges include the best selling Jamie Oliver and Preference cookware ranges, which feature the Thermo-Spot heat indicator that tells you when your pan has reached the optimum temperature to seal in the flavour.
The other product featured in Tefal’s advertising campaign is the superb Actifry low fat fryer. The Actifry allows you to cook enough chips to feed a family of four with just one spoonful of oil and only 3% fat! This makes it much more economical to run, as well as safer and easier to clean. And not only can it cook chips, but also a whole range of other meals including stir-fried vegetables, meat, fish and even pudding! It’s a surprisingly versatile product and we’ve been impressed enough to install one in our canteen, as well as giving a couple away in a recent prize draws.
Rosie in our sales department had this to say: ’I was very sceptical about the Actifry when I first saw it. Imagined it was just another gadget that was kept in the kitchen cupboard to cover in dust. However, I absolutely love this machine!
Chips aside, even sausages are easy to cook. No need to stand by the grill constantly turning them over, you just place them in the Actifry and switch it on for about 12 minutes. The Actifry does all the turning for you and you can add other ingredients to make a sausage casserole. I also like to make crumbles and didn’t realise that this machine can also cook fruit. Now I just put the fruit in and let the machine do the work while I make the topping and there is no mess!
The Actifry is extremely easy to clean. The bowl just lifts out and as there is very little oil, all it takes is a quick run round with a cloth. Love it! This is definitely staying on my kitchen counter!’
Steve, our Operations Manager, is also a convert: ‘After winning my Tefal Actifry I must admit I was quite sceptical… after all, who wants healthy chips?!? Christmas present for mum I thought, but having got it home and placed the box in the kitchen, every time I walked past it kept on whispering to me “try me… try me”. My will power not being what it used to be, I have to shamefully admit I caved in, peeled some spuds, cut the chips and added 1 spoon of oil as stated. Turned on the Actifry and then left my chips to “healthily” cook for 40 mins. I know… 40 mins for a job that would take me 10 in my deep fat fryer… Ah well, time for a game or two of Call of Duty!
40 minutes later I went to check on my chips and they were done, which is a good job because as you can imagine I was beginning to waste away. I sat down and began to eat …….. SHOCKED!!! The chips were done to perfection, crispy on the outside, fluffy in the middle, but most importantly they tasted just like chips that had been done in the fryer! Superb!!! At last, a healthy chip that doesn’t need to be cooked in the oven.
Since then I’ve tried various things in my Actifry: from sausages – pierce well and don’t put in too much oil, as the actify will healthily drain all the fat from your sausages – to making chilli con carne from scratch.
I must admit for a sceptic I’m now sold and converted. It really is a multi purpose machine, simple to clean, easy to use and no having to drain out dirty oil and dispose of. Oh and needless to say, mum will be getting my old deep fat fryer for Christmas instead!’
TV and Cookware
One thing I’ve never understood…. how do TV chefs influence the general public so much with the gadgets and pots and pans that they use? Take Delia Smith for example, our sales of the Kenwood CH180 Mini Choppers went through the roof when she used it once on a show. Simple Suppers love their Le Creuset items, as does Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, and he also has his KitchenAid Blender on hand. Raymond Blanc has his own line of cookware (even if on TV he dissed his own whisk when it wouldn’t sit across the pan, then realised it was his own brand!). Something for the Weekend have shelves filled with gadgets that I’ve never seen them use, such as the Henckels Twin Pollux knife stand, however the Great British Menu competitors seem to like (and use) their Henckels Twin Cuisine Oval Knife Blocks, and I’ve seen them using Circulon (my favorite pan by far) on the show. Jamie Oliver has his own brand of pans, tools, knives and small electricals, which sell very, very well. James Martin cannot be far behind him – his range includes collaborations with Denby, the famous tableware manufacturer. Is it the chef name that does it? The fact the chef has used it? Or the quality of the items? I’m never too sure what leads the purchase…
