Killing Two Birds with One Stoneware Bar Pan (Pampered Chef): Cliche' Soiree Write-Off
Written: Jul 06 '02 (Updated Jul 29 '02)
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Pros: becomes non-stick with use, won't burn baked goods, versatile
Cons: breakable if not taking proper precautions
The Bottom Line: When looking for a "bake-all" pan, this is one rock-solid choice!
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| mind-full's Full Review: Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan 14... |
A Review of the Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan . . .
I have been a rabid fan of Pampered Chef stoneware for more years than I care to think. Let's just say I'm in it for the long run. I'm no spring chicken when it comes to Pampered Chef, and my baking stones have the scars to prove it!
I know I began to sound like a broken record, touting Pampered Chef products as the wonders they are to anyone willing to listen, and some who were not. I worked hard to convert the masses and today, find myself almost exclusively preaching to the choir. And I'm not even a consultant!
I didn't go hook, line, and sinker for everything the company sells. It took me a while to get up to speed.
I was a doubting Thomas, I must admit, upon entering my first Pampered Chef show. The invitation read, "Please don't feel pressured to make a purchase, just come and ENJOY!" No strings attached. I'm there! Then it took a 1/2-hour product demonstration, complete with goodies to taste-test, to spur me in the right direction.
Now, I am in the know. Take it straight from the horses mouth on this one. Pampered Chef is no fly-by-night operation, nor are their products cheap knock-offs of another manufacturer. I tend toward high-end kitchen products, much to the chagrin of my checking account, and I wouldn't touch Pampered Chef products with a ten-foot pole if they weren't up to snuff.
You're on the edge of your seat, aren't you? Wait! Who's that checking his watch?
Like Shooting Ducks in a Pond
Finding a Pampered Chef consultant is as easy as falling off a log. Access the company website to find complete product information (including use and care), company history, and a spot to contact someone who will assist you. All of this is at your fingertips, and only a few clicks away! Within a few days, someone will call with information on a consultant near you. Easy as pie.
These days, you can't swing a dead cat* without hitting a Pampered Chef consultant. I think the company should give their consultants t-shirts with the following slogan:
"Pampered Chef Consultant: Just a Stone's Throw Away".
Having handed them the idea as well as being the ever-faithful customer, I'm sure they'd give me one as a token of their esteem.
Money Can't Buy You Love
Money can't buy you love, but thank your lucky stars it can buy you a Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan.
The Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan is a 10" by 15-1/2" stone with sides (about an inch deep) that keep your food from taking a dive onto the bottom of your oven, onto your freshly waxed floors or onto you. Oven fries won't slide off like so many greased pigs . . . been there, done that!
Slide off a piece of stoneware? You betcha! Your investment in a Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan will pan out, and your baked foods will come out of the pan with only a bit of effort from you . . . once you have properly "seasoned" your stoneware by baking foods with higher fat content, or by greasing the surface with shortening or cooking spray for the first several uses. The Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan develops a smooth surface that offers non-stick capabilities without the pitfalls of traditional non-stick surfaces.
The Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan is hand-finished, molded stoneware made of natural clay. It is because of these characteristics that no two pieces are exactly alike. Two peas in a pod? Nope. No dice. I can pick out my Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan in a line-up because of a dimple located on one of the short sides near the rim. Couldn't get kids with dimples, but my baking pan has one.
The Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan non-stick surface is no flash in the pan claim. With each use, the stoneware gains more signs of wear. This is a good thing. You'll find dark splotches, or nice, even browning around the edges of the pan. These spots and blotches are hallmarks of the stoneware trade. One day, the whole pan will be a nice, dark brown . . . beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Stoneware's Bag of Tricks
Non-stick? Yes, by golly, and the Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan requires no use of special, nylon tools, either. You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw this stuff in action at my first Pampered Chef show. No nylon spatulas, spoons or specialty gadgets needed. Haul out those stainless steel utensils and have at it with the Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan.
As far as baking capabilities, make no bones about it, the Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan is a hot item both in and out of the oven. It heats up quickly, and once hot, stays hot for a good long time. Because the stoneware takes moisture from foods and redistributes it evenly on the surface of the pan, you won't end up with burnt or dark edges on cookies or bars. Items in the middle of the pan bake at the same rate as those along the sides.
You can bake anything on the Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan you normally would on a standard cookie sheet or jelly roll pan. You'll take to it like a duck to water. Don't let the name "Bar Pan" deter you from roasting potatoes or browning a batch of meatballs in it. If you are mind-full** of using this pan to its utmost potential, this pan will have you turning out delicious baked or roasted foods time and again.
Everything Comes out in the Wash
No muss, no fuss . . . the kind of clean-up I cotton to! Do not use liquid dish soap or ANY soap, for that matter, on the Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan, as it will undo the voo-doo that you did so well in preparing that non-stick finish. Hold the phone! NO SOAP? No soap. Don't even think about it. Instead, run hot tap water over it and scrape the surface with the small, nylon scraper that comes with each Pampered Chef stoneware piece. Voila! Clean as a whistle!
You Bought It, You Break It (Reverse Cliché) -- a.k.a. The Pampered Chef Warranty
Once you bite the bullet and buy the Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan, you have three years to take advantage of the generous, three-year warranty. If the pan cracks, fractures, breaks, splinters or chips, let the chips fall where they may . . . then save a few pieces to mail in, along with your receipt (they'll send it back to you) to the address on the back of the receipt. In two shakes of a lamb's tail (a slow lamb, or about 7 business days), you'll have a brand-new, good as gold Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan and you'll get to start again from scratch. Good things come to he who waits. Pampered Chef aims to please, and in the case of this warranty, they've hit right on the mark. Bullseye! On the nose!
It Isn't as Light as a Feather . . . and Other Words to the Wise
Though you don't need to be as strong as an ox to heft the Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan, it is a heavy piece of cookware, similar to a large, cast-iron pan. You'll need two hands (clad in oven mitts) to lift it into or out of the oven.
•The stoneware gets hot and stays hot . . . use pot holders, even after many minutes out of the oven.
•Don't take the stoneware to extremes in temperature (freezer to oven/oven to freezer) or breakage may result.
•Don't add liquids to a hot piece of stoneware -- again, breakage may result.
•Don't use soap to clean your stoneware!
•Don't use your stoneware on the stove top or under a broiler. Oven/microwave use only! Also, don't use it as a hot pad/trivet.
•No-brainer coming. Look out below! Try not to drop the stoneware, as breakage may occur.
•Don't settle for an imitation of Pampered Chef -- all that glitters is not "gold"!
The Rock Solid Bottom Line on This Top of the Line Stoneware
Go HawgWyld** . . . take the plunge or jump in with both feet. Whatever you do, don't look back. You ne(e)d1** of these (like a hole in the head, in my case) and it'll hit you when you see it in action at a demonstration, or on your first use. The ace in the hole with the Pampered Chef Family Heritage Stoneware Bar Pan is that you can look before you leap by hosting your own Pampered Chef demonstration ASAP!
Put my money where my mouth is? YOU BET! I put such stock in Pampered Chef that I have another order in for a piece of stoneware even as we speak (or as I write and you read). Just waiting with baited breath for the package to arrive!
*No animals were injured in the writing of this review.
**All Epinions member names were used solely for the purposes of punniness . . . even the hack jobs (sorry, ned1!).
Come one, come all to the Cliché Soirée Write-Off!
It's been two years for me here, plugging away at reviews for better or for worse at Epinions. Some days, it seems a long row to hoe, while others days just have me happy to be here. To mark this momentous occasion, I'd like to share with you just some of the talent who have taken the plunge in giving the "thumbs up" to or begging to differ with products and services available to consumers today in an off the wall kind of way:
amyk49 • AliventiAsylum • ariel10575 • BeeCharmer • CJsMommy • dedemw • dgturtle2 • fallyn96 • flamepillar • Granniemose • gungian • HawgWyld • imokliel • Jag2112 • JaclynL • jeff_wilder78 • jenb123 • katm • kiko_cat • Ladysmom • lattechick • laura10801 • Lisa_J • LRGuis • lyoness913 • mind-full • Mininut • MrReEvolution • mrsditmer • My3lilmen • ned1 • pamelita3099 • Petra • pogomom • sleeper54 • unhappycarrie • vbfc • wiseokc
Thank you to all of the fine folks who have dared to throw their hats into the ring and let the chips fall where they may! Hope your knees aren't buckling already at the sight of all these clichés, because this is just the beginning of the end.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 27
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Epinions.com ID:
mind-full
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 - Top 200 |
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Member: Amy
Location: Same Place as Ever
Reviews written: 320
Trusted by: 185 members
About Me:
Faith is like electricity. You can't see it but you can see the light.
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