Useful for meal prep and as an oven dish, too—saving time and cutting down on dishwashing. Falcon's enamel bats and dishes

Wouldn't it be nice to cut down on the "dishwashing" that always comes with cooking?

Bowls and bats needed for meal prep, the frying pan, cooking chopsticks and spatula used during cooking, plates and other items for serving at the table—"cooking and eating" inevitably comes with a lot of dishes to wash, and for whoever's doing the washing, that's no small task. Just thinking about the pile of dishes waiting after a meal can be discouraging, so let's think about how to use cooking tools in a way that reduces that dishwashing in the first place.

To cut down on dishes, it would help if meal prep, actual cooking, and serving could all be done using the same dish. And even if not everything, reusing the same tools for multiple steps can still reduce the overall amount.

This time, we're featuring enamel bats and dishes that make "cooking → serving straight away" possible.

Enamel, a material somewhere between a cooking tool and a serving plate

Enamel, or hōrō (Japanese enamelware), is essentially an iron base coated with a glass-like glaze fired at high temperature, so even if you drop it or handle it a bit roughly, it won't shatter into pieces. (The glass surface may chip, but even so, it's much sturdier than ordinary tableware.)

Having a glass-like surface comes with the following advantages.

・Resistant to scratches and stains

→ Unlike plastic containers that discolor with use, the hard, smooth glass surface stays clean for a long time

・Resistant to absorbing odors

→ Since it doesn't easily absorb the smells of food, it's also great as a storage container, no matter what you put in it

・Can be used directly on the stovetop

→ The combination of iron and glass makes it possible to use directly over a flame and in the oven. This means the same tool can handle both prep and cooking, saving time and reducing dishes

Enamel bats, bowls, and plates are not only easy to use as cooking tools, but they also work perfectly well as plates you can serve straight to the table—truly excellent items.

The Bake Set & Dish—useful for meal prep and as an oven dish, too

Here, we introduce how a staff member who regularly uses FALCON's Bake Set puts it to work.

Staff member M, a Bake Set devotee:

Lives with a family of three. Not especially skilled at cooking, and doesn't have the ability to wash up as she goes while cooking. Because of this, she's trying to increase the number of recipes where "cooking and serving" can be done in one step, using FALCON's Bake Set, in order to keep the dishes from piling up.

A set of 5 pieces total: 3 sizes of bats plus 2 deep dishes. The largest bat doesn't fit in my oven, so I use it for holding ingredients when we do BBQ.

"I originally had an aluminum bat. I used it as a temporary holding spot after cutting vegetables, but then I'd fry things in a pan and move them to yet another plate, and the dishes would pile up. Plus my kitchen isn't that spacious, so I can't really spread things out. Around that time, I saw someone on social media making great use of an enamel bat, and that's what made me want to try it.

FALCON's Bake Set is a bit pricey, but it gives my cookware a nice sense of unity, and it's satisfying that the different sizes stack neatly, which is great when it comes to storage. I also love that even though it's cookware, it looks stylish enough to bring straight to the table. It somehow makes the meal feel a bit like something from abroad (laughs)."

・As a bat for prepping and holding cut vegetables

Even when used purely as a meal-prep tool, using items with matching dimensions means no wasted space when they're lined up, and it makes for a tidy, pleasant work area.

・For prepping French toast or marinades

The shallow, wide-mouthed bat is perfect for soaking bread in egg mixture for French toast. I also use it often for prepping marinades.

・Individual servings of doria, a family favorite, made in the dish

The two "dishes" included in the Bake Set are perfect for making individual servings of doria or lasagna. Eating straight from the dish keeps it piping hot, so I really recommend it.

・Fish, meat, and vegetables go straight from the bat into the oven

You can cook vegetables and fish (or meat) all at once and serve it straight to the table, and it looks impressively lavish, too—a dish that's a real pleasure to make.

Even when the enamel surface gets a bit scorched from roasting fish or meat in the oven, it mostly wipes clean, so I really feel the truth of how "easy to care for" it is.

・Also great for making desserts

For pudding, I make the caramel right in this bat, then pop the whole bat into the oven to finish. It's hard right now, but once I can have friends over again, it'll be easy to make dessert for a crowd all at once.

The Pie Dish

A set of 4 "pie dishes," the same as the two included in the Bake Set, has now arrived.

This came about because the staff member mentioned above pushed hard for us to carry "a set of just the dishes," and so this new addition joined our lineup.

According to the staff member, "Honestly, the pie dish might be the piece I use the most."

As mentioned above, these are great not only for making doria and gratin, but also for frying foods—lining up "flour," "egg," and "breadcrumbs" for the process makes it very efficient without taking up much space. Our staff member only has two of these, and said she'd love to have one more...

She also told us one use after another: it's just the right size for eating salad, it looks lovely when serving side dishes, and with a dish this deep, kids are less likely to spill their cake.

12cm Bowl Set

This is a set of four small 12cm bowls.

Small bowls come in handy more often than you'd expect while cooking—for mixing seasonings ahead of time, or cracking eggs into. If you've been using plates instead of bowls, we really encourage you to give these a try.

Our staff member used to make pudding in a large tray, but with these bowls, you can make four individual servings of pudding at once. They'd also be lovely for serving ice cream.

Pot

The handle of this horo (Japanese enamel) pot gets hot, so you can't hold it with bare hands—but that's outweighed by just how charming it is. Its plump, rounded form and colors that stand out beautifully in the kitchen are the real appeal.

With a capacity of 1L, it's a bit smaller than a typical pot. It's convenient because you can boil water in this pot and then add tea leaves directly to brew tea. It also has the heat retention that only horo can offer, making it nice for entertaining guests as well.