It's new pot & pan time and I need help

The $120 8-piece Farberware set we got for our wedding 6 years ago is wearing out and the nonstick coatng is peeling.

I have had it with nonstick, except for the Calphalon grill pan we just got a good deal on. Can anyone recommend decent stainless steel-outside brands? I've come across All-Clad on the web but wow are they pricey. I think I'm going to invest in a plain cast iron griddle pan too since my old Circulon griddle pan is warped and heavily coated with crud. So we're looking for a frying pan or two, two pots, and a 3 qt saute pan. Thanks all.

Do a DU search just in this forum and you'll no doubt find them.

The advice I would add is to **not** buy a set of anything. Buy the individual pieces you want and need. Stainless is fine for general purpose stuff, but for some other uses, you may well be better served with different materials.

Here are some:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=236&topic_id=18914

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=236&topic_id=9504

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=236&topic_id=11007

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=236&topic_id=14442

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=236&topic_id=6141

I'm certain there are more

with each piece chosen for its job: cast iron frypans for chicken and veggie burgers, Calphalon's "everyday pan" for everyday sautees, a Chinatown cheap wok for Chinese, Le Creuset Dutch ovens for soups and stews, nonstick aluminum sauce pans that are 30 years old and still look new, a couple of large Calphalon sauce pans, a thin steeel crepe pan, and a stainless steel stock pot. I have it on a rack on the wall. Every piece does what it's supposed to and I really don't care that it doesn't match.

Some people here swear by stainless steel. I've found it less than satisfactory for frypans and found it more satisfactory on an electric range than a gas one, although its fans will disagree. Others will insist that hard anodized aluminum is the ONLY cookware, while still others swear by matched sets of Le Creuset or French copper cookware. Choice of cookware is an intensely personal thing. It will all WORK, more or less, but some people insist on having it display nicely, as well. Others, like me, are more concerned with what it DOES and don't like to spend time polishing it.

Cookware you get in a big box at Wally World will last 3-5 years and then be shot and ready for replacement. Nonstick fry pans are generally a bad idea, since Teflon gives out nasty fumes at frying temperatures.

High end cookware like the All-Clad you've been looking at is a lifetime investment. You really can't go wrong with any high end cookware, from stainless to copper to the various types of hard anodized aluminum.

Check out the prices on all high end sets at Amazon, if that's what you're looking for. I've found their prices to be a little better than those at cooking sites, and you can't beat their sales.

If it is, how do you like it? I've been talking these up as a great alternative to teflon. Once seasoned they're at least as good and as pans they're very responsive.

I leave them oiled and in the oven when I bake (if I have room) to keep the seasoning going and build up the nonstick surface.

I've found they're the best pans out there for omelets and crepes.

The smooth steel is easier to season than cast iron and the season gets smooth as glass. You can use them for almost anything you might consdier a teflon for. The only thing to kinda avoid is a food item that will cook all the way through with little fat. For example, I wouldn't cook tomatoes in them. But for anything that you'd fry or saute ..... perfect!

Mine are decades only and work better every time the get used. The small one used for crepes is incredibly slick and browns better than teflon ever thought about doing.

where the performance really matters. They have several price/material levels; all work well. If you regularly deglaze the pan after sauteing, clean up is a breeze.

Hi, thanks for the comments and links. After observing the play value of the cookware from my 2.5 year old son's view, I think I will forgo any expensive brands. I had been eyeballing the All-clad stuff as part of my induction stove fantasy ;)

Since the Calphalon grill pan is backordered, I think I will get a cast iron Lodge one, and maybe also a cast iron griddle pan for good measure. I have a 3 qt Revereware stainless pot that's worked great for years, so I think some similar ones to replace the worn out nonstick 1 and 5 qt pots will be fine.

The biggest piece of the puzzle is the saute pan since we use that almost daily. That'll be the one I splurge on and I will shop carefully for it. Thanks!

Williams-Sonoma usually has some All-Clad sets or pieces for a discount. They're still pricey but All-Clad makes unbelievably good pans. I have the all stainless pans and I acquired them over time by watching the W-S catalog and buying when the pieces were discounted. A saute pan was the first purchase and it convinced my cheap-cookware-is-good-enough spouse that it was worth the money.

You're wise to skip the Calphalon grill pan in favor of the Lodge. I have a very similar Analon grill pan and the anodizing is worn in some spots and badly discolored in others. It works okay, though. Lodge is an excellent brand and nothing beats well seasoned cast iron for that kind of work. Surely you can buy both the griddle and the grill, but you may want to save a few bucks and buy just one. The Lodge griddle (I'm speaking here of the flat, rectangular jobbie, shown below in both top and bottom pictures). I don't recall what I paid for mine, but it was cheap ... maybe in the $20 range? You can get them at any of the big box kitchen stores (BedBaffandBeyondReason, Linens and Things, etc.) The grill pan is simply a smaller version of the ribbed side of the bigger unit. In fact, the griddle (below) is more versatile since it has both a ribbed and a smooth surface. Avoid the cheaper non-stick aluminum kinds of this pan (NorPro makes one). The non stick soon burns off and you're left with raw aluminum.



These guys are harder to season on the ribbed side and also harder to clean. Get a stiff pot brush and just use water to rinse and brush (scrub) away the leftover chunks and such. Soon enough the tops of the ribs (all you need to worry about) will build up enough season to start acting more non-sticky.

All-Clad vs other clad (multi-ply) cookware ....... All-Clad's top line is five plys. Stainless, aluminum, copper, aluminum, stainless. Most other stuff is three ply. Stainless, aluminum, stainless. Technically, the copper adds a bit more heat retention. But in practice, I'm not one bit convinced it makes much day-to-day difference. Indeed, the All-Clad is a superior product compared to other similar stuff, but the premium one pays for All-Clad may or may not be the same value to everyone.

I have a number of saute (frying) pans. My very least used (as in 'almost never') is the plain stainless triple ply stuff. I have three different sizes of them and they get virtually no use. I continue to use Teflon for anything that doesn't need to develop a fond and that won't be done at very high temperatures. For the high temp cooking I use my Sitram Cybernox (unusual stuff: Google "sitram cybernox"). The downside is that the Sitram is one ply stainless with an encapsulate aluminum disk on the base. They tend to get *real* hot at the edge of the disk. But for things like seared scallops done at blast furnace temperatures, they do a very nice job. For most general purpose sauteeing, I use my tin-lined copper. And for eggs and some otjher things, the steel pans (discussed in this thread, with a picture, above).

I hate to say it, but the best all-around saute pan, in my mind, is teflon. There's a good deal of controversy around teflon and some very strong arguments against its use. That said, so long as it isn't overheated, it may be safe to use. But I'll let everyone make such judgements for themselves. Next best would be the Cybernox. But its pretty pricey and only available online (actually, some stores do sell it, but it is VERY hard to find). I wish Sitram made it in multi-ply; if they did, it would be a great way to saute.

I was thinking of one of the 12" square or round griddle pans, not the ones that cover multiple burners. It's a smallish kitchen (a situation which will hopefully improve when we move in the winter) so storage of big cookware is a bit of an issue.

The Le Creuset cast iron griddle pan looks pretty nice too, for $55 for the round one online. Decisions, decisions... :) I am working on talking my wife into just replacing one piece a month instead of getting another cheap set when they're on sale. I'm sure she'll come around.

and can vouch for the fact that it's a great gizmo and that it gets used frequently in winter when it's too bitter to consider grilling outside. An unanticipated bonus is that my wok lid fits it perfectly, allowing me to finish cook thick items after they've been seared without changing pans. I can even splash in a little stock or wine to provide some steam for finish cooking.

I'm sure an Asian market will supply lids that fit these round grills, and they generally do sell them separately.

I don't know that I've ever even seen one. I'm particularly asking about the ridges on the bottom.

The rest of the enamel line is simply wonderful stuff. Not cheap, but worth every penny.

and the area with the ridges is cast iron.

Cleans up with a wire brush.

prices on cookware

http://www.tuesdaymorning.com/

.... and Marshall's, for that matter. These places all trade in overstocks and closeouts. You will be very unlikely to go in and find a complete selection of anything, but what you will find is huge savings on a piece of this or a part of that.

I've bought a ton of very high end cookware at such places ... but you have to go back and back and back to keep checking their stock ... which turns over very fast.

Since I have a Home Goods and a Marshall's and a Tuesday Morning close by, its easy for me.

lots of house stuff but almost never any cookware :shrug:

In our area Marshalls they have three aisles of cook ware (pots and pans, gadgets, servingwares) and several more of dishes and glass wares.

There's another Marshalls in another area, about 30 minutes drive from us, where they have one aisle for all of that combined.

I agree ..... :shrug:

It's a pretty good deal. Also, check the sales at Amazon.com-- I got a very nice Calphalon Commercial set there for mega-cheap. Not what you're looking for, I know, but you never know what they have on sale. I was actually looking for stainless, but the Calphalon hard anodized was on sale, so I bought it (with some trepidation, I might add). I've been very happy with it, however.