Need new cookware suggestions

chomo said:
another vote for Le Creuset - bomb proof and loved by chefs around the world.
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My favorite smaller casserole/Dutch oven is Le Creuset. A must-have. It is cast iron coated with a thick enamel and is just awesome.
 
Americas Test Kitchen did a side-by-side comparison between several dutch-ovens.

They liked different things about each and picked the All Clad stainless-steel over the Lodge or Le Creuset.

As I recall, the primary complaint about the Lodge was the dark-interior made it more difficult to see contrast when developing fond for a sauce / gravy.

I don't remember exactly what they didn't like about the Le Creuset. As an aside, I often see random pieces of Le Creuset discounted at TJ Maxx.

Mike
 
Like mentioned above, search TJ Maxx for La Creuset. My wife would buy a peice every month or so from there and now our kitchen is completely oufitted with this quality ware.
 
chomo said:
another vote for Le Creuset - bomb proof and loved by chefs around the world.
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I'm a chef and I hate the stuff for a number of reasons. I will say though for seldom used oven casseroles they are hard to beat. However as a saucepan or frying pan...... first off, they are generally to heavy for the lady of the house to lift with one hand, if you drop them the enamel chips, if you have a ceramic hob, they will scratch the surface. Finally, the frying pans stick, and very finally, they are difficult to clean and stain. Look at any 2 year old Le Crueset.

In the UK, Meyer Circulon are the brand leaders. Guaranteed non stick and guaranteed for life. The handles are safe to 400'C so you can put them in the oven. There are a number of ranges, and some have glass lids.

My old mate Jamie Oliver does a reasonable sandwich copper bottomed stainless steel range which was on sale last time I looked.

The best frying pan/skillet is well seasoned cast iron, but it is a man's job to cook with it because of the weight.

All IMHO of course :)
 
Mark Williams said:
Deb and I have decided to buy some new cookware as a gift to each other this year instead of spending money on useless gifts.

Any suggestions on a good high quality set?

Thanks fine peoples :D
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First, buy the pieces you use most. Think quality! A Ten piece set that has one item you use regularly is a waste of money. You could buy the one pan you do use and get a much better pan.

That said, on the cheap I like Sitram Profiserie from Ebay. Get the 10 piece set delivered for ~$130. This is a great set for the new college student setting up an apartment for the first time.

Falk/Mauviel is great stuff with the copper lined surface. Don't mess with the tin lined pans.

I really like Le Creuset. The white enamel pieces are easy to match and don't go on closeout. Sure a Harvest Gold, Avocado Green, etc. Dutch oven all cook the same but, it really is nice to have a single color on the dinner table. Plus, some of them are so dark, it really is hard to see the bottom of the pan.

If you don't need an enameled cast iron pan, Lodge is cheap and effective.

What is it about your current pans that you don't like. What is it about new pans that attracts to you to them.

Finally, be wary of the marketing. All-Clad has great advertising and they are admittedly great pans but, they are too expensive for what they are. I paid a $100 for my Mauviel pieces when an inferior All-Clad piece would have cost me about $250.

If you have the time, go over to www.egullet.com and read up on their post discussing cookware in great detail.
 
I've gone through All-Clad and Circulon, and my old Revere set over the years and what I've learned to love, to my surprise, is old cast iron. You have to love the weight because a 12" frying pan is likely to break a toe if dropped, but it doesn't move on the burner and is darn near indestructable.

There's nothing that you can't do to them: scrub 'em, sand 'em, bead-blast 'em and they're still good to use and even better if you re-season 'em.

They're non-stick. Eggs will wipe right off even an hour later. The key to this is a smooth surface. If you've got an old pan with a pitted bottom, sand it down until it's smooth and carefully reseason the pan. I like using olive oil in the oven at 500 degrees. Put a thin coat of oil on evenly. For God's sake don't let the oil pool!
 
Sid Post said:
Falk/Mauviel is great stuff with the copper lined surface. Don't mess with the tin lined pans.


Finally, be wary of the marketing. All-Clad has great advertising and they are admittedly great pans but, they are too expensive for what they are. I paid a $100 for my Mauviel pieces when an inferior All-Clad piece would have cost me about $250.
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I like the looks of the Mauviel Professional stainless steel lined copper pans but they're probably out of my price range. I compared them with the All-Clad Cop-R-Chef line which is also copper lined with stainless and found the prices to be comparable. All-Clad seems to include a lid in their price while Mauviel prices it separately so you could buy the pan without the lid - a good way to save if you don't need multiple copies of the same lid.
 
Watch for sales on-line. I got my pans and lids from different sources because of pricing (e-sales) and free shipping. Like hitting the discount places for Le Creuset, you can do the same on-line for Mauviel which has a pretty good presence in the USA.

All Clad Cop-R is not in the same class. The copper is thinner and the stainless steel affects the heat distribution more.

The Mauviel distributes heat better and is more responsive to flame changes (I use natural gas). The weight of my Mauviel pans rivals equivalent Lodge cast iron pieces. All Clad using cheaper materials doesn't even weigh enough to match my Lodge cast iron. Pick up the pieces side by side if you can (see Williams-Sonoma) and compare them.
 
A few years back, we bought a set of Tools of the Trade from Macys.
Great stuff, relatively inexpensive.
However, none of it is non-stick.
We bought a Silverstone omelet pan for those sticky situations.
Lenny
 
Not recommending you do the same, but...

When I fist started cooking, I bought a set of Wolfgang Puck pots & pans at Sam's Club.

When I was dating, I did a lot of cooking at my girlfriends and HATED her cookware, so I bought her a set of Members Mark (made in Korea) "Clad Cookware" from Sam's Club. The marketing is similar to All-Clad.

When we consolidated households, we merged the 2 sets and have since upgraded the most-often used pieces.

The remaining pieces are still "good enough" to have around and don't really need to be high-end.

Mike
 
Andrew Taylor said:
In the UK, Meyer Circulon are the brand leaders. Guaranteed non stick and guaranteed for life. The handles are safe to 400'C so you can put them in the oven. There are a number of ranges, and some have glass lids.

My old mate Jamie Oliver does a reasonable sandwich copper bottomed stainless steel range which was on sale last time I looked.

The best frying pan/skillet is well seasoned cast iron, but it is a man's job to cook with it because of the weight.

All IMHO of course :)
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I have some le creuset casseroles and a skillet which does a fine job. Really difficult to clean since it's bloody heavy to carry to the sink and hold it whilst i soap the thing. However, they do last and they're macho cookware.

But i have also been using circulon for a really long time. I've used their stir fry wok and it is really good. Still going strong now but is too dirtied up now. Since i'm going back to malaysia i guess my bro-in-law will get it.

A couple of days ago i bought small circulon skillets 20cm and 24cm. They're great for cooking breakfast eggs and sausages and stuff. Can't beat their non-stick. And they are durable. Not like the old tefal stuff.

I think it's better to buy pieces rather than sets. You must have at least 1 non-stick piece for eggs. Even with le creuset the eggs stick a bit.
 
My sister asked for a 12" omelet pan/skillet for the holidays this year. Cook's reported, as been previously said, that the All Clad was tops. #2, however was Calphalon Stainless steel, and it retails for about 40%+/-less. The All Clad from Macy's was $130.00, the Calphalon Stainless, $80.00.

Best Regards,

STeven Garsson
 
Mark,
Go to J C Penney's and look at their line of cookware...really.
It's not All-Clad but it's not bad either.

Craig
 
Kohai999 said:
My sister asked for a 12" omelet pan/skillet for the holidays this year. Cook's reported, as been previously said, that the All Clad was tops. #2, however was Calphalon Stainless steel, and it retails for about 40%+/-less. The All Clad from Macy's was $130.00, the Calphalon Stainless, $80.00.
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Did they rate either Falk or Mauviel? 2.5mm of copper really works good. I wouldn't advise cleaning it in the dishwasher like a sealed stainless pan but, I find the extra effort to hand wash that heavy sucker is worth it for the great heating you get with copper.

Keep in mind, I'm referring to real thicknesses of copper and not those imitators who put copper cladding on in a ~3 atom thickness :)

Lifting the pan will generally tell you what thickness of copper they are using. My Mauviel weighs every bit of what a similar Le Creuset pan does. Mauviel lids weigh more then some complete pans so, they are not the solution for everyone - you must be able to lift and hold them when you clean them and put them on and off the stove.
 
I use calphalon commerical hard anodized made right here in Ohio. although they do make some of there cookware in China. I donot buy that stuff. I really like this cookware. It is available on the military base at a real good price.
 
Andrew acr said:
I use calphalon commerical hard anodized made right here in Ohio. although they do make some of there cookware in China.
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I got two pieces of Commercial "Hard Anodize" Calphalon from Amazon.com. They suck. My made in the USA Calphalon pans are orders of magnitude better.

Do they still make the good pans? I thought they were all out sourced to China.

China could make a good pan for Calphalon, I just wonder why they don't spend an extra 20 cents in manufacture to do it.
 
I had a Calphalon until I replaced it with a relatively inexpensive cuisnart pan which works much better. I've come to the conclusion Calphalon sucks.
 
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