I know this has been discussed before, but I’ll get specific. A local store is having a sale on stainless steel pot/pan sets and I’m having trouble deciding what to get. It’s a decent-sized investment (about $300/set for around 10 pieces, at half off), so I thought I’d c
heck in here to see if anyone has had a good/bad experience with a certain brand.
I’m looking at:
Lagostina
TFal (though I don’t like the spongey bit on the handle- or the big ‘Jamie Oliver’ emblazoned on the handle), there are also non-stick ones but I don’t think they last that long. lifetime warranty, apparently
Henckels- I love their knives, but know nothing about their cookware quality. They’re stainless steel with great handles, but are the most expensive and are Henckels International (the cheapie brand, for the knives, at least)
Any of these worth it? I’m not cooking much right now, but go through phases where I’m doing it every night, usually multiple courses.
I don’t understand your question. You say you cook quite a bit, but you don’t have any preference as to what kind of cookware you like to use? And you want 10 pieces of the same construction, to fill this undefined role?
Well, I’m not an expert chef, so I can’t answer your question anyhow. Best wait until teacher comes along. Good luck!
Oops. Let me explain myself better: There are three sets on sale, each for about $300, each including about 10 pieces (including lids). One is Lagostina, one is TFal, one is Henckels.
I am interested in the Henckels set but don’t know anyone who’s used it before, or if it has a good/bad reputation compared to the other two brands. I cook a lot, but I don’t know my cookware brands.
Um, I think that’s it. Anyway, it’s a crapshoot- I called three regular (home) chefs while was at the store, and all I got was “Well… I’ve heard of T Fal before…”
I would suggest you check CostCo. I bought a 10-12 piece set of Circulon ™ cookware there about 10 years ago for about half what they sell for at a mall store. I’ve scorched them and beat them up pretty badly, but they still look fairly decent and they are very servicable and easy to care for.
These are just SS? If you want higher end pans, you want something with at least an aluminium core. That being said, SS is SS, the main things that matter for a pan is the thickness of the bottom, the feel of the handle and the general construction quality. I’ve heard decent things about langostina but you really should judge them on their merits rather than reputation.
Buy commercial aluminum pots and pans for a fraction of that $300.
I bought all my cookware via that route, and I’ve been very pleased. It heats very evenly, it’s cheap, and it’s sturdy. Just need to make sure you get a teflon-lined pan or two for acidic sauces. Best of all, it looks quite ugly so you won’t feel guilty if you scratch it up.
I wouldn’t buy a whole set of stainless for that amount of money. It’s okay for saucepans but loathesome for frying.
Buy a moderately priced set of pots/pans with a heavy base and alumininum or copper core (any Sears should have this for $150, tops, but I don’t like the lids on Revereware). Buy a large cast iron skillet and a fryer (a deep skillet) – I just saw a pair at JC Penney for $20. Buy one or two $20 non-stick pans for eggs and other sticky foods.
You only spent $200 and you’re a hell of a lot happier.
Any reason why you’re not looking at All-Clad? Seems to me that most high end home type cooks/foodies agree that it’s the best.
Not that others aren’t good, too. I was just surprised not to see that on your list. It’s a little more pricy (Amazon has a 7 piece All-Clad MC2 set for $319) that what you’re listing, but IMO better than the ones you list, too.
The stuff with be ugly as sin and only get uglier, but it works like a dream and will last forever. For $300 you could stock a whole kitchen bottom to top. In pro kitchens they arn’t using fancy hundred-buck apeice stuff and there is no reason why anyone really needs to.
Make sure to pick up some big ladles, cheap lightweight mixing bowls, and a decent size cheese grater (makes a world of difference) while you are there. You can also get great big ugly knives for around ten bucks that will serve all your needs- buy one serrated and one straight and you’ll be set.
Also, look up the recent thread on stainless steel cookware, it can be a PITA and it’s not for everyone.
Another thing about buying a whole set is, they look nice because they all match, but you never really know which pots & pans you’re going to end up using the most. It might end up costing you a bit more in the long run, but if you’re going to go with a well known brand, you should be able to buy the pieces individually. Buy what you know for sure you’ll use, then with more experience (with this brand) add to it later.
Your set might come with that cool looking matching fondue pot, or cute little one-cup saucepan, but if you never use these things, why have them in your cupboard?
More importantly, different metals are good for different things and the ideal material for one type of pan might not be very good for another. Buying piece by piece allows you get the best pan for the task and budget. Check out the eGullet lesson on understanding stovetop cookware for more than you ever wanted to know about pots and pans.
I’ve heard this bandied about a lot on these boards. However, after recently attending a sale where a restaurant that was closing was selling off their equipment, I can tell you that there were plenty of $100 and up pots and pans. Maybe the average Applebee’s doesn’t have high quality equipment, but the stuff I saw was restaurant grade and was in the same price range (or higher) as the corresponding consumer-oriented All-Clad pieces.
And for what it’s worth, a $100 pan isn’t needed to cook, but there are reasons why you’d spend good money on a pan if you can spare it. An evenly heating heavy bottomed pan that holds the heat is a joy to use, and I haven’t seen a cheap pan that really can compete.
Like Athena, I’m an All-Clad user, and I think very highly of their stuff (except for my 12-inch non-stick skillet, which is beginning to stick horribly after ten-plus years of steady use).
When I was trying to make up my mind, though, I shopped at Bridge Kitchenware, the well-known East Side professional-quality store famous for nasty and condescending clerks. They tried to sell me some butt-ugly stainless steel pans there, and claimed that All-Clad made “overpriced crap.”
I ended up with the All-Clad, but I still wonder whether I would have been happier with stuff from Bridge.
Yeah, probably. All Clad is “overpriced crap” in the sense that you can get much better for the same price or the same quality for a lot lower. But it’s nice to know that it’s reliably overpriced. It would be pretty easy to get suckered into even more overpriced crap if you don’t know what your doing.
Ditto on cite or any objective evaulation you can provide.
I’ve never heard anyone credible call All Clad overpriced crap. Conversely, I’ve heard many accomplished chefs speak highly of that brand. Don’t let their beauty fool you. All Clad makes fine kitchenware. Pricey? Definitely, but just look at that beauty!
I don’t think Shalmanese was calling All-Clad crap at all. I read it as saying that with All Clad you are getting excellent cookware, but it is certainly overpriced for what it is. You’re paying for the name and the stylish handles.
The implication was that you could get cookware that performs just as well as All Clad (which performs quite well) for cheaper, and you could probably get cookware that performs better and/or looks better for even higher prices.
Well, it’s a bit complicated now that All-Clad has a number of series of cookware. However, I’ve never heard anyone claim All-Clad is especially notably for their quality or especially its value. Also, the danger is in having someone convinced that a fully-clad 12-qt+ stockpot is desirable or worth the extra expense. Or, for that matter, a saute pan. I learned sauces using a 2-qt stainless steel pot, with straight-sides, so I’m not choosy, but that would be one area where a nice steel-lined copper pan could do the trick. Sitram is just one brand I’ve seen used in professional situations and in the homes of serious cooks. I think there are some fans of Sitram Profisserie at eGullet, but I could be wrong. Like All-Clad, however, Sitram has several different product lines. Best to compare specs.
It does look nice, though. You’d want to look at the thickness of the aluminum core, maybe the percentages of nickel and chromium for the stainless steel (for the pretty factor). I personally enjoy some of the All-Clad pieces I’ve picked up before they bothered to coat the exterior with stainless steel – functional, not too “pretty,” and they were free to me, so I don’t complain. For some reason, the skimpy, odd-shaped handles don’t bother me, even though I have fairly large hands. They’re actually pretty cool, but I could see someone taking issue with their idiosyncratic shape and size. To be frank and very honest, though, it just really doesn’t matter too much what pan you use, except perhaps with a very tricky emulsion – and even then, you can get by using finesse and some common-sense. Most of the bucks is going to be for durability and looks, and then quite a bit further down the chain, performance for one specific application. Copper is expensive, but clad aluminum pots, not necessarily that expensive.
Hrmm… Sitram (Profissewhatever or magnum pro), Paderno, Deymeyer (sp?) are all pans of similar price but higher quality. I think even Falk Culinar and Mauvial (Heavy Duty Copper with SS interior) were at one time approaching all-clad in price. I think (I’m not too familiar with both the US pan lines and the mid-range of the market) that Calphalon and Scanpan as well as a few other brands have SS/Aluminium pans that have similar specs to the All-Clad for lower prices.
BTW: This is compared to the prestige All-Clad lines. Their lower end models like their Emerilware and pure SS pans (which I don’t see how they can get away with calling All-Clad since it’s not clad) are pretty much for the name recognition only.
But I was mainly talking about buying a set of All-Clad. Your $220 All Clad stock pot is going to be barely better than an ordinary, thin SS or Aluminium stock pot with a disc bottom which you can pick up for $30 or less. You don’t need fancy metal to essentially boil water.
