My Christmas/moving gift to myself this season is going to be some decent “big boy” cookware. Most of what I have is cheap aluminum crap with a couple of decent pieces picked up at yard sales.
For the same price I can buy a set of any of the tree following:
-Stainless steel with copper bottom (Wolfgang Puck, I believe)
-black anodized- very heavy stuff with about 39 layers of coating
-Stainless steel (without the copper bottom)
What are the advantages/disadvantages of the above, or which would you go with? Are there any sure signs for quality cookware?
Is the aluminum stuff truly “crap” or is it commercial-grade stuff?
If your priority is something that cooks well and you want to save money, head to a restaurant supply place and pick up commercial aluminum cookware (get at least one sauce pan with a teflon coating for acidic sauces, which don’t do well on untreated aluminum). It cooks just as well as the really expensive stuff for an itty bitty fraction of the price–but it ain’t pretty.
If your priority is something that cooks well and looks pretty, then you’ll need to provide more info on your aesthetic tastes.
I was married to a chef, when we divorced I kept his heavy duty surgical grade stainless cookware. While it is not necessarily the most attractive cookware on the market, it has the following advantages: does not stain and cleans up beautifully, no matter how seriously you abuse it; is non-reactive, so you can really cook anything in it, including highly acidic foods; is heavy enough (cost counts here, inexpensive stainless will be lighter in weight and less well made) to have good conductivity and remain dent-proof. Copper bottoms require special care to keep them looking nice, and while the argument can be made for superior conductivity with copper, I think the extra care required to care for copper cancels out any advantages (other that aesthetics). I don’t really like to cook with very heavy sauce pans (except my beloved cast iron skillets) but that is personal preference…I have carpal tunnel syndrome and my arm gets tired. I think that unless you are an extremely serious cook, the most important thing is that you like the cookware you choose. It should be well-made, solid and comfortable in your hand, and suited to the type of cooking that you do. Many of the semi professionals I know choose different cookware for different things. Some prefer non-stick professional aluminum for sauteing, stainless for veggies, and sauces, and heavy duty enamels for slower cooking soups and stews.
You didn’t mention what pieces you plan to buy. Different pans require different metals ideally but since you mention a set, I’ll assume your talking about saucepans and frypans and the like.
The best materiel you can get is 2.4mm Copper internally clad with SS but this is probably way out of your price range ($200 - $300 a piece). Falk and Mauviel are the only two retailers who sell these in the USA AFAIK and they both get them from the same belgian plant.
Down a grade is external and internal clad SS with a copper or aluminium core which is what it sounds like your looking at. The main things to look for here is a thick base that goes all the way to the edges and a solid, sturdy handle, preferably screwed on and made of metal and not plastic so it’s oven safe.
Don’t bother with copper clad pans since the copper is so thin it’s useless from a thermal perspective.
If your willing to part with the idea of a set, heres what I think would be a reasonable budget set:
1 12" Cast Iron skillet
1 12" aluminum non-stick skillet
1 cheap, large SS stockpot with a heavy base
3 or 4 saucepans and sauciers of different sizes, SS with alum base.
1 large, cheap carbon steel wok from china town
1 enamelled cast iron dutch oven
What’s on the outside doesn’t matter too much. All-Clad is a well known manufacturer of high quality cookware, they have products that are copper clad, stainless, anodized and plain brushed aluminum on the outside, but the inside is all the same. A layer of aluminum is sandwiched between the inside stainless steel (or teflon) surface and the outside finish. Aluminum is almost as good as copper at conducting heat, I don’t think the difference is worth the extra expense.
All Clad has the aluminum layer throughout the entire piece of cookware, cheaper products will generally have an aluminum disk in the bottom and plain stainless steel up the sides. I think the aluminum disk is good enough as long as it is thick,YMMV.
Important design considerations. Thick aluminum layer for good heat transfer. Strong temperature resistant/metal handles. Tight fitting lids. Stainless steel interior is sturdier than teflon, but you should at least have 1 teflon frying pan for eggs and such.
I just bought my wife a 10-piece All-Clad set for Christmas (that includes lids, so it’s really only 6 separate cooking items). It’s not cheap stuff. I paid $869 here in Canada. In the U.S. it’s around $650.
But, it’s supposedly among the best you can get, and the way I look at it, it’ll probably last for life. I’ve slowly been changing out the mismash of cheap dollar-store dishes and utensils we both collected in our college days with quality stuff that will last a lifetime. Last year she got Henckels knives for Christmas. This year the cookware.
The last couple of pans I bought were Berndes. Made in Germany; they conduct heat extremely well with the thick bottom; ergonomic handles that can go into a 450 degree oven no problem.
Other than that, mine are a mishmash of teflon pans, Calphalon, etc.
I couldn’t care less about its appearance since it’s going to live in a cabinet when not in use, but what I am interested in are durability, heat conductivity, and ease of cleaning. The aluminum cookware that I have weighs about the same as six dead sea monkeys and gets hot too quickly, while the coated cookware that I have (save for one or two good pieces) tends to scratch and flake way too easily.
Some sets I’ve thought about (in the $100-$150 range at Sam’s Club) are:
I don’t think hard-anodized cookware is dishwasher safe, so that may be a consideration for you.
I’m not familiar with the Wolfgang Puck line that Sam’s carries, but the skillet from his Bistro line, carried by the Home Shopping Network, was favorably reviewed by Cook’s Illustrated in a recent issue.
The attraction of buying cookware in sets comes from their lower per-piece prices, but that advantage is offset by the inclusion of awkwardly-paired pieces and pieces that you may not need – e.g., the set I linked to above includes both a 1.5 and 2 qt. saucepan, which IMO is too small of a difference to matter, and you’ll probably be better off with a 2 and 4 qt. pan instead. I don’t know how much of a financial constraint you have, but since you don’t care about appearance, buying individual pieces allows you to mix-and-match the best cookware for each application. (Shiny stainless saucepan next to an ugly carbon-steel wok? Sure!)
For the best conductivity, copper is king, but only if there’s a thick enough layer to do its job. A lot of “copper” cookware only has a thin exterior coating of that material, which is thermally useless.
Aluminum conducts pretty well, though not nearly as much as copper. But this shortcoming can be largely overcome by building cookware with thicker aluminum. The more expensive brands construct their pots and pans with a layer of aluminum (or copper) sandwiched between exterior surfaces made from inert materials (stainless, Teflon, or anodized aluminum), and this sandwich extends all the way up the sides. Less expensive, but still good quality, brands are made with thick bottom disks of aluminum or copper, and thin stainless walls.
We bought some Leyse professional SS cookware a few years back at Sam’s Club and have been very pleased. Solid construction, very thick metal at the bottom which transmits the heat evenly, and it cleans up very well. Lifetime warranty, too. I think we shelled out about $130 for the set.
I have piecemeal bought them for my Hubby. The Tri-ply line. Cleans up nicely (and as I am the one who does the dishes since he is the one who does the cooking, I know of what I speak).
If you are reasonably near Tuesday Morning, a discount store, check frequently for great deals on cookware. Recently, I’ve purchased open stock from Calphalon anodized cookware and KitchenAid 18/10 stainless steel all clad interior/porcelainized exterior pieces (whew!). They’ve cost me anywhere from $25.00 - $45.00 a piece and it’s a pleasure to cook and even to clean up. I’ve got a crappy range that’s uneven and I still get good results from this cookware. You can buy sets or individual pieces. Admittedly, some of the pieces are seconds, but the flaws are usually small, cosmetic imperfections that don’t impact on performance. Check it out.
Same thing for TJ Maxx and Marshall’s. Most of my cookware has come from there. If you don’t care about having a matched set, and/or you’re not in a hurry to acquire it all at the same time, this can save you a big chunk of change. I think my 8-qt. Anolon stockpot was $35.00. (Who cares if the care instructions were in Chinese? I know how to use the darn thing anyway.)
So is anybody for the Le Creuset enameled ironware? I’ve been toying with going with it when I get a kitchen of my own - lasts forever and cleans easy, right? Or is it a bad idea?
I like it a lot, but bear in mind that it’s heavy as hell. If you have concerns about your arm or hand strength, make sure to heft a few pieces in the store to make sure you can handle them.