[greyeaglem]

I recently had this discusion with my niece. She wanted my advice on cook ware. The set I use at home is Lifetime that I bought from a door to door salesman in 1973. They are as good as the day I bought them. They are stainless with a five ply constuction. The center is cast iron with a layer of copper on either side and coated with stainless. The only thing I have problems with is frying eggs in the frying pans. I use a non-stick pan for that. Those pans today would cost probably $1200 dollars. I would buy them again. They are made by Wearever and have a lifetime warranty. Any non-stick surface will eventually wear off. I don't like pans with glass lids because they can break. The glass does no good as far as keeping an eye on your food because they fog up from steam. Don't know why they use glass except it's cheaper to produce. I also don't like riveted handles. The rivets on the interior of the pan collect food and are hard to clean. Also theyt can wear from stress on the handle, loosen and start leaking. I look for welded handles. Some peole like a pan they can put in the oven. I never cared about that feature so I prefer a pan with a plastic handle that stays cool. Outside of that, it's a matter of personal preference. How the pan feels (does the handle accommodate the weight of the pan so it's easy and stable to handle, or is it unweildly). Handle before you buy. If buying stainless (which I recommend) make sure they have a heavy aluminum plate on the bottom. Stainless does not conduct heat well so the aluminum is needed to keep the heat even and prevent scorching. I recently bought a WMF stock pot for work with this type of construction and it is a very good pot. Got it on a close out on the internet for $42 including shipping. That is your other option. Buy the best you can as you can. As with knives, sets sometimes have one pan that is really great and you could use another just like it and other pans that you never use. Or they make a great sauce pan but the frying pan has too steep or shallow sides flared too much or too straight. I have never used All Clad so can't coment on it. I am a little hesitant about celebrity endorsed cookware as it is usually developed based on the chef's experience with commercial cookware and commercial cookware is built for durability more than from a performance stand point. I have never used a commercial pan that was anything close to as good as what I have at home.