Best pots and pans?

[rfamliy1st]

I am looking to buy the very best pot and pan set for my wife. The stores I have visited have sales people who have little or no cooking expierence with good cookware. I thought I would get the best advice here. I have been shown the All-clad and the Calphalon line. How do these compare and are there any other brands that are better? Any beifit to the stainless as compared to the other as we have very hard water here and everything gets spoted. Non-stick or stick?
While I am here what is the best knife brand?

Thanks
Steve

[alexia]

Unless you are obsessive about everything looking alike, don't buy a set. Different kinds of cooking work best in different kinds of pots. I have some cookware in various materials that work best with certain techniques and/or foods. Another drawback of sets is that most of the pieces are too small. You will wind up buying the larger more expensive pieces anyway and some of the pieces that came with the set may wind up collecting dust.

There have been numerous threads on this board and others (such as Chowhound and eGullet, Bouland's www.alacarte on copper) about the relative merits of the different materials and brands. If you do a search you will come up with more information than you know what to do with.

If you still have specific questions, I'm sure we'll all chime in. Be sure to let us know what sort of cooking techniques you use the most and whether most of your cooking is for 2 or a large family, etc. That way we can be more helpful.

[Mezzaluna]

Hi Steve, and welcome to Chef Talk. This is a topic close to my heart, ever since I bought my first All-Clad pan. I have an MC2 brasier and a 10-piece set of Emeril (All-Clad) I got for an irrestible price (just under $200). But I agree with Alexia: do not buy a set unless you see yourself getting good use out of all of the pans. I was hot for a set of MC2-even steeled myself for the credit card bill to come- only to realize I really didn't want it; too many of the pieces weren't right for my kitchen.

Go to a store and look at the pans. Lift them; handle them. The ergonomocs of the handles, the weight of the pan empty vs. full, whether special utensils are needed, and care considerations should all be part of your decision. Copper, for instance is not for everyone, but may be indespensible for others. Some run away from non-stick pans, others wouldn't dream of doing without them. Will you be the only one using them? Will children also use them?

It's a very personal decision.

By the way, please do stop in at the Welcome Forum to introduce yourself. We're a friendly community and want to welcome you properly.

[kuan]

Well, at the minimum you will need a large dutch oven style pot and a straight side fry pan. Unless you're doing many individual portions for each member of your family you're not going to use that tiny 7" saute pan. Buy a good heavy dutch oven because it can go on the stove, go in the oven, and if the occasion permits, look very good on a picnic table filled with beans. Le Creuset comes to mind.

But then, the best thing is to buy her what SHE wants.

There's no best brand anything. For knives, Wusthof Trident for me. They don't farm out their production and the factories produce only Wusthof. Like pots and pans, an 8" cooks and paring knife will work 95% of the time.

Kuan

[alexia]

Kuan makes a a good point! What does SHE want? Personallly, I wouldn't want someone else picking out my pots and pans unless I'd given them a very specific list to pick from. Maybe you could go out together to look at everything and let the cook make the final decision, particularly if you both work in the kitchen.

[Nick]

I use All-Clad stainless, LeCreuset, and old Griswold cast iron. For knives - Wusthof Classic, though you might want to look at the Gran Prix line - try the feel of each. The steel is the same. (Or for that matter, you might like the feel of a completely different line of knives.)

As others have said - don't get a set. Think of what it is you want to cook and go from there. Also, once you've familiarized yourselves with what you want and need, check out Ebay for good prices if you're going to be buying a lot. Otherwise support your local small shop as you add one piece at a time.

[Kimmie]

without a good cast iron pan.

Lodge, one of the country's largest manufacturers of cast-iron cookware, has given us Lodge Logic. It has been electrostatically sprayed with vegetable oil and subjected to prolonged exposure to high temperatures.

Lodge Logic can be found locally at many stores that carry traditional cast-iron cookware, including Bed Bath & Beyond, Bloomingdale's, Strosniders Hardware, Sur La Table and Williams-Sonoma stores. Lodge Logic is also available by mail from www.lodgemfg.com

[Suzanne]

Kimmie -- sounds like a marketing brochure! Have you actually used one of the Lodge "pre-seasoned" pieces? They cost twice as much as the regular ones!

[Kimmie]

Got a griddle, Suzanne. Well, I'm worth it!

[Suzanne]

Ah! Do tell what it's like!!! Inquiring minds want to know.

I bought a regular 12-inch skillet (I'm cheap) about a week ago (already have a grill pan, which I ADORE!!!!!) but when I got home I discovered I didn't have any Crisco in the house. So it's waiting until I can get some. And then ...

[Kimmie]

It's pretty much "stick-less" and easy to clean. What's the Crisco for?

[Suzanne]

That's what I use to season cast iron. Yeah, I know there are other veg oils one could use, but that's what I'm used to.

But since that's the ONLY use I make of Crisco, and it eventually starts to look weird in the can, I don't have it in the house sometimes when I need it, like now

[mudbug]

Hello rfamliy1st,

You may find the following thread informative, Buying Cookware

For information on knives, check here.

If you have further questions after browsing these discussions, feel free to post.

[culinarian247]

What does everyone think of the Demeyere (sp?) line?

[Miller]

25 years ago I sold Salad Master Stainless Steel Waterless Cookware and I've owned my set for longer than that. My parents set was purchased in 1967 and is still looking great. Pots and pans are what you have when you have a combination of types. When you get into paying THAT much money, it's called cookware Stainless Steel pays for itself over the long run if it's good quality.

I'm into "Slow Food" and try to keep cooked foods to low-temperature cooking and that's something I can successfully do with Waterless Cookware. I consider it the most nutritious cooking method and it creates a vacuum seal and oxidation is practically eliminated.