Cookware Advice

[bcrdukes]

Hi folks,

Hopefully the seasoned cooks on this forum can chime in on this. We're at the point where we have to replace our cookware at home, most importantly our frying pan. The one we use now was a gift and I have to say, it wasn't the greatest of quality.

Regardless, my mom is looking for something that is durable and in high quality. Most importantly, we're looking for something that does not contain silly things like Teflon or space age technology. The answer to that is simple - we don't want to be digesting the chemicals from the coatings and the metal scrapings.

Can anybody recommend a store and/or a brand of cookware that is tried, tested and true? I don't have a particular budget in mind as long as it meets the criteria. My mother was almost suckered into buying a cookware set at Costco by Americaware, pieces made with ceramic titanium? I made her return it immediately.

Thanks in advance!

[dlu]

my mom has a set of salamaster cookware and she loves it.. made from surgical stainless steel and apparently is the best material out there for cookware in terms of health and taste because it has very little pores to hide any unwanted residue or bacteria from previous uses.

Only downfall is the price and like, cutco knives, they use multi-level marketing for their sales but they are high-quality stuff. Its hard to justify the high price, but i guess thats why they have demos to show the true quality of their products.

or check out all-clad, also high quality cookware that caters more to restaurants but similar quality to saladmaster cookware

[bcrdukes]

^
Thanks for the info.

I heard about All-Clad as well. I'll have to check that brand out.

[unit]

all clad is good stuff but really expensive. not saying it isnt worth it tho.
my workhorse sautee pan is a 10" tri-ply calphalon stainless steel.
i use it for everything basically. i think it was about 60 at ming wo.

[Culture_Vulture]

I can vouch for SaladMaster. My parents bought a complete set on promo a few years back and we've never had any problems with it.
The only thing I don't like about the pots and pans are the weight, and the particular models we have aren't that great if you live in an apartment or are tight on space (a little hard to stack with its dimensions). Don't know if they have any new models or products though.

As far as knives go, I've only ever cooked with Henckels because my household is crazy on Henckels products, but they're great, and a variety of their products do come with lifetime warranties.


P.S. Is Cutco the brand of knives that are sold by that company named Vector?

[bcrdukes]

^
Yes, I believe Cutco is sold/marketed by Vector. My friend from high school had a short stint with them, tried to convince my parents buy some from him. They told him to get out of our house.

unit,

Thanks for the recommendation. I had a close friend of mine who works in the hotel restaurant industry recommend All Clad. I like that they're a Canadian company too!

[Culverin]

The other guys said it, if you want outright quality, All-Clad is the way to go.

Since you didn't already know this, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you guys would be good to excellent home cooks with decent equipment, but not elite with commercial ranges, so don't bother with the their Copper Core line, it'll be a waste of money at our skill level.

Just get their regular 3-ply stainless line.


This is a pretty good deal, it'll be a good demo for you on how a quality cookware piece should behave under use.
Yt should hold you over until you decide your upgrade path.
http://www.cookworks.ca/qs/product/66/14829/496300/0/0
I'm considering grabbing it myself (empty wallet )


Like all big ticket items, getting it from the states is your best bet.
Calphalon also makes some pretty good stuff, it's a lot cheaper than All-Clad and you can pick it up at Seattle Premium Outlet. Once again, stainless 3-ply is what I'd aim for.


I'm moved out of my parent's place a couple years back and I've been cooking with a bunch of junk pots from Value Village. Personally, I will be picking and choosing some All-Clad pieces (probably frypan, saute pan and saucier), and then get some Calphalon pots.


Side Note:
I do a lot of slow cooking and stewing at home (bachelor cooking FTW), I've gotten myself a complete set of KitchenAid dutch ovens from Canadian Tire, they regularly have them on sale @ 40% to 50% off.
Durability-wise, mine have already developed hairline spider-cracks in the glaze. Maybe they'll last me 5+ years? Maybe 10? I don't know yet.
Performance-wise, I couldn't be happier, they leave me with zero complaints. The lids have embedded silicone inserts, and the underside has drip nipples.
You'll never go back to stewing and braising in a regular pot.
When I'm making short rib stew and boglognese ragu (spag sauce) in a regular pot at a friend's place, it's just like a horrible joke now.

[Culverin]

Originally Posted by bcrdukes

^
Yes, I believe Cutco is sold/marketed by Vector. My friend from high school had a short stint with them, tried to convince my parents buy some from him. They told him to get out of our house.

P.P.S.

Cutco has 2 great items:
- Kitchen Shears
- Sandwich knife

Aside from that, I'd stay clear of their knives, but that's info in another thread.

[ilvtofu]

My mom really likes her calphalon unison haha I know nonstick mumbo jumbo but the first one I've seen that actually works. Oil free eggs, and fried rice is effortless

How about Vollrath I used those at work and couldn't really complain, easy to clean and never worried about them, SOS scrub for 3 seconds and it's clean

[bcrdukes]

^
I understand that Vollrath is a company that has an excellent reputation and is made in the US. I haven't delved that far into it yet but I will put that onto the list of brands to look at. Thanks!

[scottsman]

Do you use gas, electric, induction at home? This should be considered when purchasing among the other good points already stated and should be a basis for determining what kind of equipment to buy.

[bcrdukes]

^
Good question and thanks for asking. We have an electric range at home. No gas, unfortunately.

[lowside67]

All Clad tri-ply ftw. If you keep your eyes open on Ebay you can pick up some excellent deals. I will never go back now that I have had high quality stainless pans.

[Great68]

I'm also not a fan of teflon pans either, so I got a Royal Doulton stainless pan and also have a 6" and 12" Lodge classic cast iron skillets.

They do everything I need. I can do crepes in the Royal Doulton pan and they never stick if you now how to control your heat properly.

[unit]

i even cook eggs on my stainless steel.
just keep the temp right, and use butter... no sticking.

however sometimes i fry bacon then fry eggs with bacon fat, and it sticks like a mofo.
have to practically wash the pan then butter it when i do that.

non stick definitely has its place.

[Great68]

Originally Posted by unit

i even cook eggs on my stainless steel.
just keep the temp right, and use butter... no sticking.

however sometimes i fry bacon then fry eggs with bacon fat, and it sticks like a mofo.
have to practically wash the pan then butter it when i do that.

non stick definitely has its place.

I prefer to do bacon in a broiler pan in the oven for the following reasons:

1) You can cook more bacon at once
2) The bacon typically comes out straighter (Less curly)
3) Most of the fat drips into the drip pan portion, making less mess for clean up

[Culverin]

Originally Posted by lowside67

All Clad tri-ply ftw. If you keep your eyes open on Ebay you can pick up some excellent deals. I will never go back now that I have had high quality stainless pans.

Have you bought any through ebay?
Any concerns about the condition they arrive in?

Originally Posted by Great68

I'm also not a fan of teflon pans either, so I got a Royal Doulton stainless pan and also have a 6" and 12" Lodge classic cast iron skillets.

I've been seasoning a 10" Lodge cast iron skillet for the last 2 years and it's starting to get there
I don't know how I ever made steaks without it.
The sear you can get from a cast iron is just ridiculous

[hamsup]

i bought a set from lagostina when it was on sale at canadian tire.. it's pretty basic and so far so good. I do need to buy some stainless steel cleaner as some of the pots (the ones we use daily) is starting to look dull..

[Tapioca]

Originally Posted by hamsup

i bought a set from lagostina when it was on sale at canadian tire.. it's pretty basic and so far so good. I do need to buy some stainless steel cleaner as some of the pots (the ones we use daily) is starting to look dull..

Baking soda is a great cleaning agent and it's okay to use on pots since they're probably scratched up anyway. However, some stains just won't come off.

IMHO, most of the kitchen stuff at Canadian Tire is junk. I bought a Kitchen-Aid set from Canadian Tire when I first moved out three years ago and I imagine that the Lagostina set is about the same in quality. The stuff they sell at Canadian Tire may have the brand name, but it's inferior in quality to the stuff you would buy at a boutique kitchen store, like Ming Wo.

When I was last down in the States, I saw some All-Clad pans and pots at Ross for about half the price of retail. If you're not willing to spend that much, I've heard good things about the products from Paderno (another Canadian company based out of PEI.)

If I could, I would use cast iron pans, but I can't because I have an electric range with a glass cooktop. Glass cooktops look great, but they're tough to keep clean and if they're dirty, they will stain the bottoms of your pans.

[Culverin]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

When I was last down in the States, I saw some All-Clad pans and pots at Ross for about half the price of retail. If you're not willing to spend that much, I've heard good things about the products from Paderno (another Canadian company based out of PEI.)

My. Goodness. 50% off???

I'll be heading to Ross for sure.

Thanks for the heads up.

[Great68]

Originally Posted by Tapioca

I've heard good things about the products from Paderno (another Canadian company based out of PEI.)

My stock pot is Paderno, I'm happy with it, it's definately good quality. If I remember correctly it cost me around $150.

[cunninglinguist]

GREAT THREAD

I'm looking to upgrade and just bought my first All Clad. Might pick up a Calphalon saute pan also.
I have my reservations with Salad Master. It's probably good stuff but its multilevel marketing gives me a red flag.

[Great68]

Calphalon is good shit, my roasting pan is from them.

[bcrdukes]

Originally Posted by cunninglinguist

GREAT THREAD

I'm looking to upgrade and just bought my first All Clad. Might pick up a Calphalon saute pan also.
I have my reservations with Salad Master. It's probably good stuff but its multilevel marketing gives me a red flag.

May I ask where you purchased your All Clad cookware from? I'm looking to do some shopping this weekend and looking for a list of places to go to. Thanks!

[cho]

i'd say get ONE teflon pan and only use it for eggs, dont really "wash" it but like wipe it down like a wok, worth the investment imo

and +1 for all clad's