Cookware - Corning,KS

I like Calphalon. It holds up really well. My husband bought mine for me years ago and they are still going strong. I can't speak for the other brands you mentioned as I have not used them.

I love love love love love my All Clad Stainless set. It's not cheap, but with a coupon or on sale, it's about the same price as the next level down (Paula Dean, Rachael Ray, Calphalon, Pampered Chef, etc.).

The All Clad set I have looks almost the same as the day I bought it 12 years ago. It will seriously last a lifetime.

We had some skillets and a couple pots from Pampered Chef. They were okay, but not nearly as good as many of their other products. We have a set of Calphalon now that are awesome.

I haven't used the others you mentioned, but I will tell you that the Rachel Ray pots and pans did not seem very sturdy when I saw them at Kohl's... true of everything from the Food Network, unfortunately.

Walmart has a Paula Deen set for about $100 bucks and I know that HSN or QVC has carried Paula Deen in the past. My mom has a Wolfgang Puck Stainless Steel set that she got from HSN or QVC and she LOVES it.

All Clad is top rated. I got mine last year. My MIL has had hers 20 years & they look fantastic.

I have a large skillet that I got when my second child was born and he's now 42 years old and it looks perfect and cooks great. It's a Farberware. I have others of that brand now too and love them. They are not the non stick kind though.

I love my all clad. I have had non stick pans for 11.5 years (wedding present) and use them frequently and they are not showing any wear! I think we'll use it for the rest of our lives!

Le Crueset all the way! Just got my first one and it is AWESOME! They were recently on sale at Williams Sonoma

I also have a potobelo stew pot - has copper bottom. I love that too!

I love my All-Clad. I have the highest end they sell, all stainless. Cooks great, cleans up great!

I cook a lot from scratch and I love these pots/pans!!

Not the cheapest by far but far worth the $$

All-Clad

I also use a lot of great seasoned cast iron.

Stay away from aluminum. Anything with a copper bottom is good. A lot of the ones that have nonstick coating aren't very good, b/c the coasting will scrape off over the years and get into your food. that is what started happening to our Paula Deen skillet.

My inlaws are huge foodies, and they got us cookware for Christmas, the
T- Fal Stainless Steel induction set for a great deal and we really like it.
http://www.amazon.com/T-Fal-Elegance-Stainless-Steel-10-P...

Anyways, go and read reviews of different sets, there are tons of great brands in a huge variety of prices.

I have some Rachael Ray's cookware. LOVE IT! :-D The rest of my cookware is another brand that WalMart carries. Forgot what it is called. I usually have to replace it once a year, or once every other year.

I love my cast iron skillet and griddle.. almost indestructable ha, easy to care for too... dutch oven is great for baking too, but haven't tried it in the oven just outside.
L.

A.:

I have a mixed set.

I have the Royal Prestige - which used to be Miracle Maid - they were $2K and worth EVERY PENNY - they have a life time warranty on them and I've used it several times.

I've got a few of the Pampered Chef pans and stoneware - they are really nice. They are heavy.

I've got a full set of Paula Dean's cookware that I love - they were $120 for the dutch oven, 12" skillet, 2qt sauce, 1qt sauce all with lids - love them

DO NOT go with the cheapest ones. Find pans that you can actually "hold on" to - see how the handles feel in your hands, the weight, etc. then go off that!!

GOOD LUCK!!

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When I was first married, I started out with the old Calphalon and didn't like how making a raspberry sauce caused a "reaction" in the pan and took the coating off. I switched to a few pans from Pampered Chef about 15 years ago and, although I still have them, they are in dire need of replacing. About 10 years ago, I bought All-Clad and they seem the best. I wouldn't recommend going all non-stick because you really only need one for doing eggs. I would recommend getting the regular all stainless steel All-Clad because you can put it in the dishwasher and nothing really sticks to it. If I have something that sticks to mine, I just soak it in warm soapy water for about 15 minutes and it all comes off. Their long handles are cool-touch and they really are. The bottoms give even-cooking temperatures more than the other pans I've tried. At Williams-Sonoma, many times they offer a free gift with getting a whole set. What I did, was took a trip to Memphis where Williams-Sonoma has an outlet store and got them there. They were marked down a lot cheaper and they offered a deal - something like buy 5 items and get 2 free (I can't remember exactly). You can't go wrong with All-Clad! ... I should work for them. : )

Ha! I'm with you. For myself: He who soever buys me cookware, cleaning supplies, or lawn equipment for my birthday/xmas/etc. shall be taken out at dawn and summarily shot.

I may be the one who USES these, but these are 'household' gifts. I want something for *myself* as a gift. Not something I'll be using to cook for you, clean for you, etc. Even worse if it's the thing THEY want to use. Ummm... buy it for yourself!!! Don't give it to me! ((Oddly, though, I'm more than happy to get power tools. Go figure.))

Mine are mixed.

About 1/3 Calphalon
1/3 le cruset
1/3 restaurant supply

BIG HINT:

Once or twice a year Macy's has a 40-70% off sale on their cookware. Other stores also periiodically have white sales or end of year sales. Buy THEN. You'll save hundreds.

Also... because there's no way on gods green earth I could buy a whole set (I'd rather go to Europe!) all at once, and I NEED high quality, because I cook like crazy (5x a day on average, sometimes only twice... and my circle does potluck/cookluck hanging out and cooking parties once a week in the summer -feeding 10-20, and once a month in the winter)... I buy 1 piece at a time. For ME the #1 was a 9" sautee (restaurant), #2 was a 16 or 18" (I kinda forget, the sucker is big) wide DEEP (3 inches) sautee pan (calphalon), #3 was a ginourmous soup pot (le cruset), #4 was a sauce pan... the list goes on.

I love my All Clad BUT I really really love my two non stick Calphalon fry pans. Hands down better than the non stick All Clad I have. You can find both on really good sales (try Williams Sonoma and Macy's). They generally price a starter set much better than open stock and also run specials on individual pieces. I also have a Revere crepe pan that I have had forever (probably 25-30 years) that is perfect. DH and I both cook a lot and do not feel a need for a matching set - just the pieces that are right for how we cook.

I got a set of hard-anodized (or how ever you spell it) Calpholons at Target for about $150 and they threw in a free big skillet. I love them - nice weight, easy to clean, and non-stick. I either threw out or gave away everything else I had.

well, I have mostly pampered chef..... love them. they are about 15 years old. just had to get rid of the skillet it looked like it was scarred and scratched but I used it alot. I still have my other pans. I now have put in some faberware and I like that also.

Revere Ware is excellent. I am still using my grandmother's pans, and they are way over 50 years old and look like new.

Love, love my Wolfgang Puck stainless steel set.