Let's talk about cookware

1990txgirl

1990txgirl

250+ Posts
Our 10+ year-old set of Calphalon professional nonstick has seen better days. The saucepans and stockpot have held up, but all the sautee pans are shot. What is the cookware of choice for the Hornfans chefs?

All-Clad gets a lot of love from "serious" cooks; Le Creuset is also a popular choice.

I'm looking for pieces that are durable, transferable from stovetop to oven (up to 450 degrees), easy to clean, and not too heavy to handle. Copper vs. stainless vs. aluminum? Please discuss.
 
My Falk copper saucire is unbeatable. The manufacturer claims it's good to 1000 F. It's also a work of art.

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10 inch All-Clad Skillet
12 inch Iron Skillet, your choice of brands
14 inch All-Clad Saute pan
Dutch Oven, your choice of brands

You will be able to cook just about everything
 
Oooh, I like that list too. Hmmm, I think I'll start focusing on individual pieces. Sounds like the way to go vs. a set. Need to read more about Staub... hornimal, why do you prefer it over LC?

Thanks for the replies!
 
The difference may lie in pricing between individual pieces and sets. My wife and I got the set and various pieces of Caphlon with our wedding registry. We were missing two major pieces with that set: a small sauce pan, and a large pan with deep sides. We we just going to purchase those two pieces in Caphlon until we noticed we could get an entire set of All-Clad (it was the Emirel signature line) for cheaper. We decided to purchase the All Clad set and to be honest we used use the All Clad much more than the Caphlon.
 
le creuset puts out a good product, no doubt. however, in my experience staub has better features.

for example: the lids on staubs are heavier AND they are completely flat. unike the domed ones on le creusets. this feature is important as the vapors don't trickle down the sides. also the knobs on staubs are made of brass which resits higher temps (600 degrees vs. 400 for the plastic looking ones on le creusets). not that you should use cast iron that hot, but it's nice to know you can turn the oven up to 11 and the staub will better handle it.
 
Hornimal is right. Several years ago, Le Creuset starting using cheap plastic knobs instead of the sort of built in knob/handle that was made of the same material as the pan, which does make a difference when cooking at higher temps.

They sell some porcelain enameled cast iron pans at Buckee's (the big convenience store/gas station on I-10 between Houston and San Antonio) that are much cheaper than Le Creuset. I got a big frying pan for about $30.

And definitely get at least one cast iron frying pan. You can get a good pre-seasoned Lodge for about $15 at Academy.
 
I like to use what the pros use and so most of my non heirloom cookware is from the resturant supply.

Got some aluminum Tramontina (sp?) sauce pans from Sam's and some nonstick fry pans from the same brand and place, they all work great. as far as the dutch oven things go, I have a cast iron chicken fryer that my ex-fil (may he RIP, he wasn't the problem) that I got in the divorce that I use for stuff like that. Stock pot is a resturant supply one too, got a couple of sizes of those. All of it together didn't cost as much as one of them fancy schmancy pans. and it all goes from the top to the oven as hot as you like it to.

To paraphrase DKR, Helll, no. I'm not going to candy these things up. These are work pots & pans



Although I do have a hankerin for one o them LeCruset enameled cast iron round ovens in orange. One of these days I'm gonna pick one up at the outlet mall on sale.

And I do admit to a weakness for killer appliances, I just got one of them new KitchenAid 7qt fancy schmancy 400 watt automatic crockpots. It's done a bang up job so far on roast chicken and a meatloaf. I like it cause I can load it up the night before and start it before I go to work and it's ready when I get home.
 
Not familiar with Staub, but we do have quite a few Le Creuset pots and pans and whatnot, and it has always been great. Weighs a ton though. Best of all, it comes in Flame ORANGE. Not Burnt, but none is available. We also have a couple of saute and fry pans from All-Clad; as well as two good roasting pans. We have two woks and a really nice crockpot that you can brown stuff in on the stovetop. A few other things and some stuff for rafting-anodized aluminum Dutch ovens.
 
if you are looking for an orange enameled cast iron pot, I'd seriously looking into the mario batali one over the le creuset. it is cheaper, but not of lesser quality AND has a steel knob.

sur la table carries them.

his lasagna pan is the ****.
 
That batali one looks like a good one. I may have to check it out.


I also have a cast iron wok that I picked up at EXPO (Home Depot's fancy schmancy hoo hah store) that works good on an electric stove. Electric stoves suck at wokking, but this one you can git it hot as all get out and go to town and it will hold the heat and actually stir fry stuff. It wasn't very expensive either.
 
That batali stuff is made by Wilton, the killer cake pan and decorating company, so it's gotta be pretty good. My wife who is a cake making and decorating fool, swears by Wilton.
 
Le Creuset is all we have and we love it (pots, pans, skillets, dutch ovenss). They are heavy though and those plastic knobs on some of them you can't take past 450 degrees. We got them dirt cheap several years ago (<50% retail) on Amazon , plus they had free shipping. However, the other posters make some good points on the staub brand.

My recommendation is to pick a brand and try it out. If you like it, buy some more. If you don't like it, good thing you didn't buy the whole set.
 
I have been married for 5 yrs now, and the Cephalon nonstick pans we got are all shot now, and we do not use metal on them. I wish I would have bought stainless. We habe some Le Creuset, ie dutch oven but lookin to buy new set and do not know what to buy, any advice is welcome.
 
Can you use stainless steel spoons, spatulas, etc. with the Le Cresuet or other enamel stuff or is like non-stick? I want to buy some high quality stuff that I won't screw up.
 
I like Woland's sugestions with the fine tuning TexasLaw added.

Non-stick pans are necessary for some foods like eggs, omelets, and possibly crepes if you make them.

Stainless steel or LeCrueset type cookware is necessary for foods you want to brown and leave those wonderful bits of flavor for you to deglaze.

I do like the Batali cookware. I just wish I had half of his talent.
 
Thanks to all for the ideas and suggestions. I will be doing some browsing at Sur La Table--now open in Austin!
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