Recommend me cookware!

[Nocturnal]

For those of you who are heavily into cooking, what are the best brands to purchase from?

Thanks!

 

[Electric Amish]

Not heavy into cooking, but the Wolfgang Puck stuff from HSN is pretty nice.

amish

 

[Nocturnal]

Thanks EA, you're always here to recommend good advice to me. You're a cool guy. I stopped wearing those color contacts. They started giving me really bad headaches!

 

I use cephelon(sp) teflon non-stick professional kitchen pots and pans.
Be prepared to drop money for them.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: Nocturnal
For those of you who are heavily into cooking, what are the best brands to purchase from?

Thanks!

How much are you looking to spend?

 

[m2kewl]

all clad
emrilware (all clad rebadged).

 

[Electric Amish]

My wife bought this...

amish

 

[BigSmooth]

I have some Farberware Millenium stainless steel pots/pans that I like.

Some of Farberware's stuff is junk, but generally they make decent quality cookware for the average cook.

 

[Hayabusa Rider]

Even though you cannot appreciate Strongbad, and therefore have demonstrated a lack of humor, I will point you in a useful direction


restaurant equipment


You will find lots of good things there besides pans. If you wish to spend big bucks, go with All-Clad. Also, get a cast iron skillet. No kitchen is complete without one, and they can withstand heat for pan frying and grilling that would melt everything else.

 

[AmerDoux]

All Clad pots n pans (lifetime warranty). I have the Ltd and some of the classic. Couldnt tell you about Emmerils stuff...
Le Creuset Dutch oven (lifetime warranty)
Emile Henry porcelain bakeware
Wusthof or Heinkels cutlery (lifetime on the Wusthof, ? on Heinkels)

be prepared to drop some dollars
but worth every penny

Edit: when buying pots and pans, be sure to get a mix of the regular (for browing your meats) and a definitely at least one non-stick pan

 

[Anubis]

Calphlon (sp) stuff. its really nice
Copperware is also nice

 

[flot]

I use the Caphalon "Professional Nonstick II" series and I'm really happy with it.

I do take care of the stuff, and don't cook THAT much, but it is doing well, and cleans up remarkably easily. Just remember that with any nonstick cookware the best thing you can do is throw away all metal utensils as soon as you open up the pots and pans. Spend the $15-25 on a complete set of nylon spachulas etc and then you won't have to worry about scratching them up.

Edit: Don't buy a "set" of cookware unless you really need it. Buy the 3 or 4 pots and pans you think you'll use the most. Sets get you stupid crap like 2 qt pots, when they also give you 4 qt one, which - surprise surprise - holds 2 qts just fine. For 90% of my cooking I need a 12" frying pan and a medium pot, and I'm good to go. Even with the expensive stuff, that's $90-110 for 2 good pieces instead of $350 for a set.

Edit 2: Oh yeah, and chicks dig it.

 

[HomeBrewerDude]

how much you want to spend?


i have been using a cast iron skillet lately... amazingly versatile and not hard at all to clean now that I have cured it.

 

[Geekbabe]

I love my T-Fal pots and pans.OXO makes great mixing bowls,spoons,spatuala's,measuring cups etc

 

[AmerDoux]

Cooks Illustrated / America's Test Kitchen is a great resource.

Cooks Illustrated Cookware Reviews

 

[HappyCracker]

My mom has Revere Ware, same set since about 21 years ago. A little Bon Ami/Bar Keeper's Friend is all it needs. Hers still look as though they were new. Avoid the dishwasher with cookware, it really shortens the lifespan and doesn't clean all that well.

 

[spidey07]

don't buy cheap, that's all I can say.

good heavy cookware the heats evenly and is easy to control. That's all I care about.

I used to burn everything even though i knew how to cook - then I got some good cookware and you really have to try to burn something.

Good knives and cookware should last about a lifetime.

 

[RossMAN]

FYI - Amazon.com's Friday sale has some Calphalon Cookware on sale.

 

[blackdogdeek]

another vote for all-clad. but be prepared to shell out significant cash.

 

[C'DaleRider]

Been using Calphalon for about a year now and am very satisfied with the quality. Started off with one of their 2 qt. Bee kettles, was so pleased with it that we've pieced together quite a set now. Lifetime warranty on all of it.

J A Henckels 5-star for our knives and very pleased with them, too. Have one over 15 years old and still a fine blade.

 

[AthlonXP]

Anything from RonCo is good, I love there dehydrator, best jerkey i've ever had!

 

[Dowfen]

We have a bunch of the emerilware cookware - very nice. Being all-clad rebadged and a little bit cheaper, it was a better choice than spending more for the full-blown all-clad since it's just for home use. That doesn't mean they were cheap.

Anyway, another vote for the emerilware/all-clad

Eric

 

[Lounatik]

Go to your local Macy's(if still in business) or Rich's or any other dept store and get some cast iron cookware. Cheap as hell and just about idiotproof when it comes to food not sticking to them. I cannot use any products that have PTFE, non-sticky suff, on them because I have two parrots and they could die if the pans get too hot and release a gas from the chemical. Nasty stuff for the birdies, but humans and animals are ok.

You wont spend 100.00 to get several pans of varying sizes and a couple of pots to go with it(Hell, normally a 12" pan will run you about 8-10.00). You just have to season them before the first use and then remember to just rinse them with hot water and clen them with steel wool. No soap! They last practically forever and are the best pans I have ever used that evenly distribute heat around the pan. They also hold the heat better and cook food faster because the pans heating is uniform.

At least try just one 12" pan before getting into the whole set to see if you like it. I tried one pan and now I use cast iron exclusively in my kitchen.




Peace


Lounatik

 

[grillmasterP]

I highly recommend Calphalon Hard-Anodized Professional or commercial line. (These are essentially the same except for the handles).
On sale right now at Amazon
Calphalon Professional

The reason I prefer these series is they were made in the US and have a lifetime warranty.
I question the quality of the newer lines and even some of the try-me pieces even though they still have the lifetime warranty. Also with the hard anodized interior, you can use metal utensils, enjoy a certain degree of stick resistance, and easy cleaning.
My advice- buy the Hard anodized set and add a couple of the Nonstick-Omelette pans. They also have great promotions & affordable try-me pieces (LNT & BBB have 20% coupons)

All- Clad is also very good.
As far as knives- I love my Henckels Pro "S" block - added the Santuko as well

 

[billandopus]

Originally posted by: grillmasterP
I highly recommend Calphalon Hard-Anodized Professional or commercial line. (These are essentially the same except for the handles).
On sale right now at Amazon
Calphalon Professional

The reason I prefer these series is they were made in the US and have a lifetime warranty.
I question the quality of the newer lines and even some of the try-me pieces even though they still have the lifetime warranty. Also with the hard anodized interior, you can use metal utensils, enjoy a certain degree of stick resistance, and easy cleaning.
My advice- buy the Hard anodized set and add a couple of the Nonstick-Omelette pans. They also have great promotions & affordable try-me pieces (LNT & BBB have 20% coupons)

All- Clad is also very good.
As far as knives- I love my Henckels Pro "S" block - added the Santuko as well

It's Santoku by the way. Spelling police to the rescue!

Many times I will see good deals on 5-7 piece sets of various brands and they aren't that much more than a 3 pieces of open stock. So, buy something "decent" and you will have enough to last you for a long time. Get a decent cast iron pan, cure it and some Emile Henry or Le Cruset and you'll be set.

As for cutlery i've used almost all of the known brands and my current fave are Globals.



Globals

If you need heft then you may want something else like some Wustof Grand Prix's or something like that. All in all it's how the cutlery fits your hand, personal preference and size of wallet.