I know we have some foodophiles on TUSCL, so I’m seeking some expert advise. I’m been looking on Amazon for a new cookware set and the choices are overwhelming.
Stainless steel, ceramic, copper, basic non stick
What’s a good, but doesn’t have to be top of the line, choice?
Is your stove gas or electric?
Rick - electric
I just moved to a new home and it’s electric . Miss my old gas stove
Last Christmas my daughter replaced my 50 yo stainless steel cook ware set with a new "Masterclass"set. I've been cooking with electric for many years because it is cleaner than gas. I does take some time getting used to how to judge heat. They get much hotter than gas stoves. Baking time is less than most cooking directions.
I do like the no stick feature but you have to learn not to fry on high heat. Grease left in the bottom of the pan will burn it. Overall I am happy with it.
What type of cooking do you do, and do you have a good quality Barbecue?
Go to nytimes.com they have reviews and recommendations for all the various types and uses. I generally just follow their advice the past few years and have gotten good results at reasonable prices.
Wife was at Rhode Island Job Lots. Big Ole non-stick frying pan - $17.00. Klok is the brand. Never heard of it, but I can buy 4 of them for the price of T-fal etc. Non-stick stuff doesn't last but this is scratch fee after 9 months and we use if 5-7 days a week. Miss my gas range, but flat-top electric with a convection oven works fine. Weber grill on the deck.
I use a combination of non-stick and (high quality) stainless steel cookware.
When doing delicate dishes that will stick easily, I use the non-stick. That includes things like eggs and a variety of thick sauces.
When frying meats or making stocks/stews/soups, I use stainless steel. I get a better high heat caramelization on the meats without ruining the pans/pots. You an also use a deep high quality stainless steel pot as a deep fryer.
My single most treasured item though is my dutch oven. It can be used to sautee onions and garlic on the stove and sear meat. Then, after deglazing the pot with some stock or wine and adding whatever other ingredients you want, can be transferred right into the oven. My best stews and pot roasts come from that tool. I don't use my slow cooker at all anymore because the flavors I can get in the dutch oven are just far superior.
For a lot of stuff I use carbon steel, but carbon steel does require a degree of seasoning / maintenance (like cast iron), which puts some people off. If not that, then stainless is the way to go.
I also have non-stick for fussier foods. I did a lot of research and came down on Food Ninja's Neverstick line. Very durable for non-stick cookware.
I'm not any kind of cook or chef. Mostly I heat up leftovers from take-out food. I will make an omelet sometimes, or maybe pan fry a steak. But one thing is that I never use non-stick pans anymore. I haven't seen one yet that doesn't eventually get scraped, chipped or otherwise worn out, even using the silicone and plastic utensils. I figure half those chips go down the drain and the other half go in the food.
I have some old-school Farberware stainless steel pots and pans that were my mother's. They're older than me (I'm 56) and these are good as new. They are stamped "Made in NYC" which means they came from the old Farberware factory in the South Bronx. Over the years I've added a few. The new ones are no longer made in USA (the Bronx factory closed many years ago) but the quality seems "almost" as good as the old ones. You have to buy the ones called "Classic".
I don't have any problem with food sticking, I just use a spritz of spray-on vegetable oil in addition to any butter or other stuff for cooking. And you've gotta pay attention - keep the food moving around in the pan.
These are moderately priced. Not cheap, not crazy expensive. amazon.com
Depends what you cook, we use a Dutch oven/ pressure cooker often, I have a good quality combination air fryer and toaster oven, makes a lot of simple meals, I probably use my new Weber bar b cue more than anything else and the microwave to reheat soup and frozen breakfast bowls. The stove gets used only on holidays for turkey and roasts, with lots of sides when I have a house full of family But we eat out more than anything else.
Just to make shit more complicated, I say go cast iron. But maybe more importantly, I wouldn't worry about getting a "set" as such. I've got specific pots/pans I like of different sizes. I never really use a large nonstick pan, so I've jut got a small and medium one. With stainless, I'd never really use the small one so I just have a medium and larger one. With the cast iron, I use all sizes. I tend to use them the most too. They can go on the stove or in the oven, or even on the grill. I put one in the smoker once, I don't recommend that.
For $20-$30 bucks, grab one cast iron and give it a whirl. Read up a bit on how to use/clean it, but it ain't rocket science and they aren't as delicate as people often make them out to be.
I also recently picked up a cheap amazon essentials stainless pan, so far, I'm impressed.
I saw that someone else mentioned cast iron. My cast iron pan is another favorite of mine, but I didn't recommend it because it doesn't work as well on electric stoves and, if you have a glass top version, should not be used at all due to scratching. I love stating a thick steak in my cast iron and then popping the pan in the oven to finish.
^ I respectfully disagree. We use all 3 of our cast iron pans weekly and have a flat, glass top stove. Just be very careful, but couldn't imagine cooking a steak inside on anything other than cast iron.
Similar to many others here, I have a good cast iron dutch oven, and a 10" cast iron skillet, both of which I use on my coil electric range with great results.. I also have a 12" heavy stainless steel skillet, an 8" heavy stainless soup pot, and a good non-stick for the delicate stuff. I use a carbon steel wok for vegetables, and I also have a crock pot, pressure cooker, and Instant Pot. The instant pot has taken over all of my pressure cooker duties except for the occasional turkey or chicken carcass, or ham or beef bones, for broth. The Instant Pot also doubles as a sous vide. Cook any steak you want in sous vide, and finish in the cast iron, and it'll be tender as hell.
The dutch oven came from my grandmother; I have no idea how old it is. The Lodge cast iron skillet, pressure cooker, and crockpotcame from Walmart. The stainless, the non-stick, and the wok came from Williams-Sonoma. The Instant Pot came from Amazon.
I have a good Lodge cast iron pan and I seasoned it following the instructions and from what I learned from Alton Brown on the Food Channel but it still is too hard to clean. I’m kind of lazy. But I don’t like the way bon stick sears burgers.
Stainless steel seems like it would be hard to clean also.
I need to investigate air fryers. Never had one but everyone seems to love them
The Instant Pot will allegedly will slow cook, steam, air fry, roast, bake, dehydrate, pressure cook, saute, and sous vide, though I have only used the latter three functions so far. We got it as a gift, but if I were buying one, I would only get this model if I had almost none of the other tools already.
All Clad stainless plus a cast iron skillet. Yum!
You only need stainless steel pots, caat iron pans, and silicone cookware.
Silverware and knives to your personal taste.
on my gas stove I cook with hand me down stainless steel pots and a cast iron skillet. and I'm generous with the olive oil. I don't cook with any of the aluminum shit that my wife and mom and grandparents etc used.
A few years ago, my wife and I bought a cook set at the local home show.
It was expensive, but not outrageously so, it's professional grade and it is nonstick to this day, the coatings are intact and it is wonderful to cook on. The brand is PRO-HG by Vollrath. Maybe best of all it's made in Sheboygan, WI.
You might also consider Revere Ware, which can often be found for cheap on line. Stainless steel with a copper heat conducting layer that sits in contact with the stove.
Older Revere Ware is excellent; newer Revere Ware not so good. Look for sets made in the 1980's and earlier. The stainless steel is 18/10 grade (the best), the copper bottoms are still relatively thick and the stainless steel was chemically polished and not mechanically polished. Under a microscope, a chemically polished surface appears smooth (food less likely to stick) while a mechanically polished surface appears rough (food will tend to stick).
A "lady friend" purchased a set from an antique dealer. It still looks like new. Now if I can only get her to cook a meal for me - - so far no luck.
Having a Sugar Baby Stripper who cooks for me at her place works best for me.