If you follow me on social media (especially Instagram or Twitter) then you’ll know that I recently purchased my first set of cookware in about 15 years. It was a major purchase and I put a lot of thought and research into the decision, so I wanted to share the process with all of you. As I’ve learned over the years, the quality of your cookware makes a BIG difference in the outcome of a recipe.
Although this post does contains affiliate links, I was NOT paid by any brand, manufacturer, or retailer to mention their products or stores. These are my pure, unadulterated opinions.
The Old Stuff…
A big portion of my decision was based on my experiences with the cookware that I already own, so let me start with that. I bought my first set of cookware at the dewy age of 20 (or was it 21?). I didn’t know much about cooking or cookware, so I simply went to Target, found a set that looked sturdy, and bought it. The set I bought was the older version of the Simply Calphalon 8-piece cookware set. Despite being a hasty, uninformed decision, the set has served me very well over the years.
This is my old sauce pot. It has seen better days.
They’ve been beat up, stained, and slightly abused, but have held up surprisingly well. Here is what I liked and disliked about this set.
Pro’s: Heavy, thick, one-piece construction that conducts heat evenly. Glass lids that allow seeing the contents without letting out heat or steam. Dishwasher safe. Non-stick surface was surprising durable and did not flake, peel, or scrape (no metal utensils were used).
Con’s: Not oven safe due to the plastic handle and non-stick surface. Non-stick CAN scratch if misused. Non-stick’s safety is questionable. The outer surface stains easily.
The pro’s definitely outweighed the con’s, IMHO. It was a good set, but they’ve seen better days.
I also received a set of stainless steel cookware as a gift from a friend who had received them free for subscribing to some magazine or something. They’re shiny, pretty, good for blog photos, but terrible for cooking. They are as thin as paper and have a “bonded” bottom for heat conduction, rather than being one solid piece.
See that extra layer stuck to the bottom? It’s a thicker piece of metal meant to help conduct heat. The problem is that it doesn’t conduct heat up the sides and around food. Womp, womp. The metal on the walls of the pot are only 1/32 inch thick. Seriously, paper thin and terrible for cooking.
Compare that to my Calphalon set, which is 1/8th inch thick and all one piece. MUCH better. The heat flows easily and evenly from the bottom of the pot up the sides and all around the food. That’s how you get even and reliable results when cooking.
In addition to these two complete “sets”, I’ve also purchased a few individual pieces over the years, like my Lodge 10″ cast iron skillet. I use that one a lot because, unlike the Calphalon set, it can go from the stove top to the oven with no damage. You can literally use it as bakeware OR cookware.
So, after comparing what I liked and disliked about the sets and pieces that I already own, I made a list of “must haves” for my new set of pots and pans.
Must Haves:
- Thick, solid, one-piece construction
- Glass lids
- Oven safe
- Dishwasher safe
- Stainless Steel
- Set must include a deep skillet with lid (perfect for “skillet meals“)
To Non-Stick or to Not Non-Stick
My first decision was whether to buy another set of non-stick, or opt for stainless steel. While I enjoyed the ease of my non-stick cookware, I kind of felt like the teflon was a safety net that I no longer needed. Now that I’m more experienced and understand the cooking process better, I know how to keep food from sticking without the help of Teflon. I no longer need my training wheels. Plus, I wanted the flexibility of going from stove to the oven or broiler, or using metal utensils without the fear of scratching. (I might keep one small non-stick skillet for fried eggs, though. ;) ) If I had decided to stay with non-stick, I may very well have just purchased the very same set of pots and pans again, except the bigger set that includes this deep skillet with lid. I liked them that much.
Price
The second thing I had to decide was how much I was going to spend. I’m not quite as broke as I was when I started this blog, but I still don’t want to drop $500-$600 on a set of pots and pans, even though I know they will last me another couple of decades. I just don’t have it in me. After shopping around a bit, I felt that I could get a pretty good quality set with the basic pieces that I needed for around $300, and that price point didn’t give me an anxiety attack. :P
Comparing Sets
I was so impressed with my first Calphalon set that I went straight to their website to see what else they offer. I found this awesome comparison chart of their different stainless steel cookware sets, which helped a lot. It had columns for most of the items on my “must have” list (they have a similar chart for their non-stick cookware sets). Simply looking at the chart helped me understand what I wanted and what I should be looking for, regardless of the brand. From that chart, I was able to see that the only Calphalon set that met all my “must haves” and was within my price range was the Calphalon Tri-Ply Stainless Steel set. Unfortunately, the smaller 10-piece set did not have all the pieces I wanted (I NEED that deep skillet with lid) and the large 13-piece set was out of my price range. How did I plan to fix that? A coupon.
Look for Deals
When making big purchases, it always pays to look for sales, coupons, or any other deals that you can get your hands on. I looked around at several online retailers, but that set had pretty much the same price point everywhere I looked. I did see that Bed Bath & Beyond was running a special $50 gift card promotion for Calphalon, so that caught my attention. THEN I remembered that BB&B prints 20% off coupons like they grow on trees. So, I got my hands on one of those and made sure that Calphalon wasn’t one of the brands excluded from the coupon. Bingo! It was eligible for the coupon! That makes a $399 set only $319, which is just slightly above my target price. So, I marched off to the physical store to check out the goods…
Well, when I was at the store I locked eyes with this Stainless Steel Pro set by Oxo Good Grips and it was love at first sight:
It had all the things on my list that I wanted: stainless steel, one-piece construction, glass lids, oven/broiler safe, dishwasher safe, AND the deep skillet with a lid. They have the same tri-ply construction as the Calphalon set and the lids seemed like they fit a little better. They also had a few extra bells and whistles, like volume marks on the insides of the pots, and a gorgeous rounded shape, which they claim is easier for whisking and stirring, but I just like because it’s pretty. I’m a very visual person, so the beautiful shape totally sealed the deal. All that and they were the same exact price as the Calphalon set. Moral of the story? Always check out the product in real life, even if you plan to purchase online.
I am the most excited about this deep skillet with lid. Can you tell by how many times I’ve mentioned it in this post? Over the years I’ve found this to be the most versatile piece of cookware and if I were only allowed to buy only ONE piece, this would be it. End of story.
The Oxo set was out of stock at all the Bed Bath & Beyond stores in my area, so I ended up ordering them online. The print 20% off coupons are only eligible for in-store purchases, but I was able to sign up for their text message alerts and get a coupon that works for in-store AND online purchases. The text message alerts can be cancelled at any time, so it was totally worth it (they don’t send the coupon for about a week, though, so be patient).
In the end, I got an amazing 13-piece stainless steel cookware set for about $320. That is a steal! (Or steel? No? Bad joke.) I love them. They’re beautiful, sturdy, and from what I can tell so far, cook very well. I win!
Other Options
If I had a smaller budget, I would have probably purchased one of the hard anodized aluminum non-stick sets, like my old Calphalon set simply because they’re still thick and heavy, but cost much less than the stainless steel. OR, I would have checked out a stainless set that had the bonded bottom, but made by a more reputable brand. I have a feeling that not all bonded bottoms are quite as bad as the free set I was given, so that would be worth looking into.
If you have a very tight budget, consider looking in thrift and consignment shops for cookware. A good set of cookware can last generations, but people usually don’t keep them that long just because they want or are given something new. You can score big on some very durable used stainless steel or cast iron pieces. Even if a piece of cast iron looks rusty and shot, it can sometimes be restored with a little TLC. Also check out restaurant supply stores. They carry bare bones, sturdy cookware that gets the job done well, without the celebrity/brand names or the bells and whistles that can hike up the price.
That was my experience, what’s yours?
Share your thoughts, experiences, and advice about buying pots and pans in the comments below. We can all learn from each other!
When I finally purchase my next GOOD set of pots and pans (I may have to go piecemeal due to cost), it will be the classic cast iron. from the egg pan to the skillet, to a deep skillet for sauces and such, a 3.5 AND a 5 qt dutch oven.
For baking, if I cannot use the cast iron, I will probably go with corningware crockery.
be careful doing acidic things like tomato sauces in cast iron, tends to not be suggested…
otherwise looove my cast iron skillets
Thank you for all the info.
I recently ditched a set of aluminum “nonstick” pots that I had had for ~15 years at Christmas. My choice to replace them was by a company that supplies professional cookware named Vollrath. It was the ~$100 7 piece Optio set on Amazon.com and it is fantastic.
The handles are hollow and don’t have a good draining mechanism for the interiors, other than a slight gap at the weld. This is the only flaw in their construction that I’ve found.
My set is (I think) Farberware that I was given about 13 years ago. Considering how rough I am on my pots and pans, they’ve held up famously, but the non-stick coating is definitely scratched to heck and I have always had pieces I simply don’t use. A boxed set never seems to have what I want in them.
I’m definitely looking to replace/upgrade. But I need to buy piecemeal. I don’t need a lot, but what I need is: 2 small saucepans (one dedicated to boiling water for tea only), one medium saucepan, 2 8″ omelette pans, and I love your idea of a deep saute/frying pan with a lid, so now I want one of those, too, instead of a large omelette pan. Thinking of the Cephalon 3-ply. We’ll see…this is the type of purchase I need to think about for a bit before I’m ready.
I had nearly the exact same Simply Calphalon set from Target for ages. Was in the same boat, didn’t know much about pans, looked nice, so I stuck them on my wedding registry. Thank you Aunt Suzanne, I now have pots and pans.
I upgraded to an All Clad stainless steel set that was on big sale at Macy’s (and of course my mother in law had a coupon, too, because she’s awesome like that). The difference was like night and day. The deep skillet is my most favorite pan everrrr!
I have a set of Cooks (JCP) hard anodized pots and pans with glass lids that I bought myself from JCPenney 8 years ago. They’ve held up pretty well and they can go stove to oven, which is very nice and we’ve managed not to scratch them up.
I also have a nice 2 piece stainless set of stock pots and a Le Creuset dutch oven I received as a generous gift last year, it’s too beautiful. I need to actually use it more.
I’d love a stainless saute pan, but it scares me! I can’t make scrambled eggs in a non-stick without them sticking. I let the pan and oil heat up and everything.
Part of it might be the induction stovetop, they are not my favorite!
Don’t forget to consider your cooking appliance too – not just what you have now, but what you might be upgrading to. I run into really good deals on Calphalon/anodized aluminum open stock stuff (the Everyday Pan is my favorite – $19.99 shipped). Now I wanna upgrade to an induction cooktop, but I can’t because the stuff I have won’t work on it. :( They make “interface disks,” but jeez, they’re spendy and who wants to deal with that?
Ohhh girl, I feel you on the over-the-top deep lidded skillet excitement!!! Most of our cookware is random mismatched cheap stuff that either my boyfriend or I had in college, but I’ve slowly been upgrading and/or adding the really useful stuff. I had been pondering getting an All-Clad pan for many months, but I wasn’t sure if it was worth the $$, and I couldn’t decide if I wanted a skillet or a saute pan.
I was on the cusp of picking up a Cuisinart stainless steel 12″ saute pan, but it seemed like there were 90% good reviews and then 10% that said it warped really quickly (this seemed to be the case with pretty much every brand except All-Clad… I don’t know if it has something to do with quality control and being made in the US, or what). Then I discovered the All-Clad Weeknight Pan… OMG!!! For some reason it’s cheaper than their equivalent size skillets or saute pans ($150 on Amazon), AND it comes with a lid. I bit the bullet and bought a little over a month ago, and oh man, I love it so much. I use it multiple times a week. Hopefully it lasts basically until I die, and then I won’t feel so bad about spending $150 on a pan (bf thought I was a little crazy, LOL).
I’m a bit surprised with at least your explination of your research. I recently was in the market, purchased today, for a set of cookware. I’m a bit surprised that you didn’t refer to America’s Test Kitchen that provides a running list of top cookware sets. America’s Test Kitchen recommends 2 sets an insanely expensive tri-ply set from All-Clad, well out of most people’s price range, and a Tri-Ply set from South American company Tramontina they reviewed the 8-pc set, which costs around $150 it compared at the same cook quality and durability of the All-Clad. The 14 pc set of Tramontina tri-ply sells from Wal-Mart for $350. I guess I was hoping to see more in depth research or perhaps testing on your own.
I use cast iron for most everything except for things that get “boiled” soups, noodles and such. That is when I use the glass lid, stainless steel, pots. Just like you purchased just now. I like the cast irons because for me they are very easy to clean, just throw in some salt and scrub it out with a sponge, heat it on the oven to dry out. I like being able to fry up some steaks or chops and just toss the pan right in the oven to broil. It is definatly a prefernce thing. I completely understand the “look” though. Your pictures look much better on the stainless steel. I think the best budget pan for someone to get would be a deep cast iron pan, and a stainless stell pot, or cast iron dutch oven. Then they only have two pans to worry about getting that will last a life time.
When I finally bought my own house in 2010, I was on a serious budget and I suppose I could have survived on all the hand me downs, but I didn’t want to. But what I really, really wanted was a set of the old copper clad Revere Ware from the 1940’s. The trademark had to say Clinton, ILL 1801 as the brand has gone through many changes over the years and I wanted the original. And thanks to Ebay, what is what I am still cooking with.
I’m not really a fan of “sets”, however I was given a set of Farberware – the stainless/copper bottom – almost 34 years ago and I’m still using those pieces along with some Lodge cast iron (Dutch oven, 10 inch fry and comal). I have added a small Farberware pot to my “set”
I do love anything OXO that I’ve purchased and that set looks scrumptious. And I have not researched extensively as you have…but I have my own eye on
http://www.amazon.com/Farberware-Millennium-Stainless-10-Piece-Cookware/dp/B0042H8SJM/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1428873954&sr=8-8&keywords=farberware+cookware
…. $116.98. Maybe apples and oranges, but I’ve been happy with Farberware and this set has the items that I use in my cooking. And that is part of the key – we all have our routine, our quantity requirements and aesthetics.
Happy cooking in your gorgeous new cookware!
I, too was looking at this set! There’s so many great recommendations, and I’ve been looking to get a new set of cooking war-tools! Thanks for sharing
Tyler… just in case you are following comments…I bought the set in the link above and really love it. The 10 pieces are the things I use most along with my cast iron skillet, dutch oven and comal. I think it is a great set and very well made. I am LOVING the glass lids.
I haven’t seen any mention of Tramontina, so I thought I’d add that to the mix. It’s almost identical to All-Clad, but so much cheaper (esp at Walmart). http://www.seriouseats.com/2010/08/equipment-the-all-clad-vs-tramontina-skillet.html
Other than that, I mainly use my Lodge cast iron 10″ skillet and square grill pan, and I recently bought the huge Lodge enameled dutch oven, and it’s amazing. I highly recommend all of it!
You did your homework well! I work at a BB&B so I get to share my love of cookware all the time. One thing I would add is that if someone is buying cookware on a budget, quality is always better than quantity. Better to get 3 pans that will cook your food well than 8 pans to burn it in. Also, BB&B will let customers return their used open stock pieces (receipt, please) when they are ready to upgrade to the set.
Wow! That’s an incredible deal! So, only on single pieces (that’s what “open stock” means?) and not sets, correct?
Open stock means single pieces, yes. But the Satisfaction Guarantee extends to sets as well, so you’re never stuck with something you don’t like! I’m excited to hear how you like your OXO stainless set!
Most of my stovetop cooking is done in about 3 pieces of cookware: 2 pieces from a “starter set” of All Clad stainless (a 3 qt saucepan and a 12″ saute pan[both lidded]) and a 6qt Lodge ceramic over cast iron dutch oven.
I keep a nonstick pan that I use maybe once every 3-4 months, and a small (1 qt) pot for melting and other small stuff, but I will probably replace that one day.
If you don’t have a lot to invest, I suggest using a price tracking site to watch prices on some pieces you really, really want. There are a lot of good deals near (and after, for open stock sales) the holiday season, but a sale could pop up at any time.
If cooking is your “thing,” don’t be afraid to keep a wishlist of items you are interested in to have a ready answer the next time someone wants to know what to get you for your birthday. I think sometimes people are hesitant to purchase these kinds of items as gifts unless it’s very clear the person wants them, they might not be… joyfully received.
Great cooking tools come in a wide range of prices, and if other people pick those small-money tools off your list, it’s money you can put into that year end deal on a great pan you’ll be using for the next thirty plus years.
“If cooking is your “thing,” don’t be afraid to keep a wishlist of items you are interested in to have a ready answer the next time someone wants to know what to get you for your birthday. I think sometimes people are hesitant to purchase these kinds of items as gifts unless it’s very clear the person wants them, they might not be… joyfully received.”
Ha, totally!! It was sooo hard for my boyfriend to accept that I LEGITIMATELY REALLY WANT nice kitchen stuff as gifts, and it’s not the equivalent of buying your wife a vacuum. He totally gets it now though and has gotten me some amazing gifts that I would never have been able to justify splurging on for myself!
My parents got the copper bottomed Revere Ware set when they married 66 years ago. It has been well used because Mom cooked for the 9 of us. They are still great pots.
40+ years ago I bought myself all cast iron cookware – a large & small skillet, Dutch oven and sauce pan. My son learned how to cook on it and bought his own when he moved out. They are still my favourite things to cook on.
But, a glass lid might be nice :)