Top Cookware Sets Blog

I’ve recently bought a stainless steel electric frying pan and in the guide it explained how to season it – which I did. I’ve used it a few times and the seasoning has pretty much worn off. Should I redo it, and continue to redo it? What about my other stainless steel cookware – saucepans etc – that I’ve never done – is it worth doing it to them as well?

I have been cooking for 35 years, and I never heard of seasoning anything except cast iron. Stainless steel should be usable from day one after you clean off the dust from the purchase box. ;

What type of cookware or cooking untensil should "they" invent?
How would you improve your favorite cookware/cooking utensil?

I love spatulas! ah hahaah and tongs

So, I bought this set of lifetime cookware pots and pans. I went to a demonstration and was WOWED by their performance. This set promotes healthy eating/cooking and energy conservation.

Unfortunately, I never used them, and now need the money…

I purchased them for $1400. I have tried listing them on craigslist, and other classified sites.

Any suggestions?
I tried ebay…

If ebay didn’t work, just use them and forget about it.
You must have really liked them when you bought them.
No reason to save them for a better time, either.

Someone told me to dispose non-stick cookware if the teflon coating has come off the cooking surface.

Throw the pan away no matter if it’s a little or allot…I just went through this with my pans and was advice to get new..

All my teflon cookware is peeling and not usable anymore. I want to get new cookware, I would like nonstick, but I want something that will last and not poison me. any ideas?

Hard anodized is simply a form of aluminum, and most nonstick pans are made of them. Aluminum is a fantastic conductor of heat. Hard anodized pans may or may not have a nonstick coating, and that coating ranges in quality.

Teflon is a trademarked product and is not very durable. Other kinds of nonstick can be. Calphalon, Anolon, and allclad use a very durable form of nonstick that is lifetime warrantee if the consumer uses it properly.

When you buy your new cookware, buy decent quality, and then handle it right.

*do not use aerosol cooking spray (dries out the coating and makes it crack and peel)
*do not put in dishwasher (the lye in the detergent not good)
*do not use metal utensils
* do not cook on high

cooking over high heat is what makes nonstick coating begin to burn off and release chemicals. cooking over moderate heat will do you no harm, and higher quality pans such as calphalon conduct heat better, meaning you need less heat to cook….

In any case, choose pans that are heavyweight, use a non-teflon coating, have riveted handles, then treat them with care and you will not have the same issues with your new set.

With all the recent product recalls, I am concerned that cookware made in China might be contaminated in some way too.
I am especially interest in stainless steel cookware.
I would also appreciate recommendations for safe stainless cookware.

Are you afraid that it might be laced with lead?

I’m considering purchasing a durable cookware set and want the benefits of non-stick cooking but don’t want to use teflon. Some options I’ve looked at are anodized aluminum versus stainless steel or copper bottoms. Any suggestions?

Anodized aluminum layer is microthin and will eventually wear through, as will teflon. Well seasoned cast iron works really well, as does a seasoned steel wok. (Manufacturers explain how to season your pans and how to maintain them. It’s not hard.) But cast iron is heavy. The copper bottom on most pans is largely cosmetic, so it doesn’t help with heat distribution or non-stick anything.

What matters is construction and design, not brand or marketing hype. Aluminum distributes heat very well, is cheap and lightweight. Sides of this pan also aluminum, meaning excess heat can escape up the sides. Anytime good heat conductor goes up sides of pan, it makes the cookware MUCH MORE FORGIVING, which means you can multitask with kids and a phone call and still not burn your food, probably.

Heat distribution matters most for saucepans, next for skillets and saute pans, least for pots that you only boil water, pasta, or soup in. And not at all for things like colanders, that you don’t actually cook in.

I like All-Clad type construction better because it has aluminum GOING UP THE SIDES OF THE PAN, HENCE MORE FORGIVING but the aluminum layer is sandwiched between layers of 18/10 stainless steel. Easier to see food color and doneness, no possibility of scratching through to aluminum in 20 years. Not non-stick, but easy to clean up after.

Don’t buy overpriced All-Clad brand though. Similar construction available from Kitchen Aid 5 ply and Cuisinart Multi-Clad (I think) for less money. It’s important that the word "clad" be used to describe the cookware—means inner aluminum layer goes up the sides. It may be called Tri-ply or 5-ply. There should be a cross-section picture somewhere to brag how the aluminum goes up the side of the pan. No picture probably means it DOESN’T go up the sides of the pan. And sometimes there’s a picture that clearly shows it doesn’t go up the sides. It should be “18/10” stainless steel, which means it has the proper amount of chromium and nickel in the steel.

Beware of pans that only have an aluminum or copper disk in the bottom of the pan. Far less forgiving and more likely to burn your food when you are multitasking. You should not be able to see the line of a disk on the pan.

Has anyone found a good line of cookware that can be washed in a dishwasher without discoloring?

All-Clad has a line that can be put in the dishwasher. The set I got isn’t this particular line but I put them in there anyway! What can I say?

I would like to purchase cookware for a friend who is very health conscious. I recall that some cookware is considered unsafe. What type of cookware should I avoid that is considered unsafe to cook with. What are the ones that are acceptable to cook with?

I agree with Jelly. I have slowly rid aluminum and anything seems to be Teflon or any thing that scrathes easily. I have forund the old fashion Iron ware at sales but have seen it being sold new. Other then that I kept the steelware. I also have thinned out plastic cook utinsils to all steel.

We recently bought a KitchenAid electric ceramic cooktop and need to buy new cookware to prevent scratching.

Smooth, rounded bottom pots and pans. They shouldn’t scratch the surface. Don’t get a knife to the surface for hard to clean places. Place a warm, soapy, wet washcloth over the hard to clean areas. You could probably use an SOS pad, also. Keep it clean and it will last.