Favorite cookware brand?

[North of Mouse]

I don't have pot "sets". I like to use various brands for foods I cook on the regular. I love to cook so tend to use a variety of brands. I usually buy them from Marshals, TJ Maxx or similar stores, whatever catches my eye. Loved Magnalite when we were first married, (dating myself lol) but they're no long in production.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Not at all inexpensive, but we went to Hexclad and love it! Started with a starter set and have slowly added pieces.

Hexclad is currently available on sale as part of the Amazon Prime Day Deals. DH went to visit our son, who'd spent the money for Hexclad and came home raving about how great they are. When the Prime Day Deals came out, DH double-checked with him about the brand, and after listening to him once again say how great and worth it they are, they're on their way!

 

[neverlandsky]

Lodge, Staub, & Pyrex have lasted us the longest.

 

[RuntheMouse]

SS All-Clad is my vote. LOVE, LOVE, LOVE it! Even heat and easy to clean.

We also have an ALL-Clad stainless set. It’s 21 years old and good as new.

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I have nice stainless steel pans but lately been using Ceramic opposed to other non stick and often stainless , heard they are better for you then other nonsticks.
Have Martha Stewart crock pot and would recomend that over the 4 times as much Le Cruset.
And I have large dumpling steamer I bought from asian market.
I use it for steaming lobsters can do about 3 to 5 and steaming large amounts of veggies as well as making wontns and dimsum.\
Not really brand driven as long as pan is heavy and good quality. Can't deal with burning from thin pans.

 

[Imzadi]

Ceramic opposed to other non stick and often stainless , heard they are better for you then other nonsticks.

I've heard this too, but that they don't last as long? I've been using my trusty stainless steel frying pan for eggs, but have to add a lot of oil to ensure they don't stick. I'd love to get a ceramic frying pan and have the eggs slide out as in the commercials. But, I don't want to be re-buying a new ceramic pan every several months. What has your experience been with the durability?

 

[barkley]

Pyrex have lasted us the longest.

pyrex is going to outlast us all! i've got my mom's classic old yellow pyrex mixing bowl that she oven baked many meals in dating back to the late 40's (it's visible on the dinner table in family photos) and it still keeps on keeping on for my needs.

honestly, before I spent allot of money on any kind of cookware I was considering I would meander through my local thrift shops/goodwill/salvation army stores b/c the wealth of lightly used let alone entirely unused expensive cooking stuff for pennies on the dollar is crazy (hear me pampered chef? i'm talking about you).

 

[Cogswel_Cogs]

I've heard this too, but that they don't last as long? I've been using my trusty stainless steel frying pan for eggs, but have to add a lot of oil to ensure they don't stick. I'd love to get a ceramic frying pan and have the eggs slide out as in the commercials. But, I don't want to be re-buying a new ceramic pan every several months. What has your experience been with the durability?

Have the two small and large sizes for probably 2 years now. I did go through one quickly before that but for the like remember why.
I think my daughter makes eggs without butter, for me seems same as non sticks with eggs, but I use butter.

 

[CGB]

honestly, before I spent allot of money on any kind of cookware I was considering I would meander through my local thrift shops/goodwill/salvation army stores b/c the wealth of lightly used let alone entirely unused expensive cooking stuff for pennies on the dollar is crazy (hear me pampered chef? i'm talking about you).

THIS is exactly what I've been doing for the past year. I've replaced all my pots with either higher-quality stainless steel or ceramic. I've done it a pot or skillet at a time and gotten some gorgeous pieces.

 

[_19disnA]

I believe the Pyrex brand-name was sold to some other company who has modified the formula used to make that product. If you have an older model from many years ago, it likely will behave differently than the newer ones you can now buy.

 

[Imzadi]

I would meander through my local thrift shops/goodwill/salvation army stores b/c the wealth of lightly used let alone entirely unused expensive cooking stuff for pennies on the dollar is crazy

Just be careful about doing this with non-stick cookware. Most non-stick cookware is meant to be heated only to a low or medium heat. Definitely much lower than for stainless steel . The integrity of the non-stick coating may be compromised and start leaching off, especially the more it's heated to too hot temperatures.

You don't know the history of who was cooking with the non-sticks. It could have been by people who didn't know to keep the temps lower. So, the pots & pans could be in what looks like flawless condition, yet now be a leaching hazard.

Regulations were put in place over a decade ago, forcing manufacturers to stop using certain non-stick materials by a certain year. The manufacturers and big box stores then flooded the marketplace with sales on their non-stick items to get rid of their existing supplies. So, there is a lot out there now, possibly in a lot of local thrift shops/goodwill/salvation army stores.

I scour my neighborhood's Freecycle-type groups for next to new items. (Many college grads here end up off-loading all the stuff their parents bought for them while going to school here.) They don't want to ship the items home. We don't have garage/yard sales here as we have no garages or yards. So they post to these groups. The non-stick cookware is pretty much the one item I say no to getting.

 

[barkley]

I scour my neighborhood's Freecycle-type groups for next to new items. (Many college grads here end up off-loading all the stuff their parents bought for them while going to school here.) They don't want to ship the items home. We don't have garage/yard sales here as we have no garages or yards. So they post to these groups.

we used to live near a neighborhood popular with young newleyweds that had the BEST garage sales-you could literally see the portions of the wedding wrapping paper still attached to the unopened/sealed boxes.