All-Clad stainless - Is it worth it?

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that enjoys cooking.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

ohsmily

Assistant Cook
Joined
Jul 30, 2006
Messages
17
Location
San Diego and Los Angeles
Nearly every food network show uses All Clad stainless cookware. I am registering for wedding stuff (and love to cook I might add) and am wondering if All Clad is one of the best or simply appears that way b/c they give all their stuff to the hosts to showcase on their programs? Would I be better off with different cookware? Note: I am not interested in anything that is more expensive than All Clad Stainless line (don't want copper, etc).

I know topics similar to this have probably been discussed ad nauseum on this site, but this shouldn't require a lengthy reply...Basically: 1) "yes to the all clad, it is one of the best if not the best so get it, OR 2) "all clad is OK (or it sucks) get X brand of cookware instead"....

Thank you.
 
AallClad is VERY good cookware. They DO spend a lot on advertising by giving it to lots of cooking shows so you will see it and think it's so good.

It is, however, very heavy! When my niece got married, she could have chosen any cookweare on the market her little heart desired, money no object. She decided against AllClad because she's a small person (5 feet 3, around 105 pounds) and when she picked up some of the larger pieces, she thought they were too heavy empty for her to be able to manage when they were full of.... oh, say chicken soup? pasta? She chose cuisinart stainless cookware, and I know she likes it very much.

Personally, I have a melange of different brands, as I like different kinds of cookware for different uses. Most professionals don't have "sets" of cookware unless some company gave it to them for promo purposes. but that's just us.
 
if you can afford All Clad, go for it.

i wish i could afford it...

my budget limits me to the ikea 365 line of cookware... it is 18/10 stainless, performs well, and has lasted years of "abuse" in my kitchen.
 
Yes All Clad is one of the best. There is other cookware out there that is close to or as good as All Clad though for a fraction of the price. Part of what you are paying for is the name and how it looks. All Clad looks very pretty.

Since these are wedding gifts for you I would say go with the All Clad. If you were buying them yourself and had a tight budget then All Clad might not be the way to go as it would break the bank pretty quickly.

Yes they are heavy, but that is part of what makes them so good. The heavier the pan the better the heat distribution will be which means even cooking and no hot spots.
 
GB said:
Yes All Clad is one of the best. There is other cookware out there that is close to or as good as All Clad though for a fraction of the price. Part of what you are paying for is the name and how it looks. All Clad looks very pretty.

Since these are wedding gifts for you I would say go with the All Clad. If you were buying them yourself and had a tight budget then All Clad might not be the way to go as it would break the bank pretty quickly.

Yes they are heavy, but that is part of what makes them so good. The heavier the pan the better the heat distribution will be which means even cooking and no hot spots.

can you make any suggestions for an all clad substitute at a good/fair price?
 
Calphalon makes a very good product and costs less than All Clad. Another good way to go is to check out restaurant supply stores. The cookware may not be pretty, but if you don't care about looks then you can find quality stuff at a fraction of the price of All Clad. As for names of that stuff, I do not know. I will let one of the professional chefs answer that part of the question.
 
The construction is what makes All-Clad so good. They use a tri-ply construction. That is, a layer of aluminum between two layers of stainless (in the SS line). This material is used to make the entire body of the pan, not just a disk attached to the bottom. This style provides the durability of the SS with the great conductivity of the aluminum.

Many manufacturers offer tri-ply for less and they are usually quite good. As mentioned, Calphalon SS is good stuff. Also look for the LeGourmet Chef line. You can find them in the outlet store of the same name. they are low priced and also quite good. I have some of their saucepans and they perform without a problem. I have not tried any of their skillets or sauté pans.
 
The construction is what makes All-Clad so good. They use a tri-ply construction. That is, a layer of aluminum between two layers of stainless (in the SS line). This material is used to make the entire body of the pan, not just a disk attached to the bottom. This style provides the durability of the SS with the great conductivity of the aluminum.
Cuisinart made the original tri-ply stainless steel cookware that was available in this country, and their sandwich is with copper, the best conductor of heat. The original Cuisinart cookware was made in France, and is really special. I like it much better than AllClad. However, since the cookware is no longer made in France (now it's someplace like SriLanka) the quality is not the same, altho it is still good cookware at a fraction of the cost.

For those of you who like to hunt in yard sales, tho... I bet you could find some of the original Cuisinart cookware for a song! :)

My all-time favorite piece of cookware is an original Cuisinart 5 1/2 quart deep saute pan with lid. you can really cook a LARGE amount of food in that! :) with even heat throughout.
 
ChefJune:

You're right about it's being rare, I've never seen it. The most common Cuisinart cookware available now seems to have a disk bottom.
 
black chef said:
can you make any suggestions for an all clad substitute at a good/fair price?

Better still, get real All Clad cosmetic seconds (still waranteed) at big discounts at Cookware and More. Just google them and you'll find their site.
 
GB said:
Calphalon makes a very good product and costs less than All Clad. Another good way to go is to check out restaurant supply stores. The cookware may not be pretty, but if you don't care about looks then you can find quality stuff at a fraction of the price of All Clad. As for names of that stuff, I do not know. I will let one of the professional chefs answer that part of the question.

I have several All-Clad pieces and like them very much. I am not a pro chef and am not too familiar with cookware from restaurant supply stores, but there is another brand of stainless steel cookware worth looking at that is a bit less expensive -- and still mighty pretty:) -- that might be worthwhile in the future for the newlywed:

Take a look at Henckel's Classic Clad SS. I don't have a set, but I do have their 5 quart saute casserole (two helper handles), and I cannot say enough good things about the quality, construction, and design. I have an embarrassingly large amount of cookware, but this is just about my favorite. Cooking.com and undoubtedly other sites have a couple sets available, plus individual pieces.
 
I have a couple of pieces of All-Clad stainless and think they're great, but I like my Calaphon as well. My two favorite pieces are an All-Clad Copper Core 12" fry pan and a 5-quart covered saute pan from Henckels. I think the Henckels is even better made than the All-Clad, but only by a hair.

BTW, check on eBay for this stuff. When we decided to replace our old 8-quart Farberware pot, we found a brand new 8-quart stainless All-Clad stockpot on eBay for $100; Williams Sonoma gets $258 for the same thing.
 
after all this time, i'm just finding out that the Member's Mark stainless cookware is not only 18/10 stainless but it is FULL CLAD as well.

a full set for under $200... of full clad!!!!

unfortunately, i won't be able to afford the All Clad line until i hit the lottery; so for now, i'm off to sam's club to buy their full clad set.:mellow:
 
I can afford anything I want to afford, but I refuse to buy an All-Clad frying pan and also buy one for Emeril LaGasse, Bobby Flay, and Mario Batalli.

I buy my tri-ply at Le Gourment Chef. They are almost exact copies of All-Clad, made in Europe, are of equal qaulity, and carry the same guarantee. All for 1/3 the price of All-Clad.
 
Caine said:
I can afford anything I want to afford, but I refuse to buy an All-Clad frying pan and also buy one for Emeril LaGasse, Bobby Flay, and Mario Batalli.

I buy my tri-ply at Le Gourment Chef. They are almost exact copies of All-Clad, made in Europe, are of equal qaulity, and carry the same guarantee. All for 1/3 the price of All-Clad.

are those full clad?
 
i went to a le gourmet chef outlet store, and i have to say it pales in comparison to all clad. nice looking, much less expensive, but also much, much lighter. i passed on it.

i then went (was dragged) to bloomies, and spent an hour chatting up the all clad salesperson. she really got into "explaining" the all clad mc2, ltd, and stainless lines.

i'm waiting to buy a wide, 6 qt covered saute with a stainless cooking surface (outside doesn't matter), so i put my name on a mailing list for when they go on sale again. also, i'd like a 14" non-stick fry pan.

i just missed an oppurtunity to pick up a 7.25 qt. le creuset dutch oven for $150, regularly $330.

so, i wait for sales, and am going to start monitoring ebay.

jenny, the all clad seconds website you've recommended looks good, but i can get a first, on deep discounted sale, for about the same price.

just gotta wait for the sale, and get the extra discount for opening a store card.
 
I just recently upgraded from All-Clad to All-Clad Ltd. (Macy's sent me a 20% off anything in the store voucher for spending so much money with them--or more specifically, the lady of the house spending so much, so I burned it on a 10 piece set of the normally $600 Ltd. set). Love em, love em, love em. Thought the world of the other set, as well (they apparently hold their value really well. I paid $500 for those brand new, got $415 for em on Ebay).

I thought about Calphalon, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Not because I've ever heard anything bad about them--just most of the Calphalon I've seen is one of two things: Either nonstick (and I hate nonstick cookware--it never lasts. And for that matter, it's never "nonstick". I get things stuck to it all the time) or else it had this really funky cooking surface design. It was all ridgy in all the pieces (best word I can think of for it). Which...OK, I'm sure is probably a great design otherwise they wouldn't produce it, but it's just too hard a sell on me to go for it instead of the classic smoothness I've come to know and love.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom