All-Clad stainless - Is it worth it?

[GB]

I hate nonstick cookware--it never lasts. And for that matter, it's never "nonstick". I get things stuck to it all the time

Let me tell you from personal experience that Calphalon non stick pans do not fit at all with what you just said above. My pans are many years old and get almost daily use and they are just about as good as the day I took them out of the box. Nothing has ever stuck to them, not even once, and that includes the pan that has a big deep scratch. Not only has nothing stuck to the pan, even on the scratch, but the scratch has never gotten worse and has never peeled.

 

[BlueCat]

From reading all of these posts about All Clad vs. whomever, All Clad seems to win out every time. Since the others have fans of their own, I still can't imagine that All Clad would be worth triple what every other brand costs. So I have to ask the All Clad owners, do you feel that your foods cook three times better/easier/etc. than they did before you started cooking with All Clad? I really don't mind picking up a piece or two if you really think it's THAT good.


BC

 

[GB]

I don't know if I can put a number of it BlueCat, but what I can say is that AllClad performs the way I expect it to. There are virtually no hotspots. Food cooks evenly. The pans hold up to anything I throw at them. They look good (low on my priority list, but still a plus). Basically if I have the money to spend then I am happy spending it on AllClad. If I did not have the money to spend then I could be perfectly happy with a different brand.

 

[kleenex]

kitchenAid cookware is great.

10 piece set of stainless steel is like 170 bucks.

 

[Caine]

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.

Ya know, I heard that so many times on diffferent boards, that I weighed equally sized (3 quart saauce pan, no lid) Le Gourmet Chef and All-Cald pans on a kitchen scale in the store. No discernible difference!

 

[BlueCat]

Thanks GB. I'll keep looking for a good deal on All Clad. I am curious about it.

BC

 

[FryBoy]

Try eBay. I purchased an All-Clad Copper Core 12" Fry Pan from a seller on eBay, brand new, never used and in the original box, for $129.95 plus $13 shipping, no tax. It arrived in perfect condition. Same thing is $200 from Williams-Sonoma, plus $16.50 tax and $22 shipping.

I also bought a brand-new All-Clad 8-quart Stainless Steel Stockpot on eBay for $100 -- Williams-Sonoma gets $258 for that beauty!

Of course, you have to be careful on eBay -- deal only with reliable, experienced sellers with high feedback scores, and ask a lot of questions to be sure what you're buying is the genuine article and that it's new. Look for PayPal Buyer Protection, and use PayPal for your purchase. If you have problems, complain.

 

[Bangbang]

I use Calphalon pans and like them alot.

 

[buckytom]

Ya know, I heard that so many times on diffferent boards, that I weighed equally sized (3 quart saauce pan, no lid) Le Gourmet Chef and All-Cald pans on a kitchen scale in the store. No discernible difference!

i dunno about the smaller pans. i only compared the larger 6 qt. saute pan while holding the le gourmet, the all clad from memory. it just seemed lighter.

it certainly looked ok, and was less than half the price, but i want just one, very large, very heavy stainless steel saute. actually, i was hoping the all clad was even heavier, like the weight of cast iron, but in stainless.

 

[primus diddy]

I don't doubt that All Clad is super nice pan, but...they're a huge pain to wash, especially when oil gets burnt on. I've scrubbed thousands of them (I'm sure it's thousands), and it takes a good while with a lot of elbow grease and a good "green scrubby" or two to make them almost like new again. Of course, I'm washing at least five year old pans that are used in a resteraunt. At home, I'm sure they wouldn't see the same kind of abuse they do where I work. God...washing dishes...what a pain.

 

[GB]

I have never had a problem washing my All Clad at home. I find they clean up just as easy as anything else I use.

 

[ironchef]

All-Clad is a great pan, one of the best, but if you can't cook it's not going to work for you. It's like showing up for a race with a Dodge Viper and you can't drive stick. You can have the very best equipment but if you don't know how to use it then it's pointless. The two most common errors that home cooks make are:

1. Not enough oil
2. Not enough heat

If you do one or both of these, All-Clad won't work for you.

 

[Andy M.]

I don't doubt that All Clad is super nice pan, but...they're a huge pain to wash, especially when oil gets burnt on. I've scrubbed thousands of them (I'm sure it's thousands), and it takes a good while with a lot of elbow grease and a good "green scrubby" or two to make them almost like new again. Of course, I'm washing at least five year old pans that are used in a resteraunt. At home, I'm sure they wouldn't see the same kind of abuse they do where I work. God...washing dishes...what a pain.

Buy some Dawn Power Dissolver to remove the burned on grease. It works very well.

 

[foodfanatic]

All-Clad stainless

My two cents.... I own a full set of All-Clad and two years ago after chairing the SkillsUSA National Culinary Arts Contest, Calphalon gave me two sets of their top of the line cookware (one regular and one non-stick). I have all three sets of cookware hanging over my cooktop and have sauted in both brands at the same time. While I am a professional chef and culinary arts teacher and I do love my All-Clad, I cannot say enough good things about Calphalon. The structure of the pans retain the heat as well as All-Clad and the handles don't heat up. For a "consumer" kitchen, I would go with Calphalon personally. If you want to check out some incredibly comfortable knives, see Calphalon's new line "Katana" - they are tapered from the knife blade though the bolster, and they are incredibly comfortable to hold for hours on end!

 

[Robo410]

all clad is very fine cookware

 

[suzyQ3]

"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 know you have your heart set on All-Clad, but if you could lower that qt requirement to 5, you really should consider the Henckel's International Classic Clad saute casserole that I linked to in my other post on this thread but will do so again here. I love All-Clad, too, and have many pieces, but this pan is its equal, if not slightly superior, in construction and design. I particularly like the two helper handles, which makes it fit easily in the oven if need be.

And the price on Amazon, where I bought it, is $99, free shipping.

 

[jennyema]

COOKWARE AND MORE -- cosmetically challenged ALL CLAD at discount prices. Every day.

 

[Robo410]

To answer your question this way, there are many fine pans out there. All Clad ranks with the best. It is all round versatile and durable. Many pros use it. You can pay more for some stainless lined solid copper, and you can certainly pay less for lots of stuff...some probably as good, most not. However, for a set listed on your registry, something guests and friends can find and deliver and afford, and that will last longer than you do on this planet given reasonable care, All Clad stainless is a fine choice. Congratulations and best wishes btw!

 

[buckytom]

"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 know you have your heart set on All-Clad, but if you could lower that qt requirement to 5, you really should consider the Henckel's International Classic Clad saute casserole that I linked to in my other post on this thread but will do so again here. I love All-Clad, too, and have many pieces, but this pan is its equal, if not slightly superior, in construction and design. I particularly like the two helper handles, which makes it fit easily in the oven if need be.

And the price on Amazon, where I bought it, is $99, free shipping.

thank you, suzy-q.

i'm gonna look into that. i never thought much about the fact that the long handle on the all clad might be tricky to maneuver in my regular ol' sears oven.

 

[Gorgonzola]

I went out and got a full set of all-clad when I decided I would like to cook. The Mrs. took contention to the idea that we were now going to discard the heirlooms we got as wedding presents and such but we got through it. I was stunned at what you could do with a real pan. I am now convinced that we should have got these pans a long time ago. I can't say enough about them.