Another Calphalon question?

[pollyanna1]

My neice is getting married and she and her fiance (he does a lot of the serious cooking) have chosen Calphalon One Infused Anodized cookware. (NOT non stick). I have asked her to make sure that is the set they want and she said it was.

I plan to buy a 10 piece set and I want it to be the best for them.

If you, the people who know, think that is a good choice, I will order it and feel very comfortable with their choice.

I am a fan of All-Clad, so am not familiar with Calphalon.

Thanks!

Pat

 

[jennyema]

I have 2 pieces of Cal. infused anodized and it cooks well (not as good as AC, IMO) but the cookware looked like absolute crap after only a little while.

You cannot put it in the dishwasher, either. It voids the warranty. I didn't for a long time, but as the cookware dulled and spotted, I gave up and put it in anyway.

I'd definitely suggest SS if looks matter.

They also claim anodization itself creates a nonstick surface. To which I reply HAHAHA

 

[black chef]

i just received my Member's Mark full clad 21-piece set for about $200 (including shipping).

it is VERY similar (IMO identical) to all-clad, but i'm no professional.

for the price, i'd get that set... you can't beat performance & good pricing-unless you're into brand names, etc.

 

[Robo410]

No pan is perfect. No one material does everything. THe Calphalon Infused is good stuff if used according to manufacturers recommendations. THe only fine piece of cookware that sayd it can go in the dishwasher and not be affected is All Clad SS. (All their others are not dishwasher safe.) And All Clad SS is good for induction too. (it has magnetic properties.) But it doesn't have the heat retention of cast iron or soap stone or the heat control of heavy copper.

Personally, if the couple has chosen Brand X, that's what they should get even if it is not the personal choice of you making the gift.

I have much calphalon, some of it quite old, and it cooks and cleans fine.

 

[JMediger]

Before I started buying my "real" pots and pans, I bought a piece of All-Clad and a piece of Calphalon ... I have all Calphalon now and love it!

Jennyema, what did yours do to turn to look bad (did that make sense? ... why does it look bad?)? One of mine has a few pock marks and a little discoloration on the bottom from burning tomato sauce and having to scour it out but other than that, mine has held up very well ... it is retained its color,the bottoms aren't scratched or marked (and I use SS utensils) and washes up beautifullly. I agree that the statement about it creating it's own non stick surface is wrong but other than that, I wouldn't buy anything else.

A word of warning though, if they haven't cooked with it before, it does take a little getting used to since you don't need as much heat. I've burned a few pounds of hamburger getting just the right touch.

 

[jennyema]

I didn't do anything, really, but cook and clean it with dishwashing liquid.

The same thing happened to my AllClad LTD pan. The hard anodized exterior got very dull (turned lighter grey and chalky), streaky and spotted. BK Friend cannot revive it.

My Calphalon is admittedly pretty old. It was called "hard anodized" when I got it. Now it's called "infused anodized." Don't know if that makes a difference.

Calphalon's website says that their SS gan go in the dishwasher.

 

[JMediger]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you did something to make it look bad - I was just wondering what it looked like now, in it's bad state, so I could see if the same might be happening to mine and I just wasn't realizing it. That was a hard question to write the right way!

My frying pans have dulled slightly in the centers but that's it and it hasn't happened to my sauce pans or stock pots...

I don't know about the dishwasher ... it doesn't do a good job on my dishes much less say my pots and pans!

You know, I think mine was the hard anodized as well ... I just thought the different name was different marketing. Hmmm ....Guess I don't have a point then to offer!

I think I need a nap now ...

 

[jennyema]

No you didn't imply anything

I am as surprised and at a loss for why it dulled as anyone. I can't think of anything I did wrong in cooking with it and cleaning it.

The Calphalon dulled inside and out, as the interior is also andodized aluminum. The AC is stainless inside and the stainless gleams while the outside is dull.

I made some kind of very acidic thing in the Cal. at some point which took the interior of the pan down to the bare finish.

Now that I have a camera phone, I'll try to take pics of it.

I did admittedly put it in the dishwasher after years of babying it -- after it started looking like crap.

 

[Andy M.]

Pat:

If the couple specifically asked for Calphalon One, you don't really have a choice. Buy them what they asked for or choose another gift from the registry.

 

[jennyema]

Pat:

If the couple specifically asked for Calphalon One, you don't really have a choice. Buy them what they asked for or choose another gift from the registry.

Oh, and I agree with that. I am sure they chose it for a reason.

 

[kitchenelf]

I have the hard anodized Calphalon - I've had it for about 18 years and I absolutely love it. The only thing that MUST be done is cleaning with Comet inside and out or use their cleaner. I do this each and every time I cook - even if I just heat water. Once it starts oxidizing you can't take off those stains.

Hot pan + cold oil = foods won't stick. most of the time

 

[Constance]

I love my Calphalon! I have both kinds, and and I have no problem with either. In regard to discoloration, I have not had that problem. Sometimes the bottoms get kind of nasty, but I just spray them with Mean Green, let'em soak, and scrub them right off.
I have never put my pots and pans in the dishwasher. It's not that big a deal to wash them out. If they're stuck, I fill them with soapy water and let them sit over night.
The non-stick coating on one of my skillets that was frequently used for high-heat searing did start to peel after several years. But the cookware has a lifetime guarantee, and when I sent it in, they replaced it with a brand new skillet. I now have a small saute pan that needs to be sent in, but hey...we use our cookware a LOT!

 

[jennyema]

So you are telling me that the black anodized exterior looks like new (or thereabouts?)??

What in the world did I do? I handwashed for several years.

 

[Constance]

It looks great, Jenn. And we have very hard water here.
What kind of dish soap do you use? I use Ivory liquid, because it's the only kind that doesn't break my hands out.

 

[pollyanna1]

Thanks to all of you!! Not one wrote that it was awful and not to buy it. That is fine with me.

Now I will buy it and not worry about it any more.

"If there had been several "do not buys" I would have been very concerned.

Thanks again!

Pat

 

[kitchenelf]

So you are telling me that the black anodized exterior looks like new (or thereabouts?)??

What in the world did I do? I handwashed for several years.

The outsides of mine still look like new - the inside on a couple pots have turned a silver color though, which doesn't affect anything.

 

[Gretchen]

The Calphalon One is supposed to be excellent--and it is what they want. And the knockoff Calphalon can't go in the dishwasher either. I have had mine for MANY years and it looks great.

 

[suzyQ3]

I didn't do anything, really, but cook and clean it with dishwashing liquid.

The same thing happened to my AllClad LTD pan. The hard anodized exterior got very dull (turned lighter grey and chalky), streaky and spotted. BK Friend cannot revive it.

My Calphalon is admittedly pretty old. It was called "hard anodized" when I got it. Now it's called "infused anodized." Don't know if that makes a difference.

Calphalon's website says that their SS gan go in the dishwasher.

Infused anodized is different than hard anodized. The company changed the composition of the pan itself. The Calphalon One infused anodized pans have a stick-RESISTANT interior. Nowhere do they say it's nonstick (they now have a separate Calphalon One nonstick line). I have their skillet and saute pan, and they work quite well. They are a nice compromise between nonstick, which doesn't lend to good deglazing, and traditional SS, which I also love but does stick a bit more.

Calphalon One pans are not for those who are solely interested in super easy clean-up. For those cooks, nonstick is the only answer. And IMO, although a company may say it's okay to put their SS pans in the dishwasher, I would do that only with inexpensive brands and never with AC or Calphalon.

 

[FryBoy]

As for cleaning in the dishwasher, the Calphalon site specifically says the following regarding the company's hard-anodized cookware:

"Do not clean Calphalon hard-anodized cookware in a dishwasher. Dishwasher detergents will damage the surface. Dishwasher use will void your Lifetime Warranty."

As for Calphalon One, it says this:

"Do not clean Calphalon® One™ Infused Anodized cookware in a dishwasher. Dishwasher detergents will damage the surface. Dishwasher use will void your Lifetime Warranty."

All-Clad's site doesn't say anything about clteaningh her stainless cookware in the dishwasher, but they do recommend hand washing and using Barkeeper's Friend to remove difficult stains.

 

[FryBoy]

The outsides of mine still look like new - the inside on a couple pots have turned a silver color though, which doesn't affect anything.

Hmmm! You said in an earlier post that you scrub the inside and outside of your Calphalon hard anodized cookware with Comet every time you use it, and have done so for 18 years.

Comet is somewhat abrasive, although Calphalon does recommend using it to clean their hard anodized cookware (but not Calphalon One or their stainless cookware).

Nevertheless, I wonder if you may have actually scrubbed your way through the hard anodized surface of the pan -- the gray stuff -- down to the non-anodized aluminum -- the "silver color" you describe. Anodizing makes the aluminum very hard, but it affects only the surface of the pan, not the metal under the surface. If the anodized surface were to be worn away, you'd be cooking on pure aluminum.

If so, I'd replace the pans -- cooking on non-anodized aluminum isn't a great idea for several reasons: it's easily dissolved by acidic foods, such as tomatoes or tomato sauce; it gets pitted, making it difficult to clean; and there's some concern that the ingestion of aluminum may be a factor in Alzheimer's Disease (I think the jury's still out on that one).