Buy a set or piece together

[trillium]

I have been debating for what seems like months now over tossing my t-fal non-stick and going stainless for my cookware. What I'd like to know (since I am sure there are some very much more qualified folks out there than yours truly) is would it be worth piecing together a set of cookware or buying a "set" from the same manufacturer?

I have read some of the threads of people liking different pots and pans to cooks based on what method and what's being cooked.

I am just confused as all get out, and while I admit that I wish I had a fortune to spend, cost is definately a factor.

Can anyone recommend good pieces or sets that won't break the piggy bank?


Thanks,
Donna

 

[Andy M.]

Sets ususally get you a substantial discount over individual prices. If you can be sure ALL the pieces in the set would be of use to you, it would pay to buy the set. If there are a couple of pieces in a set you wouldn't ever use, you are losing the advantage of any discount.

If you buy SS for your everyday cookware, there are several brands that are reasonably priced. Choosing which pieces to buy would be decided by how and what you cook on a regular basis. Which pots and pan do you use now? That would be a very good indicator of what you should look for.

While All-Clad is among the best, there are other brands that will do the job for a lot less. Calphalon and LeGourmet are two brands that are inexpensive and good stuff. There are others.

Going with SS does not prevent you from getting special pieces for special reasons. LeCruest makes great enameled cast iron dutch ovens. Lodge makes plain cast iron cookware.

 

[kleenex]

I will agree that you can find something at a lower price than the All-Clad and get a good set of cookware.

I do think you are going to have to look at each set, feel the cookware, hold the cookware in your hands, and see if you really want all the pieces in the set.

Some cookware is going to be heavier than others.

 

[Michael_Schaap]

My wife and I almost got a set for our weeding.... Don't know.... I just kept looking at them and thinking.... nice..... but I'm never going to use two of them.... I guess I am in favor on making up a set. You know you get this one pan and just for some reason it becomes your fall back on pan. You just grab it when you need it. You know how it works... how its going to behave...

I think what you need to do is get a good pan. That satisfies the function you are needing it for. Then when you have another function you get another pan. This way your set becomes a set of pots and pans with each a useful function that you and only you have defined. Not some manufacturer who wants to sell you two more pans that you realy dont have much use for in the first place.

 

[jennyema]

Cookware is always on sale so never buy full price. There are lots of websites (Here's one)that offer pieces of high end cookware at really huge discounts, which often make them better buys than midrange sets.