Tramontina Tri-Ply Cookware

[couscous]

disk vs. clad

I don't know yet how "clad" cookware compares to the disk cookware, but I do know this: I had the bottom drop off my Cuisinart soup pot the other day,. and they are telling me it's because I used it on too high of heat. I never heated it on the burner empty, etc. and I do expect my cookware to be able to, well, cook. I don't think I ever used blistering hot heat. I do NOT expect it to fall apart like that. Anyway, I just bought a whole set of the Tramontina due to it's being less expensive than, say, All-clad. I really hope the fully clad, at least, does not fall apart! I'm very disappointed in the disk bottom being so flimsy, I've never had a pan do that before. Worst of all I used that pot a lot and really liked it. It was 6 years old.

Of course I always have my enameled cast iron to go to, though it is a bit much to heat up to boil water for pasta...makes a great chilie though.

 

[Vegasrenie]

Tramontina Tri-Ply

The current issue of Cook's magazine compares Tramontina to All-Clad, Calphalon, and several other brands of cookware sets.

All-Clad won, but as they said, Tramontina was so close to All-Clad in performance that it could just have easily have been a tie. They found that the triple-cladding was equal (they cut a pot in half to compare), the handles were actually more user friendly, and the cooking was equal. What was the deal-breaker? The pots and pans were a bit smaller than All-Clad's. And that was it.

I've wanted to replace my not-so old Cuisinart set (which is thinner and pitting), and knew I just couldn't afford a set of All-Clad. Buying the Tramontina is a no-brainer.

By the way, they hate the disk cookware. It's usually a nicely made bottom (the disk), and sides that are too thin. It's this reason that they gave low marks to those that were constructed that way. In the case of the Rachel Ray set, it was worse than bad. The bulging sides caused uneven cooking and burning.

Tramontina's a go for me!

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

I do like the idea of tri-ply cookwear, for some things. I do have a disk-bottom SS frying pan that does wonderful things with crepe's and eggs. I have never had a problem with it. But before you spend a lot of money on any set of pans, think about what you will be cooking in them. I have a hodge-podge mixture that includes some great, well-seasoned cast iron, a nice cast iron dutch oven, some aluminum pots, some stainless steel pots, and one enamled cast iron pot. None of these items cost me an arm and a leg. In fact, my favorite pan, a griswold cast iron pan, a true collectable, I received for free from a curios store owner. He was tired of people turning their collective noses up at this pan, that is in pefect condition. They didn't understand its usefulness, or value. He knew I appreciated fine cookwear and gave it to me simply because I did apreciate the pan.

Expensive pans don't necessarily cook any better than cheap pans, if the cheap pans are well made and you know what to look for in a pan. They will impress your guests though. Me, I'd rather impress them with the quality of the food they eat, than with pretty pans. Just stay away from cheap, teflon pans. They will be ruined with normal use in less than two years, and will need replacing. I don't have a teflon pan in my home. I have no use for them. And my pans are all designed to sithstand a lifetime of abuse, by me. The name brands of my pans are Tramontina - the disk-bottomed SS fryign pan, Wagner - 12 inch cast iron frying pan and 8 inch skillet, Griswold - my ten inch cast-iron frying pan, Lodge - 12 inch cast iron frying pan, 12 inch camp dutch oven and 8 inch skillet, Revereware - Aluminum clad SS 3 quart pot, 2 quart pot, 1 quart pot, and 5 quart stew pot.

All of these are cheap, and all make great food with my gas stove and oven. What more can you ask for out of cookwear. Oh, and they all clean up easily when used properly. The cast iron cleans up easily no matter whether I use them properly or not.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Vegasrenie]

I like the way you think, lol!

I know exactly what you're saying. I spent a fortune for three frying pans that turned out to be terrible - but not from a cooking standpoint. They do a good job with sauteeing and pan frying. But because of the way the very cheap handle was welded onto the outside, they get branding iron hot in no time.

I have two small All-Clad items - a small frying pan and a 1 qt pan which are the two of the best items I own. I have the infamous cast iron frying pan, an enameled dutch oven (not a La Crueset, but it does just fine thankyouverymuch), one nonstick pan for my morning eggs (that's all it's used for) and a nice All-Clad 12" skillet which was alone on a clearance rack for $49.00. OF COURSE I grabbed it. The way I ran out of the store after paying for it, you woulda thunk I was a shoplifter! I have some miscellaneous smaller stock pots, but long for a big one to make stock that I can freeze.

Those are my "good" pans.

My set of everyday pans is Cuisinart, who makes great appliances, but suck at making cookware. The pots and pans are pitting, discolored, and too thin to do a good consistent job. I rarely use the frying pans because they have a disconcerting habit of scorching my food.

I saw Tramontina at Costco, and it felt pretty hefty and seemed well made to me. Reading that article just confirmed what I had figured out. I don't really need an entire set, but will may get one just because it's usually cheaper than getting open stock.

So I have three pans that I spent an embarrassing amount of money for, and will be getting a set of pans that cost less than one of those. Thereyago.

 

[Andy M.]

...Those are my "good" pans.

My set of everyday pans is Cuisinart, who makes great appliances, but suck at making cookware...

You have a set of everyday pans and another set of good pans? When do you use those?

The Tramontina are good pans. I think you'll be happy with them.

 

[mike in brooklyn]

bluemack:

As has been mentioned before, they only time there is a practical difference between the two is with a small pan/disk where the flame of a gas stove could reach beyond the edge of a disk and cause burning of the food within. That makes it more than a cosmetic difference. It's also less expensive to make a disk-bottomed pan so you can buy them for less.

I cannot imagine there would be a difference in a 12-quart pot. I have a 12-quart Tramontina with a disk bottom and I never have a problem.

If you are cooking soup in a 12 qt. pot I think a tri-ply system is totally
unnecessary - the liquid will boil @ 212F at sea level and the
addition of an aluminum core on the sides will have no effect at all.
I can partially understand tri-ply in a saute pan - the stainless makes it
a cinch to clean and maintain and the aluminum core insures even heating,
but, so would a hard annodized aluminum pan or a heavy duty aluminum pan. Any restaurant cooks out there to report on what they are using?
According to what I've heard they use plain, heavy duty aluminum in
most restaurants.

 

[Andy M.]

If you are cooking soup in a 12 qt. pot I think a tri-ply system is totally
unnecessary - the liquid will boil @ 212F at sea level and the
addition of an aluminum core on the sides will have no effect at all...

Boiling a pot full of liquid is not the issue. If you're using the pot to make a tomato sauce, for example, you usually saute or sweat aromatics to get the ball rolling. A plain SS pan bottom (no disk, no cladding) is likely to cause burning. Later, the solids in the tomatoes and other ingredients can also stick to the bottom and burn.

An anodized aluminum pot will certainly prevent this problem as well as a clad or disk-bottomed pan.

The real issue with disk bottom pans is that the smaller pans can't have large enough disks to cover the whole burner, allowing the direct heat from the burner to hit the single layer of SS causing scorching/burning.

I have a 20-quart SS stockpot that I bought as part of a set: 8, 12, 16 and 20-quart stockpots with lids for $20.00! The SS is paper thin and they won't last forever. All I use it for is making stock and brining turkeys. It works fine in those applications as the pot is always full of liquid. I wouldn't use it to make sauce or soup, or stew. The metal is too thin.

 

[mike in brooklyn]

Boiling a pot full of liquid is not the issue. If you're using the pot to make a tomato sauce, for example, you usually saute or sweat aromatics to get the ball rolling. A plain SS pan bottom (no disk, no cladding) is likely to cause burning. Later, the solids in the tomatoes and other ingredients can also stick to the bottom and burn.

An anodized aluminum pot will certainly prevent this problem as well as a clad or disk-bottomed pan.

The real issue with disk bottom pans is that the smaller pans can't have large enough disks to cover the whole burner, allowing the direct heat from the burner to hit the single layer of SS causing scorching/burning.

I have a 20-quart SS stockpot that I bought as part of a set: 8, 12, 16 and 20-quart stockpots with lids for $20.00! The SS is paper thin and they won't last forever. All I use it for is making stock and brining turkeys. It works fine in those applications as the pot is always full of liquid. I wouldn't use it to make sauce or soup, or stew. The metal is too thin.

Right you are Andy - I was thinking of SS with an aluminum disk and
should have been more explicit.
The only SS pot I have without a disk is an 8qt pasta pot.
My favorite is a 10 qt Anadized

 

[FincaPerlitas]

I have several pieces of Tramontina cookware and am satisfied with all. If I needed new sauce pans or pots, I'd certainly consider their tri-ply line. However, most of my pots and pans are from the Cuisinart Chef's Classic line, and I've been totally satisfied with them.

For those of you who aren't satisfied with your Cuisinarts, are they Chef's Classic or another line. The reason I ask is that I frequently recommend this line of cookware as a "best buy". If some of you are having problems with it, I'd really like to know.

 

[marigeorge]

I have a couple Tramontina pans that I love. I am on the lookout for a frying pan. I knew I should have bought one I saw at Tuesday AM, but didn't, the next time I went in it was gone. They are comparable to All-Clad.

 

[Vegasrenie]

After about four years, my Cuisinarts shouldn't be pitting. Honestly, I'm not sure what line it is, but that's inexcusable. My cast iron pan has been around since the 70's, and my little All-Clads (8" pan and 1 qt pot) keep chugging on.

I'm looking for the Tramontina Triply, but have had no luck finding it locally. {{sigh}}.

 

[mike in brooklyn]

After about four years, my Cuisinarts shouldn't be pitting. Honestly, I'm not sure what line it is, but that's inexcusable. My cast iron pan has been around since the 70's, and my little All-Clads (8" pan and 1 qt pot) keep chugging on.

I'm looking for the Tramontina Triply, but have had no luck finding it locally. {{sigh}}.

Pitting stainless steel is sometimes caused by salt.
I would email Cuisinart and complain - they may replace the set.
I have been using Farberware SS with a disk of alum. for 10
years - no pitting.

 

[black chef]

i'm not so financially well-off, and even though i love to cook, i could NEVER justify spending so much $$$ on all-clad.

so, i've spent my time trying to find good, quality cookware, and i ended-up buying a combination of tramontina and a few french style skillets from the restaurant supply store-they're matfer fry pans.

a long time ago, i scored a nice tri-ply set from sam's club labeled as member's mark. i do believe they are made by tramontina, and they perform well. my parents "borrowed" that set and i haven't seen it since.

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

i'm not so financially well-off, and even though i love to cook, i could NEVER justify spending so much $$$ on all-clad.

so, i've spent my time trying to find good, quality cookware, and i ended-up buying a combination of tramontina and a few french style skillets from the restaurant supply store-they're matfer fry pans.

a long time ago, i scored a nice tri-ply set from sam's club labeled as member's mark. i do believe they are made by tramontina, and they perform well. my parents "borrowed" that set and i haven't seen it since.

I'm feeling your pain, black chef. Only, it's usually the other way around, with kids stealing parents pans and never returning them.

I make a living of about 43K-bucks a year in a single-income family. I've never been rich. But that doesn't keep me from preparing good food. I listed my pots and pans in an ealier post in this thread and so am not going to bore everyone by listing them again. But I will quote a gentleman from another cooking site from several years back. His tag-line at the end of every post read something like, and I'm paraphrasing here, The pot isn't nearly as important as is what you put into the pot. I've found that to be a law, like Newton's laws of Motion.

Seeeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[spazzdance]

Hi guys, this is my 1st post I'm glad I found this forum...
I love my Tramontina 6.5 Qt Dutch Oven and the 4 qt Tri-ply sauce pan I recently bought from Walmart.. I just got off the phone with a customer service rep at Tramontina USA.. She informed me that Walmart stores and website will soon (she said in June) be carrying a few more pieces of Tramontina Tri-ply open stock and also sets... Woohoo... I'm gonna get a 2 qt sauce pan as soon as they become available.

 

[spazzdance]

I forgot to mention.. If you google Tramontina Tri-ply... If you see a site called 123west.com.. you might want to skip that one...they have a fairly nice selection of Tramontina Tri-ply but they are WAY too expensive.. I paid $49.97 for my 4 qt. saucepan with lid at Walmart...at 125west.com they want $123.95 for the same saucepan.. They must be nuts... The 8 piece set at Walmart costs $149.97..at 125west.com the same set costs $365.95

 

[VitaWright]

I have two Tramontina pieces. One is a stockpot with an ingenius strainer that locks onto the top of the pot. I love it! This is probably my favorite pot. I like the fact that it's not a full on strainer that takes up space inside the pot. I also have a 12 inch skillet that I purchased from Wal-Mart. I love that pan!

 

[black chef]

my local walmart has two different sauce pans by tramontina, the 12 inch and the 10 inch. they're also running a sale on an entire tramontina set for $149. i have all the pieces except the stock pot; i'll wait to see if they start carrying it open stock.