I'm looking to purchase just a large nonstick skillet (fry pan) and large saucepan with a cover. just for some minimal cooking, brand new to cooking. i don't need a giant set, have read its not recommended to buy sets anyways. hopefully nothing too expensive, there are decent pots/pans for like 30-40 bucks no?
All-clad is the real deal brand if you want to drop a lot of cash, otherwise go to Sur le Table or something and grab whatever the cheap one is.
All teflon non stick coatings wear out so I recommend getting the inexpensive commercial ones and replacing them every couple of years. You want aluminum ones for good heat conductivity. http://www.samsclub.com/sams/shop/product.jsp?productId=126262&navAction= If you don't want to replace them all the time, then you can get the scan pans available at Sur La Table. In regards to sauce pans, I would recommend the tramontina try ply available online at Wal-mart. They are 95 percent the quality of All-clad but about 1/4 the price. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tramontina-3-qt.-18-10-Tri-Ply-Clad-Stainless-Steel-Saucepan/5716482
I'm falling for the Fissler pans these days. So much so that I am ordering them for the VERY limited retail space at urbanCHEF and for use in the kitchens. They make a pan that does not have a non-stick surface (which can get scratched) but has a small diamond pattern in it which creates air pockets under the food you are cooking. If you are pan searing a pork chop, for instance, it sticks when it first starts to cook but by the time it is ready to turn over it releases completely. We should have the Fissler pans in about a week. Meanwhile, we have a number of other ones you are welcome to come in and try out. Some of them are brands we don't carry for retail but I would be happy to tell you where you can pick them up cheap You don't have to spend a fortune on kitchen ware but if you are looking for a couple excellent investment items that are going to become your go-to pans Fissler is a good bet. Hope that helps!
as rockbox said, nonstick pans wear out, better to buy a cheap one and replace it restaurant supply stores are awesome for finding cookware and dishes at great prices http://www.acemart.com/index.ep
thanks for the recommendations so far everyone. should note that i don't live in houston or even texas for that matter. live in ohio, thus looking at some of the nationwide stores to purchase from. i'd prefer to go to the actual store rather than order online, mainly to be able to take a look at the items. for instance, that acemart place, looks to be only based in texas. same with Sur La Table, at least when i went to their site and searched for a store, none near me. that tramontina saucepan rockbox recommended looks great, right in my wheel house. when you guys talk about replacing the non stick pans, how often are we talking with the cheaper ones? every few years?
When they start to stick a lot or flake. With regular use, I would say every 2 years or so. For the record I don't use non-stick pans very often. I generally use french carbon steel fry pans, but they require some skill in care to keep performing their best.
If you want to get a cheap pan I would save the non-stick pan for making eggs and be careful to ONLY use appropriate utensils on it. Then it should last you quite a while. Also, make sure not to over heat a non-stick pan, if you are making eggs it shouldn't come up. In addition get some regular pans that you can clean with an SOS pad. Cheaper ones will get some hot spots but you can live with that. Kitchen Aid makes an inexpensive line they carry at Target. Good luck!
Don't waste your money on a nonstick fry pan. Get an iron skillet and learn to use it. (There's a good eats episode all about that.) Here's one of the best: https://secure.lodgemfg.com/storefront/product1_new.asp?menu=logic&idProduct=3924 It'll cook better in every way than the most expensive all-clad.
I like cast iron but it does not cook better than all-clad in every way. For one, its very heavy. Secondly, cast iron has very poor conductivity which means that it does not heat up evenly. If you want to read a dissertation on cookware. Here is good write-up http://forums.egullet.org/index.php/topic/25717-understanding-stovetop-cookware/
Rockbox's idea looks like the best one. Tramontina is pretty decent. I will say this about All-Clad, it seems like a sh-tload to pay for a pot or a pan, and it is, but you'll probably amortize that cost eventually because they last forever (like 20 years) and plus, people will see your All-Clad and know that you are a serious baller who does not really **** around when it comes to fryin **** up. Sur le table is nationwide, I bet there's one in columbus/cincy/cleveland
thick (>2.5mm) Mauviel with the cast iron handle for copper. vintage Griswold for cast iron (dutch oven, skillet) All-Clad stainless line for clad. You can get away with the cheaper line that has no stainless clad on the outside, but the cleanup and fugly looks aren't worth it for me. If I need serious heat control I just use the copper.
