My Set of Pots and Pans

Like I have mentioned in a previous post, I do not believe in buying sets of cookware. I know you save a little bit of money but you get pieces you do not need.  Also, different manufactures produce a better product than others.

Here are the list of cookware I feel are the essentials but it differs for ever person. Prices are just off of the internet.  Look for promo codes or coupons.  The Brands are premium but will last forever. You can substitute different, less expensive pans, just make sure they are similarly constructed and have similar features.

Sauce Pan- 2qt
One of the everyday pans you will use, great for veggies and sauces.

I recommend an All-Clad 2qt Try-ply sauce pan. $99.99

Stock Pot- 8qt
This pot is good for soups, boiling pasta or potatoes, or cooking for a crowed

I recommend the All-Clad 8qt Try-ply stock pot.  $319.99

Skillet- 10" or 12" stainless 
You need a stainless steel skillet to allow meat to sear and truly brown.  This does not happen well in nonstick pans.  Also, the browning leaves behind little bits called "Fond".  This is great for pan sauces.

I recommend the All-Clad Try-ply 12" Skillet $154.99


Non-Stick Skillet- 8" and 10"
Non-stick skillets are great for eggs, or delicate things like some fish. Not a lot of oil is required so meals are a little healthier.

I recommend All-Clad Non-Stick (8" $109.00 and 10" $135) or The Zwilling  Try-ply Ceramic (8" $49.95 and 10" $79.95) if you do not want Teflon.  Also, Swiss Diamond is highly rated, but I do not have any experience with them

Saute Pan- 3, 4, or 5qt
A Saute pan is great for all kinds of things.  With the lid it makes it great for dishes like chicken and rice or hamburger helper lol.  This is one of the pans I use quite regularly.  I would not put it top on the list though.

I recomend the All-Clad 3 ($99.99) or 5qt Try-Ply Saute Pan or the Mauviel M'heritage 250C 3.2qt Saute Pan ($549.95)

Dutch Oven- 5 or 7qt
This is one of those pans you will fall in love with.  Even cooking, that is slow. Great for pot roast or short ribs.  Start dishes on the stove and then move them to the oven.  Great for one pot recipes. Cleans up super easy.

I recommend the Le Creuset 7 3/4qt Dutch Oven.  $330.00

Cast Iron Skillet- 10"

Large, deep skillet that is great for the stove or oven.  Great for frying chicken or baking biscuits. Follow directions on cleaning and seasoning.  Never use soap when cleaning.  

I recommend the Le Creuset 12" Extra Deep Enameled Cast Iron Skillet (200.00)  Williams Sonoma exclusive product. 

A safe estimate of my exlcusive cookware would be $1500.  But, you can buy the pieces over time, wait for sales.

Windsor Pan

Now here is one pan that the pros use.  Its called a windsor pan, some manufactures call it a splayed sauce pan.  I have the 1.8qt Mauviel and a 2 1/2qt All Clad Copper Core Windsor Pan with Lid.

 These pans are used for reducing liquids to make them thicker.  The smaller base allows the liquid to boil and the wider top allows for evaporation, therefore thickening the liquid. (you can do this in a normal pot, but It dosent work quite as well)  On a scale of 1-10, how badly do you need a windsor pan? The honest answer is a 2-3.  It is a useful pan, but I feel there are better pieces of cookware  to invest your money in before purchasing this pan.

I would recommend  a copper pan in this situation purely for the precise heat control and the delicate processes of creating sauces. A fully clad pan could work well too.

Mauviel M'Heritage 250C Splayed Sauce Pan 1.8qt

Mauviel M'Heritage 250C Splayed Sauce Pan 1.8qt

Cleaning Copper Cookware

To clean your copper cookware, use mild soap and water.  Its that simple.  Make sure you do not use anything that is abrasive that will scratch your pot.  Also, do not use any cleaning products with bleach.  Over time you may find your pans become tarnished.  This does not come off in the food or harm the cooking performance.  It is only cosmetic.  This is when you use a copper polish. Follow the package directions, but All you have todo is rub it on the entire pan and then rinse with hot water, and dry with a soft towel. 

In the pictures below, you can see some of the polishing process.  My pots were not very tarnished when I wrote this, but you can tell a difference of were the copper cream has been applied.

Half Cleaned

Half Cleaned

Mauviel 250C 3.2qt Saute Pan 2.5MM

A saute pan is one of my favorite pots.  I use my 5qt and 3.5qt All-Clad Copper Core saute pans weekly. However, sometimes you need a little deeper saute pan.  Thats when I use my Mauviel 3.2 qt saute pan. The thing I really love about this pan, besides the cooking performance, is the higher sides.  It allows you to completely submerge chicken breast in a sauce or its really great for apple pie filling. I also really like this pot for risotto The sides are not as high as a sauce pan, so you can still roast things in the oven or reduce a pan sauce.

Mauviel M'heritage 250c 

Mauviel M'heritage 250c 

Mauviel M'heritage 250c 

Copper Cookware

Copper cookware has been around forever, Mauviel for example was founded in 1830 in a small french village.  Copper is on of the best conductors of heat. You can change the temperature very quickly. I use my copper cookware for mostly sauces and sugar, things that are delicate and you need precision heat control.

Traditionally, copper pots were tined. They would take melted tin and swirl it inside the pot to create a shinny silver coating inside.  The reason you need a non-reactive lining is to prevent the food from taking on a metal taste. This is exceptionally true when cooking acidic foods.  The problem with a tin lining is that over time it can scorch and burn off if heated too high. Back in the day it was easy to bring your pan to a metal shop and have it re-tinned, but now a days there is very few places you could do this with out shipping them off.  Now, most pan manufactures line their copper cookware with stainless steel.  Stainless is super durable, non-reactive to food, easy to clean, and will not scorch.

Things I would look for when purchasing copper cookware:
-2.00 mm or thicker copper
-heavy handle, usual cast iron or bronze
-stainless steal interior (my preference over tin)
-a 90% copper to 10% stainless lining
-heavy pan with a flat bottom

Pots I would consider to buy in copper:
Windsor Pan or Splayed Sauce Pan (for reducing, and sauces)
Smaller 3qt Saute Pan (great for stove to oven meals, I make risotto a lot in this pan)
1qt-2qt Sauce Pan (also great for sauces or sugar/ syrup making)

Cons to Copper cookware:
-not induction compatible (have to use an induction disc)
-tarnishes (dosen't hurt cooking performance, just work to polish)
-sometimes heavy
-expensive


Brands:
There are several brands, most of them come from either France or Italy.  Some are decorative or hammered copper. I prefer simpler, well constructed pans.  I would reccomend Falk or Mauviel. I decided to go with Mauviel Pots (12 of them). I chose them because they are still traditional hand made, thick copper (2.5 mm), and have a stainless steel inside. I love the pots, they are so pretty, and the cooking performance is truly amazing, so even.

I have the M'heritage 250 C line.

I have fumbled around with a few other brands at Williams Sonoma and have even see another french brand that look similar to Mauviel at TJ max for much cheaper, but the weight dosen't seem to be there.  Also, the few chefs I have asked say Mauviel.  I really do not think you can go wrong with any copper pot with a thickness of 2.00 and above.  Anything less than that is more of a decoration in my opinion.

Falk, They are not shinny, have a brushed finish

Mauviel 250C

 Mauviel

Cast Iron Cookware

Cast iron cookware has been around for many years.  It heats up very hot, but you can also simmer things at low temps.  The super heavy lids keep in steam and moisture as you cook, ensuring your meal turns out moist and full of flavor. Most of the time, cast iron is used for dishes that cook slowly (a few hours). They go from stove top --> to the oven --> to the table.

I am a fan of cast iron enameled cook ware.  This cookware has a durable coating on the inside and out.  This allows for easy clean up and you do not have to worry about seasoning it.

The pieces of cast iron I use the most would be a 5-7qt dutch oven with Lid, a 3-5qt braiser with a heavy lid, and a large skillet.

There are two brands that I recommend. Le Creuset and Staub. These are the pricer pots.  I recommend buying a few pieces, you do not need many. However, I bought a enameled cast iron dutch oven from SAM's Club for $39.00.  I believe it cooks the same as my high-end items, but I don't find the enamel to be as strong. That being said that even at that price, you can replace it several times vs the $290.00 of a Le Creuset dutch oven. However, you do get a lifetime warranty with Le Creuset.

Le Crueset, Comes in many colors.

Although I have no experience with light-weight cast iron, from my research, people say to avoid it.

Multi-Clad Stainless Steel Cookware

I prefer cooking with stainless lined pans for a few reasons:

1. They are super durable and there isn't a coating that can scrap off like non-stick
2. They allow meats and veggies to caramelize properly (brown) and leave the "Fond" on the bottom of the pan.  This is the brown bits that pack so much flavor into your dishes. Just use a little wine or water to deglaze the pan. Non-stick pans are awful for this.
3. Stove to oven safe.  (check instructions for max temp)

 Multi-clad cookware is aluminum sandwiched in between stainless steal.  The layers show from the edge or rim of the pan. (you can see and count them)

5 Ply Multi- clad with Copper

Tri-Ply Multi-clad 

Stainless steel is not a good conductor of heat, but aluminum and copper is a great conductor of heat. Therefor aluminum and copper core pans provide fast and consistent temperature control and allow for the heat to be spread evenly throughout the pan eliminating hotspots. (a part of the pan that is hotter than the rest casing food to stick or burn)

Clad cookware is more durable and dose not tend to warp as easily with temperature change.

**Some cookware manufactures attach an aluminum disc to the bottom of the pan.  This is done by cheaper cookware companies.  It does not allow the heat to travel up the sides of the pot like a clad pan does.  The disk are attached by wields to the bottom and can sometimes fall off.  I would avoid buying these.  It gives poorer cooking permanence and isn't as good quality.  This type of pan is known for hot spots.

When buying clad cookware, there a few things to look for. You want 18/10 stainless steel that is non-reactive to food.  Riveted handles. (I prefer metal handles, they are more durable and oven safe to high temperatures, but they do get hot and you need a towel or potholder) Tight fitting lids that seal in steam (glass or metal). Completely flat bottom, you do not want a pan that rocks a bit. I also prefer a pan with a little weight to it.  Pans that offer a pouring rim are also useful.

I primarily have All-Clad Pans.  I really like, sorry, LOVE them and think the quality is amazing.  The majority of my All-Clad is the Copper Core line (higher end line), but I am just as happy with my All-Clad Tri-Ply Pieces.  In fact, if I had to buy them again, I would probably go with the Try-Ply line.

I also have a few pieces of the Zwilling JA Henckles Try-Ply line.  I think this is a great alternative if you do not want to pay for the pricer All-Clad.  I would however rate the quality a little less than All-Clad but I think the cooking difference is so minimal it doesn't make a difference. Its still a kick ass pan.

Look for my video reviews and individual reviews of the cookware.