Let me add that the KitchenAdi Gourmet Essentials Brushed Stainless Set was recommended for an induction cooktop.

berob, you are so right - "For what its worth"

trusting a report that compares 'durability' of scanpan which will never peel to all those covered with teflon ... simply by the way it is made, scanpan will outlive them all.
and then they rated emeril's pots&pans - which, though made by all-clad, are only 3-ply on the bottom and have poor-heat conducting stainless sides - higher than 'real' all-clad?

how many professional kitchens use calphalon???
when it comes to cookware - you get what you pay for.

I'd still rather have very good cookware that will last for generations, like the All-Clad stainless or Viking. Yes, it costs quite a bit more, which is why it is discounted by Consumer Reports, but it makes all the difference. Cooking with excellent cookware is a real joy.

Spewey - just curious - do you have future generations that will take over your cookware when you're gone? I'm serious. DH bought me All Clad for Christmas which I'm not sure I ever would have purchased if the decision had been left to me. It seems so extravagant but maybe if I can get someone else to take it over when I'm gone I'll feel better about it.

I haven't used it that much yet but I do have to say I didn't realize how horrible my old cookware was until I used the new All Clad saute pan - WOW!

Anyway, I have no kids and I'm wondering if I need to plan to leave the All Clad to one of my nieces or something....

Our local news ran a story on this list when it first came out (because CR is local to us). One of the tests that they put the cookware through was leaving a empty saucepan on a heated burner. Of course no pots came through that totally undamaged but in the case of the Emerilwae & (I think) Calphalon One the bottom of the pan actually came away from the rest of the pan, cascading molten metal everywhere.

Just something to think about as accidents happen. So far I haven't put an empty pan down on an active burner but I have had the occasional pan boil dry (I'm hanging my head in shame now).

Nina

gibby3000,

What brand is your old cookware (the one you were using before you got your new All Clad)?

I love my Calphalon One. I also have a few Calphalon One Non-stick pieces; they are great too.

As a gift from my mother in law, I (meaning DH) received an Anolon advanced omlete pan. I wanted to hate it, but it works great.

When I spent the $ to purchase my Calphalon, I forgot to take DH into consideration...I bought large cooking pieces. One day, DH decided that he wanted to make oatmeal. Unfortunately, he couldn't, because the smallest pot that we had was a 3 qt saucier. Luckily, Crate and barrel had a sale on Anolon, so I bought him a 1.5 quart sauce pan just for his oatmeal. It was 64.00. I wasn't about to spend 100-120 just for a pot for oatmeal (i.e. calphalon).

My husband is very supportive of me spending money on cookware. When we first moved in together, about 7 years ago, right after college, bought a 30+ piece set from JCPennys that royally sucked; that's all that we could afford at the time.

Over the years, I have bought a few Tools of the Trade and All Clad pieces from macy's, they work pretty well for stainless steel. When I dumped the JCPennys stuff, I kept the T o T and All Clad. They both works well searing beef at high heats. Just go heating up tortillas on the stainless steel...You'll have a burnt smokey mess to clean up.

Back to DH. His attitude is, spend the money now on good stuff that wil last a long time. I am 33 and he is 34. He always says, "we have a lot of years to cook, so don't buy junk".

Mercedes - the old pots and pans were Revereware that I got when I got married 27 years ago.

I have several pieces of cast iron that have been passed down through at least 3, and possibly 4, generations of my family.