cookware... registry item? which one?

Okay ladies... a little help. With all the types of pans out there nowadays, whats the best kind to get or whats the difference between the kinds at least?? I just don't get it.

I brought my mom with me, she's a big cooker, and she picked me out some Anolon pots. They are non stick with glass lids and rubber handles. I really like them but, the big ones are really heavy when full (it's hard to for instance dump pasta into the collander).

Sorry I couldn't be more help.

I'm not really sure about the difference... all I know is that I was in love with non-stick Calphalon the first time I saw it when my friend was making home-made caramel corn and the melted sugar was just slipping right off the pot!!

I do know, however that there are several types of Calphalon.. they have the non-stick, the stainless steel and the anondized (or something like that) Good luck!!!

I originally registered for calphalon, but then I was in bloomingdales and I spoke to a woman there who was their 'expert' on cookware, and she told me that All-Clad stainless steel is hands down the best out there (at least, for your average household ameteur cook), so I switched to that. I did some more research, and it seems that her claim is pretty well supported

the one thing I prefered about the calphalon is that they had glass lids, where the all-clad has steel lids, but it's really not that big of a deal.

oh, also, the thing that really tripped me up was no stick vs anodized vs aluminum vs stainless steel, etc. I found that really most people recommended stainless steel, and then maybe one or two non-stick pans for cooking eggs, etc. There's no need for non-stick to cook most things, and there's really still too much up in the air about whether or not they can be toxic for me personally to feel comfortable using them. Aluminum also I didn't feel comfortable with, as their as claims (true or not) that their is a link between aluminum consumption and alzheimers. The claims may not be true, but I figure there's no point in risking it when stainless steel is pretty great. My mom got stainless steel for her wedding about 30 years ago and she still uses them.

I honestly don't know which is better and I did a lot of research into this. But here is how I decided...
All Clad is insanely $$ IMO and even though I cook a little, I wouldn't know a good pot from a bad one so I didn't think I needed the Rolls Royce of pots & pans.

There is some debate on the non-stick pans, whether the coating can be dangerous if it chips. I think the general opinion is that it isn't toxic. However, I decided against these because on most of them you can't use metal and FH will never understand that and ruin all my pans.

SO I decided to go with an everyday set from Calphalon that I can put in the dishwasher and I will also register for a few open pieces of non-stick. I registered for the KitchenEssentials Calphalon that they have a Target.

Good luck... don't you just love registering

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Posted by mcb916

I honestly don't know which is better and I did a lot of research into this. But here is how I decided...
All Clad is insanely $$ IMO and even though I cook a little, I wouldn't know a good pot from a bad one so I didn't think I needed the Rolls Royce of pots & pans.

There is some debate on the non-stick pans, whether the coating can be dangerous if it chips. I think the general opinion is that it isn't toxic. However, I decided against these because on most of them you can't use metal and FH will never understand that and ruin all my pans.

SO I decided to go with an everyday set from Calphalon that I can put in the dishwasher and I will also register for a few open pieces of non-stick. I registered for the KitchenEssentials Calphalon that they have a Target.

Good luck... don't you just love registering

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Oh my gosh.... I found that starting the registry process was one of the most overwhelming parts of my wedding planning thus far!!! Now I love working on it on the web sites from the comfort of my PJ's!!!

My DH is an amazing cook and I know how to boil water. He chose all our kitchen stuff and we got Calphalon.

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Posted by mcb916

SO I decided to go with an everyday set from Calphalon that I can put in the dishwasher and I will also register for a few open pieces of non-stick. I registered for the KitchenEssentials Calphalon that they have a Target.

Good luck... don't you just love registering

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I picked the same ones!

ditto

As someone new to cooking, I wanted an affordable, but quality, set that could learn on and decide which I like better, Stainless Steel or Non-Stick. We registered for Emerilware, both the non-stick and the stainless. Both 10 piece set is $199 each, and they are made by a division of All Clad. After reading some reviews, Emerilware got high marks for being affordable and good quality.

We have a divided side in our families - some are totally non-stick and some are emphatically stainless steel. We'll see which one wins out, lol.