Cookware suggestions

[jimlongley]

Like 'Leaky' I have a mix of stuff, "clad" from two or three different companies, some porcelain over cast iron, Calphalon, and even glass, and which I am using depends on what I am cooking.

I even have a battered old aluminum pot that someone gave to my first wife as a wedding gift for her first marriage more than 50 years ago, and that she used to settle the last fight with her first husband, right upside the head. It's the best pot I ever had for making mashed potatoes in, even all dented up.

[LeakyWaders]

Thanks for the input so far. I appreciate it and look forward to more suggestions.

I cook weeknights and we cook weekends. We cook just for the two of us. We don't cook anything fancy at all and don't really have any desire to do so. We have an old time electric stove with the spiral elements. The blankety blank that built the house managed to somehow fix it so you have your choice of either a disposal or a dishwasher. Long story I'll skip, but we have a disposal so everything is washed by hand in the sink.

I don't have delusions of being or desire to be a great chef. I just want to maybe grow and expand from where I am now by 10-15% while still keeping things very simple. We currently have a few decades of hodge podge that she accumulated over the years. I think it would be nice to have a matching set with matching lids that fit exactly.

I'd like to only need to buy one set of good but simple utensils to use with whatever I get. I could probably spend whatever I wanted but that would be like buying a Ferrari to take first driving lessons so I'd like to stick with a few hundred dollars for a set of cookware and basic utensils.

I hope I've covered everything. If not, point out what I missed and I'll try to cover that as well.

Based on your answers, if I were in your shoes, I'd go with Royal Industries cookware from Restaurant Wholesale Supply. You can mix and match the different sizes based on your needs and they have matching lids. Let us know what you decide on.

[RPBrown]

After many different sets over the years that have worn out, broken or otherwise just not worked, we "saved" money about 10 years ago and bought a Westbend set. Although it was very expensive up front, the quality is great, they after 10 years they still look like new, and they have a lifetime warranty. I figure I spent about the same for this 1 set as I did for all of the others together and will never have to buy another set. Since we bought the original set, they have come out with an expanded set which we purchased last year. We are now set for the rest of our lives and then the kids can fight over them when we are gone.

http://www.westbendcookware.com" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I included their web site for any that are interested. And, no, neither of us work for them, just like the cookware.

[SRH78]

Calphalon cooks great and cleans up easily.