Cookware Reviews

Heavy cast or rolled aluminum is the optimum material for pots and pans. Based on this fact, Magnalite cast aluminum gourmet cookware was the best you could get from about the 1950's through the '70's. However, there are some problems with aluminum as a cooking surface. Some foods react with it and cause discoloration; it's hard to clean, a fact that became glaringly obvious with the advent of non-stick surfaces. And there have been reported health issues related to cooking food in contact with aluminum (experts currently assess the risks as insignificant).

All-Clad is the heir apparent to the position of "creme de la creme" among cookware. The inner layer of metal is aluminum to evenly conduct heat throughout the pan. The cooking surface is stainless steel, the ideal surface because it is non-reactive, easy cleaning, and more durable than nonstick compounds. All Clad offers a variety of exterior finishes to suit your taste. Finally, this line is WELL BUILT. It will outlast anything else in the kitchen.

This may be the most expensive cookware but it's also the best. For a person who doesn't have the physical strength to handle very heavy cookware, this may not be a good choice. For anyone else who is willing to pay for it, this is what you want to cook with.

This is a superb large steamer insert. It is great for large quantities of veggies or whatever you would like to steam. There is nothing like the flavor of freshly steamed veggies! It fits perfectly in the 6, 8, and 12 quart stock pots. I have only used it in the 6 and 8 quart stock pots myself. It is made very well and is excellent quality built to last. All Clad truly is lifetime cookware, I am sure you will not be disappointed. And it is backed by a lifetime warranty, what more can you ask for? Highly recommended! A+!

After being disappointed for years by numerous teflon and other non-stick frypans, I finally took the plunge and bought a more expensive(though not the most expensive)product. I love this pan. It cooks great, cleans great. The dual handles make it so easy to "handle" and the size is big enough to make a family-size meal. I couldn't be more pleased so I bought a smaller size for single servings, eggs etc., and I recommend these products to all my friends.

My husband and I invested in Chantal cookware 17 years ago and still have mixed reviews between us on the value of that investment...well over $300 at the time. Yes, it cooks evenly, yes, it's sturdy, yes, it's even pretty...even after all these years.

My biggest complaint is that the saucepans are not non-stick and cooking rice, grains, pasta or creamy sauces creates a clean-up mess. We always kept a $20 non-stick pan on hand just for 'sticky' foods and used it at least 4 times a week. Every few years the Teflon would wear away and we'd have to replace the pot.

This time I purchased the Anolon Classic 2-Quart Nonstick Saucepan as my non-stick friend. I am thrilled and amazed at the quality of this saucepan for a number of reasons:

The 2-quart size is perfect for cooking side dishes for two. It's deep and straight-sided so you really get the full value of it's capacity. Yet it's not too large to cook one or two cups of sauce or gravy.

It truly cooks evenly and the pot retains heat so well that I can maintain a boil/simmer at a lower temperature. Pasta and rice cook perfectly for me.

The non-stick surface makes clean-up a snap and it looks like it will last forever. I even used a blender stick in the pot when I was making split pea soup and not a mark was left.

I wash dishes by hand so I can't personally speak to how this cookware will hold up in a dishwasher. Their product website, analon..., says Anolon® Classic is a hard-anodized, nonstick cookware - inside AND out - with glass lids and phenolic handles. The Use and Care section states that the Hard-anodized with titanium exterior cookware is dishwasher safe when using mild dishwashing detergent gels such as Palmolive®, Electrasol® and Sunlight®. The water temperature should be between 120°F-140°F. If the temperature exceeds this or the water is too hard, there may be an interaction with the exterior titanium surface causing the color to fade over time.

It's a five-star product in my opinion. There's no reason for me to totally ditch the Chantal, however, if I were buying cookware for the first time I would highly recommend investing in the Analon.

This pan made me realize why. Others had never been flat or solid enough. This pan feels like it is made of stone. It is very heavy, very level and distributes heat incredibly evenly.

You drop an egg on this Griddle, it stays where it is put, rather than making a hiatus for the nearest warp or low spot.

If you have a level cooking surface, especially something like the glass cooking surface I have, this pan is awesome. In fact, every Anolon pan I have is.

I am still trying to figure out why folks waste their money on Calphalon when this product is so much cheaper and such high quality.

Analon is one of the hardest to find, but the "best to use" cookware around. I have owned my analon cookware for nearly 8 years. I take good care of my pots and pans and don't use metal spoons or utensils. The coating in my pans has never worn off. I continue to buy more of their cookware and higly recommend the professional line due to the ability to put them in the oven, because of their metal handle.

I work professionaly in the Food & Beverage sector. I am used to professional quality products at work and like the same at home.

Anolon Professional cooks evenly and is a breeze to clean. With this most recent purchase, I now have over 30 pieces.

It is not dishwasher safe, but do not let that be a deterent. The pots and pans clean up with soap and warm water . . . no elbow grease is needed.

After doing my homework, I decided to purchase the Anolon 10 piece cookware set. I can't tell you how pleased I am with it as it is the first really good set of cookware I have ever owned. I love the see through glass lids and the handles don't get hot. The largest skillet is a little heavy for me but has another handle on the otherside which makes it easier to use. I have used all of the cookware and they all are equally great. I can't believe I waited as long as I did to buy new cookware. I'm very pleased.

If you like a pan with substantial weight, this is the pan for you. I love to cook in mine because it has the best qualities of cast iron (slow, even heating) but it is also perfectly nonstick. Cleans dreamily so far in the dishwasher.

This pan entered our family because the younger generation was doing a lot of frying-pan cooking, and scrubbing out the old (uncoated) frying pan was becoming a task that no one wanted to do. We needed something that would cook well, be easy to clean--in the dishwasher, if possible--and would stand up to hard use by the whole family.

I chose this pan because according to my pre-purchase research, Anolon Titanium uses the Autograph coating, the newest/best Dupont non-stick surface, and the titanium-composite outer shell means that the hard-anodized aluminum pan won't be destroyed in the dishwasher, when you use mild gel soaps and moderate temperatures (instructions included with pan). I've previously steered clear of anodized aluminum because I don't want to HAVE to handwash anything--as is evident from the paragraph above.

Good points of this pan:

** It goes in the dishwasher! We use a gel soap, setting the cycle to "Normal" and "Air Dry" -- the lowest temperatures possible on our machine. This size, with loop handle and stick handle, exactly fits the front-to-back space in the lower dishwasher rack. When we take the pan out, we season it lightly with olive oil before using it again.

** Lid is unbreakable stainless, not glass--a feature found only in the Titanium line among the Anolon products.

** Food doesn't weld itself to the cooking surface, so it comes off easily, either in or out of the dishwasher. (Use non-metal tools to maintain the cooking surface.)

** Sides and bottom are equally heavy--means no "hot spots" or "cool spots" when pan is pre-heated at a mid-low temperature setting. Even if you slop pancake batter up on the sides of the pan, the finished product is well-done, if a trifle bent.

** Sides are high enough to accomodate even a sloppily aimed pancake or a rather enthusiastically stirred stir-fry. There are fewer bits of food scattered over the stovetop after cooking sessions.

** The long, slightly textured stainless handle is comfortably shaped for a variety of hand sizes, easy to grip, slip-resistant, and stays cool during the average cooking session. The loop handle is also textured, slip-resistant, and comfortably shaped, but gets warm faster.

** The pan is oven-safe to 500 degrees, though it cannot be used under a broiler. You can start a recipe on the stovetop, finish it in the oven, and not change pans.

** Construction seems sturdy and commercial-quality, very heavy-duty.

Pleas note that most people probably won't need/want something this big and heavy. This is definitely a pan for feeding a crowd--or at least a couple of hungry teenagers and the other folks in the family.

We've not had this pan long enough to give a rating on its durability--the Autograph surface, if properly used, is supposed to be 300% more durable than standard non-stick surfaces. However, we do seem to be using this pan at almost every meal and we are definitely giving the durability factor a test. We'll check back in a year or two...