Author Topic: Pots and pans that will last a lifetime  (Read 6610 times)

HappyCheerE

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Re: Pots and pans that will last a lifetime
« Reply #50 on: May 19, 2019, 05:26:38 AM »
We got a Revere Ware (copper bottom stainless steel) set as a wedding gift in the 80s and it is going to last our lifetimes and beyond. I can't speak to the current quality, but the ones we have are light, strong, nest well, and the lids are interchangeable for same diameter (frying pan vs deeper pots). Also love the insulated handles and knobs, which have never loosened or cracked. We needed a bigger frying pan and got a matching one on Ebay for cheap.

AnnaGrowsAMustache

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Re: Pots and pans that will last a lifetime
« Reply #51 on: May 19, 2019, 06:01:44 PM »
My pots and pans are all copper bottomed ones I've found in thrift stores. Choose ones that feel heavy, and where the copper comes up about 1/3 of the side. These are old school things, the kind with bakelite handles. They will absolutely last forever and they cook beautifully. What's more, modern dishwasher tablets will keep that copper gorgeous.

rivendale

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Re: Pots and pans that will last a lifetime
« Reply #52 on: May 19, 2019, 09:54:49 PM »
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Tramontina-Stainless-Steel-Tri-Ply-Clad-Cookware-Set-8-Piece/19581112?selected=true

Anyone have any opinions on this Tramontina set? keep seeing great reviews. For the price seems like a good value. Would add a wok and cast iron skillet elsewhere.

Am I being too cheap?

We bought a slightly larger set from Costco and love it. Wish it was purchased sooner. We use ss and cast iron.

TSpacagna

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Re: Pots and pans that will last a lifetime
« Reply #53 on: May 20, 2019, 10:08:26 AM »
Cast iron for sure, but I also recently fell in love with stainless steel

There's a company in the US called Hammer Stahl who is a smaller scale competitor to All-Clad.

I met the VP at a product demonstration at a kitchen store in Austin TX. Great service, full of knowledge and answered a bunch of my semi-off topic questions, and their warranty is fantastic. He told me "I could literally watch you throw this pan out of the window on the highway and we will replace it."
They also have a great lineup of kitchen knives that I will explore soon

nereo

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Re: Pots and pans that will last a lifetime
« Reply #54 on: May 20, 2019, 11:05:56 AM »
Cast iron for sure, but I also recently fell in love with stainless steel

There's a company in the US called Hammer Stahl who is a smaller scale competitor to All-Clad.

I met the VP at a product demonstration at a kitchen store in Austin TX. Great service, full of knowledge and answered a bunch of my semi-off topic questions, and their warranty is fantastic. He told me "I could literally watch you throw this pan out of the window on the highway and we will replace it."
They also have a great lineup of kitchen knives that I will explore soon

Do you have to go back and retrieve the pan you threw out the window on the highway?  Asking for a friend...

24andfrugal

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Re: Pots and pans that will last a lifetime
« Reply #55 on: May 20, 2019, 02:43:46 PM »
Another vote for cast iron. I have a couple pieces of Le Creuset and plan to purchase a few more over the next few years. They definitely cost a pretty penny, although you can score some good deals by going to outlets and/or purchasing secondhand. They are quality pieces and they make me happy :P don't judge.

I wouldn't go with Lodge for enameled cast iron, but for "raw" stuff, they're great and fairly inexpensive. They can also be found at TJ Maxx, HomeGoods, etc. for rather cheap (I saw a 12-inch skillet the other day for $13). Cast iron aficionados will tell you the older stuff was better, and you can indeed find a lot of 50-year-old cast iron for sale at flea markets and the like.

The downside of raw cast iron is, of course, that you can't clean it with soap, and they do take a lot of manual effort to clean. So we have some cast iron, and some stainless steel, the latter of which is Calphalon, purchased for $20 or so at TJ Maxx. It has gotten a bit discolored, but cooks great.

I dislike nonstick and would be fine to never own any...it's not good for you, and I don't find them easier to clean.

One thing I'd say is this: rather than buy a set, think about buying individual pieces. If you really want/need everything in the set it will be more, but I wouldn't buy a set because I don't think I would use everything in it. Maybe identify two or three pieces you really want and will use a lot, and see if that gets you where you need to go.

24andfrugal

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Re: Pots and pans that will last a lifetime
« Reply #56 on: May 20, 2019, 02:46:55 PM »
Also - be careful about trying to buy it "for a lifetime". Your cooking and eating habits may change, such that you find you don't need certain pieces or as many pieces or something along those lines. As an example, we bought a three quart pot on Black Friday which I clearly intended to use for pasta. Well...January 1st I went low carb. We haven't used it yet. Now I will eat pasta again in the future...but you get the gist.

Buy some mid range stuff to last 10 years or so, and see where you are then.

FIREstache

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Re: Pots and pans that will last a lifetime
« Reply #57 on: May 20, 2019, 03:50:42 PM »
Funny, I have one cast iron frying pan that's just a couple years old, a few glass-like Visions pans from the 90's, one ceramic crock-pot, and some non-stick pans.  Some of the non-stick stuff I've bought in the past has been crap and shown to wear off with little use, others have held up much better.  Even one of the Visions has a non-stick surface (still looks good - didn't use it much).  Avoiding using them with high temps and metal utensils is important.

It sounds like as a FIRE gift to myself, I should invest in some stainless steel without the non-stick surface.  I expect to do more home cooking then.
« Last Edit: May 20, 2019, 03:52:25 PM by FIREstache »

Case

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Re: Pots and pans that will last a lifetime
« Reply #58 on: May 20, 2019, 05:26:35 PM »


In addition to being so fragile as to be disposable, non-stick coatings on pots and pans are the leaded paints of our generation.  In the past few years the health risks and environmental consequences of those non-stick coatings has really started to clear up.  At this point, you couldn't pay me to cook on one.  I'd rather put asbestos insulation in my attic than cook eggs in a non-stick pan.

Uh oh :(

Earlier & cheaper non-stick pans use PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene).  In recent years PFOA ( Perfluorooctanoic acid, )has come on the scene and DuPont has begun a phase-out even though it says publicly that they are 'safe under proper use'. The UN is proposing a complete ban on PFOA after it has been linked to low birthweight and other developmental problems.

 @nereo and @sol

The non-stick coating has always been teflon, and still is.  It is mostly safe unless you heat it too high.  This depolymerizes the teflon and releases tetrafluoroethylene, which is toxic, and extremely toxic to birds.  If you cook on medium heat and are dont heat it w/out food in it, you should be fine.

The large concern is more with PFOAs, which are persistent environmental contaminants (like lead), and may cause cancer in humans.  This has not been explicitly proven yet, but there are enough correlations to draw concern, and its always better to be safe than sorry.

PFOAs are used in the manufacturing process, and are not the nonstick coating itself.  The very trace levels that remain in the teflon afterwards are not high enough to be a concern.

Im not fully certain on this part: although there were probably some spills/dumps of PFOAs durign teflon manufacturing, I believe the bigger environmental contamination was due to their use in fire fighting foams.

If you want to avoid cancer from cooking, skip pan frying all together, especially high heat,and  especially combined with meat, and especially with meat and nitrites combined.  Cast iron is really great at forming a carcinogenic char on meat.  Instead, just eat vegetables, cooked however you like.

 

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