 Great Cookware; but 4, not too terrible issues |
| Review Date: January 8, 2009 |
| Reviewer: ebay8503, Ohio |
I would rate this 4.6; reasons to follow:
To start off, I spent around 5 months of looking into cookware before I made a decision on these. Some of the "Honorable mentions" would be All Clad, Emeril Ware, Simply Calphalon, Calphalon One, Calphalon NonStick, and the Calphalon Anodized. After much debate, handling, and "weighing of pros and cons", I settled on this set.
The BreakDown:
I LOVE this set and would definitely purchase these lil' gems again. I plan on getting married soon and I'm the more of the cook in the relationship; hence, I was looking for something long-term and that both of us would feel comfortable using.
THE SELLING POINTS:
Stylish, brushed stainless steel coating. Looks good now, should still be in style later on. Traditional look with a contemporary style.
See-through lids (although it fogs up and you can't see anything anyway, it's a splashy idea nonetheless)
Smooth handle with "Y" connected handle - This is GREAT since the heat transfer area is slight and really keeps the handle safe to the touch. The other thing with the handle is that it's easy to hold even with the heavier pan (3-quart sauté pan). When I checked out All Clad's cookware, their handles hurt my hand. Theirs is in the shape of a sharp edged trough - I could barely hold the thing without pain; and this was before food was in it.
Weight: These don't really weigh all that much compared to some of the other brands. By no means is it lightweight; but it provides a "solid" feel to it. My Fiance, who has small hands (ring size 3) doesn't have a problem handling these. She used All Clad and hated the handle design and the weight of them.
Even Heating: it's been mentioned before, but these really do heat up evenly. Some (Emerilware) have this little copper/metal base on the bottom of the pan. Pretty much only the food above the base gets cooked and the outsides don't. I've never had a problem with uneven cooking, even with a largely stuffed pan. Don't misunderstand this, you still do have to rotate food while cooking; but this isn't a serious concern.
Non-stick: Although this set is NOT non-stick. It sure has some of it's properties. I can make a fried egg with no problem and saute stuff with no sticking. IF food does start to stick, see Tip 1 below.
THE BLAHHH:
Heating: It IS true...these will heat up quickly. DO NOT put these past HIGH! Even Med-High is pushing it. In my experience, I can saute onions, peppers, chicken ect at low-med heat with no problem. I can not tell you how many times I've burned olive oil in these things; and it's a $***& to get off. If you do happen to burn stuff in these, get BarKeeper's Friend. It takes off most of what you had on there.
Tip 1: I found out that after cooking a particularly "dirty" dish (or if food starts to stick to it), I'd have to use BK Friend to get it back to where food (eggs in particular wouldn't stick to it).
Edges: You'll notice that there's an edge for where the lid fits comfortably in place. The problem here is that if you burn something in the pan, you'll need a knife/razor blade to scrape this stuff off. Even BKF won't get off some of this stuff if you burn it on good enough. I like the edges, but the fact that there's no way to really clean this is a con.
Scratching: Ok, here's the deal with this. Calphalon DOES say that you CAN use metal utensils with this set. Using metal utensils doesn't hurt the cookware; but it WILL scratch them. I use wood or plastic with these and have had great luck with it. In the case that I do need to scrape stuff off the bottom. I have no problem with using metal. If I'm somewhat careful, I might inflict a minute scratch.
Washing: This really isn't a Con per se, but it can be a turn-off to some people. You WILL have to hand wash these and DRY them when you're done cooking. No air-drying here. It'll leave water marks and food will stick.
Tip 2: always use hot soapy water when washing this stuff and never put cold water in these when they're hot in order to get the "bits" off. You'll ruin it and void the warranty.
Conclusion:
From talking to other people, this set seems to be a bit more finicky about it's care and use than some of the other brands. For me, this has been a "Smooth" set to work with and it seems to be a great tool. Something that I'll be using for a rather long time. It is one of the more expensive of Calphalon's line, and you can't always find this line. Get the stuff early, and get all the matching stuff that you'd want - it might not be here forever. |
Great Set!!
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| Review Date: March 27, 2008 |
| Reviewer: M. Lane, az |
| I had purchased this set after deciding on a Calphalon Tri-ply set. I had done alot of research on the Triply set but after seeing these in store, I wanted them. I love the brushed look plus they are the same triply performance. The handles on this set are twice as thick and much more comfortable. This set did come with less pieces for more money but since I plan on looking at them for along time. I'd rather spend the extra money and get what I wanted. Upon using my pans for the first time, I almost fell over after hand washing them. They had the horrible "rainbowing" effect so many have mentioned. I had preheated them, let the food rest on the counter 10 mins as suggested, Cooked the food at a med. heat, then let the pans cool down. After seeing what had happened I came online and read some reviews on here and thought "Oh No, What did I buy?". I then went to Calphalon's website and right in the FAQ section it addressed this rainbowing and said to use Barkeeper's Friend (which I didnt have) or lemon juice. So I went in a poured a bit of lemon juice in the pan and within no time all colors were gone and they looked as good as new. They have cooked wonderfully. Even heating, much faster than my older nonstick pans. I have been using these for some time now and I love them. They are great. I would recommend them to anyone who likes to cook and is looking for a beautiful, yet effective cookware set. |
Great purchase!
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| Review Date: June 7, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Fred, Jupiter, FL USA |
| Before we received this set, I was concerned since I read the previous reviews after ordering, and some reviewers were concerned about discoloration. The flyers that ship with the product warn against using spray cooking oils, as the propellants may discolor the metal. We have avoided spray oils, used this set heavily for several weeks, and have had no discoloration at all, all pieces cook and clean well. A very complete set that works well on our flat surface electric range. I would recommend without reservation. |
A great set, depending on your needs!
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| Review Date: September 9, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Gary Gargan, New Hampshire, USA |
We bought this set a few days ago, sorry not from amazon, but this i wanted to add my review as I felt there are some issues to clear up. We bought this set because we wanted to get away from teflon which may have negative side effects on your body with long term use.
The other issues people noted include the fact that although it states safe for use on induction stoves, it will not work on induction stoves. This is because it is made of 18/10 stainless steel, and basically because there is alot of nickel in the steel that negates the ferrous qualities that allow it to me affected by magnets.
Other people have noted problems with water spots or whitish reminants after cleaning, yes we get that too, so we dry out pots straight away, and ignore the white spots. if you are picky there are cleaning products that will get this off, perhaps try lemon juice or vinegar. ( i believe the mild acid neutralizes the hard water)
Sticking, yes i am afraid this is a problem and there is a science to getting your eggs to not stick, we decided to keep one non-stick pan for eggs. If you have problem getting the sticky stuff off, fill the pan up with water and boil it until everything softens.
In the end, this set looks great, the lids are oven safe and we feel happier eating off steel than teflon. Our dishwashing has had to change but we can deal with that. Think carefully about how these issues affect you before buying the set. We love it. (oh, and the handles stayed marvelously cool too) |
Great buy!
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| Review Date: January 3, 2009 |
| Reviewer: Elizabeth Lager, |
| I debated for a long time over buying new cookware. I researched stainless steel vs. nonstick vs. all-clad, etc. In the end I ended up buying this set and I could not be happier. They have made my attempts at cooking new things turn out so much better. And they look great hung up in my kitchen. I've now had these for one year, and they still look and work great. |
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