What do you prefer and why?

Gigervamp

I think stainless steel for saucepans is hard to beat. It's light enough to lift when full of potatoes, easy to clean, looks good and you can use metal utensils without worrying if the coating's going to come off.

I bought 2 heavy duty SS pans back in the 90's from Tesco, and they're still going strong.

I do love cast iron too. I have a dish like this one that I bought in Aldi which was only £20 and it's brilliant, I really love cooking in it. I also got the frying pan that they were selling at the same time and I was given a small Le Creuset casserole which is really good to cook with too.

My stockpot is another stainless steel pan. It's got a heavy base and is brilliant for making jams and chutneys as well as stock. I picked it up in Habitat. It was reduced to £10 because it was missing it's lid, but I have a lid from another pan which fits it perfectly, so I'm very happy with my bargain!

My next purchase is going to be a hard anodised saute pan. I've been looking at the one in the Jamie Oliver range. Does anyone else have it?

My other lovely bit of kit is my Kitchen Aid mixer. Expensive, but oh, so worth it!

cheeswright

i wouldnt get the non stick j.oliver sautee pan - the construction is too thin
in order to sautee you need thick heavy base usually a copper disk coated in steel to carry the heat evenly - and then you want surface area so you can rapidly reduce at end without burning - also non stick means if you need to whisk something into the sauce at the end you have to tip it out - or risk scratching you pan - steel interior works better
j.l. do this one
http://www.johnlewis.com/230624762/Product.aspx it is branded and therefore overpiced but the encapsulated base is what you should look for - but they also do this one
http://www.johnlewis.com/230478282/Product.aspx which is v similar to the one you were looking at but 4cm smaller.. and much cheaper - if you have a john lewis locally i would go and have a look - they stock really good pans - you'll get a feel for whats quality - and then you can see if you can find cheaper unbranded ones elswhere -
I paid £15 for a mirror steel one a couple of years ago - but theyve probably gone up like everthing else !

andrinaperry

In my humble opinoin buy the best you can afford when it come to cookware, buy cheap buy twice

ALIBOBSY

I agree about stainless steel, would never have non stick again as I am too hard on it lol.

I have had cheap and expensive SS and the expnsive were defo worth it, they cook quicker and more evenly and have lasted better (as well as not getting red hot handles and lids), but the cheaper ones are not too bad. Ikea's SS pans seem to be ok and my big pot jam/soup is one of theirs with a lid which is great so far (had it about a year).

If we are talking bakeware again cheap can be false economy, espcially metal trays/tins which bend and buckle if too cheap.
Best ones I have were from a competition win-the make is good housekeeping. I also have a couple of Lakeland and AWT tins (were on offer) which are holding up well also.
Saying all that I have some cheap sillicone bakeware from B & M bargains (like a £ shop) which I love, espcially the muffin trays.

ali x

purpleivy

Hmmmm..... and now after 23 1/2 years my food processor has let me down and the grater/slicer disc carrier has broken right through. It seems so excessive to replace it, but it's the bit of it that I use most. There are quite a few things I wouldn't bother to make if I had to start grating by hand - my tennis elbows wouldn't like it either , I'm so clumsy too and end up minus knuckles and fingernails. - for example, the delicious oven baked rosti recipe that has become my new favourite. last favourite was boulangere potatoes. I could cope with slicing for that! Chopping veg for soup and casseroles.

The main spindle is quite badly cracked too, so maybe I'm being mean to the FP. DH has known for some time that it was on its way out, so won't be too surprised if I get a new one.

I'm contemplating a Magimix. Does anyone have that and the citrus press? Not the juicer, not worried about that.

Gigervamp

cheeswright wrote: »

i wouldnt get the non stick j.oliver sautee pan - the construction is too thin
in order to sautee you need thick heavy base usually a copper disk coated in steel to carry the heat evenly - and then you want surface area so you can rapidly reduce at end without burning - also non stick means if you need to whisk something into the sauce at the end you have to tip it out - or risk scratching you pan - steel interior works better
j.l. do this one
http://www.johnlewis.com/230624762/Product.aspx it is branded and therefore overpiced but the encapsulated base is what you should look for - but they also do this one
http://www.johnlewis.com/230478282/Product.aspx which is v similar to the one you were looking at but 4cm smaller.. and much cheaper - if you have a john lewis locally i would go and have a look - they stock really good pans - you'll get a feel for whats quality - and then you can see if you can find cheaper unbranded ones elswhere -
I paid £15 for a mirror steel one a couple of years ago - but theyve probably gone up like everthing else !

I've had a look at the JO saute pan and it's not thin. It's a hard anodised pan and about half a centimetre thick.

I did have a look in John Lewis at the pans and nothing jumped out at me! :rotfl: But thanks for your recommendations.

morganlefay

I always use le Creuset casseroles for oven stews, mine are all stained as I've had them about 30 years but they do make lovely grub. Tho they are heavy and I can see a day coming when I wouldn't want to lug them about the kitchen in which case I shall give them to DDs. I have an expensive Circulon saute pan which I think is rubbish - I always followed the rules excatly but things stuck to it and now it's just a pan with no non-stick properties at all and I hardly use it. I bought some cheapish saucepans in France and use them all the time - about £15 for a biggish decent stainless steel pan which has lasted for ever. I have a Tefal frying pan which is stopping being non-stick so I've just cut a disc of non-stick liner for it and it works a treat - hope we aren't eating that ! I recently bought a Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker from Lakeland and it's revolutionised life as it doesn't hiss and frighten me. I do stocks, lamb shanks with beans, beef stews etc etc and you really can't tell it wasn't simmered for hours and hours, and no scary steam and noise - lovely ! And I've got three tefal pans I bought in France years ago in a sale for a tenner, labelled 'Eureka'. They have removable handles and are extremely non-stick, so you can sear something on hob and then whack it in oven to finish - I like them a lot. And two small stainless steel saucepans from Ikea which are very sturdy and my stainless steel steamer fits over the top, so I do all my veg like that. Phew !

Gigervamp

morganlefay wrote: »

I recently bought a Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker from Lakeland and it's revolutionised life as it doesn't hiss and frighten me. I do stocks, lamb shanks with beans, beef stews etc etc and you really can't tell it wasn't simmered for hours and hours, and no scary steam and noise - lovely !

Pressure cookers have always scared me which is why I've never bought one. I'll have to have a look at that one. Thanks for mentioning it.

seraphina

Gingervamp - I got the same Kuhn Rikon pressure cooker at Christmas and it is indeed fabulous - no hissing/spitting and only the tiniest whisper of air when it's coming up to pressure - it's much quieter than normal cooking in pots and pans!

I don't mind spending money on good quality pans - unless they're non-stick. I'm afraid I treat non-stick frying pans and milk pans as semi-disposable after seeing my mum's non-stick Le Creuset pans last about 5 mins before the coating came off. That said, my Ikea cheapy non-stick milk pan I took to uni has lasted 10+ years - the outside is hideous but the non-stick has remained intact, despite stirring porridge with a fork:D

floss2

stef240377 wrote: »

Just thought i would ask as this poor couple looked like being harounded in to having something against what the 'MRS' had her heart set on. Poor old dear was going to have the full range of La cruesets from the sounds of it as Hubby said they were going to spend around £300 on the lot :eek:

To replace my four Le Creuset casseroles would cost me about £380 so £300 for a set of their pans is a reasonable price. Then again I only paid £8 for the four at a car boot!!

We have the 4 Le Creusets, a s/s 2-tier steamer, s/s stock pot, an M&S double sided griddle and a full set of John Lewis s/s pans that cost us about £200 almost 2 years ago - 5 pans & lids (from wee to big), 2 sizes of frying pan & saute pan with lids.

In 1997 I finally got rid of the pans I got as a 1st wedding present in 1984, red & white Swan enamel ones) replacing them with some Meyer s/s pans which were passed onto my brother in 2007 when we invested in the John Lewis ones.