Bday present for cooking Papa, desperately needs new ware!

I did a quick search and don't think there's anything on this board that addresses my specific questions...

My dad's bday is next week. He's the cook in my family, and a pretty good one. He can make all sorts of things, pot roast, stir fry, cornish hens, homemade bbq sauce. He desperately needs new cookware, so that's what he's getting for his bday.

Now, my questions, considering my dad make dinner almost every day, he's not a professional, but a very good home cooker:

- What are the key pots and pans that I should buy - looking for size, specifications, etc.? I want to cover the bases without being excessive.

- How much should I spend - looking for the cooking equivalent of a Toyota or maybe a Lexus, not cheap, but I don't want to rob a bank?

- Where should I shop - open to stores, online (Amazon)?

- Gladly hear any other good advice regarding this type of purchase.

THANK YOU!!!

I think the answer to your question depends upon whether your Dad already has a collection of good, higher-quality cookware now, and would like to expand this collection, or whether everything he has now is total crap and he should start anew. (Another consideration: would he prefer non-stick or, I guess, stick?)

If he is building upon a collection of decent cookware, I would suggest buying one or two pieces that you think he'll need and/or enjoy. For brands, I like the All-Clad Stainless. There is also the All-Clad MC2, which is sometimes cheaper, and for the life of me, I can't tell the difference between that and the stainless except for the brushed exterior. $150-$175 should get you one or two pieces of this type of All-Clad, depending upon what it is - small saucepans are cheaper, saute pans and stock pots are more expensive.

But as you said that he desperately needs new cookware, then I assume that he'll probably need everything new. In that case, I'd think about buying a set, which usually includes the basics- 2 fry pans, a saucepan, a small stockpot and lids.

It depends how much you want to spend. If you don't want to spend, say, more than $150, you're not likely to find a set of quality cookware unless you want to go bargain basement.

aschie30 - you're right in that what he has right now is crap. It all needs to be discarded. I'm willing to spend a couple hundred dollars to get him something nice. I want to get him a few nice pieces, and I can always purchase additional items for other occasions. Given the recent health concerns on Teflon, I'll get "stick" stuff. Thanks for your input.

Buying a set of good stainless steel cookware that is going to hold up to use and last a long time for a couple hundred bucks is going to be very difficult--well, impossible. Even the mid-range sets run at least $300 or so.

So, I have two words for you: cast iron.

If your father does not have any cast iron, here's what I would get him:

--1 Lodge cast iron skillet, at least 12" (approx $25, and up)
--1 Lodge cast iron cover for skillet (approx $20, and up)
--1 Lodge smaller cast iron skillet (8") (approx $10)
--1 Lodge cast iron dutch oven, at least 5 quart (approx $35 and up)

With the rest of the money, get:
--1 All-Clad 2-quart stainless steel saucepan approx ($100)

That's not everything he'll need, but it's a good start. You can cook a lot of stuff with that and it'll all last forever (with proper care). Next birthday, get him the all-clad 4 quart saucepan ($160).

Just my 2 cents.

Best,
Michael

Well, here's the thing then. You go to a line like All-Clad and a single piece is heading toward "a couple of hundred," a couple of pieces is $400, and one of those 7-piece basic sets is... also about $400. (Seven pieces is more like four pots and three lids, usually.)

To my mind, if you were starting from scratch, you really should find a set in the line you like that covers most of the bases, and then add to that as time goes by, because it's just tough to beat the value of those sets if you're buying more than a single piece. Maybe someone else in the family will go in with you on it? Maybe it's for birthday and Christmas? And next birthday too?

Did you see this old thread? A lot of good info on the various lines.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=1277

Once you have some idea of what lines you like, go to a place like Bed Bath and Beyond and poke around. Sometimes they'll be closing out a line or whatever and you can find serious deals on perfectly good stuff.

For my part, I'm not anti-non-stick but it has certain uses-- and certain things to definitely NOT use it for. I have a big Calphalon frying pan (bought on big sale when they changed lines), so I can make three pancakes at a time basically, and it gets a lot of use, but you only have to try to fry a hamburger in it once to see why it's no good for anything you want a crust on.

Mike G wrote:Well, here's the thing then. You go to a line like All-Clad and a single piece is heading toward "a couple of hundred," a couple of pieces is $400, and one of those 7-piece basic sets is... also about $400. (Seven pieces is more like four pots and three lids, usually.)

To my mind, if you were starting from scratch, you really should find a set in the line you like that covers most of the bases, and then add to that as time goes by...

I agree with the above. I was lucky enough to get a set of Belgique (stainless steel) and thereafter a set of Le Creuset some years back, both on sale, and the cost was really quite low for each even without the sale. Since then, a couple of individual additions I've made have cost as much as the original sets did.

In other words, sets can be great deals.

Antonius

For either a whole set or for individual pieces, check out the prices at Amazon, much better than (for example) Chef's Catalog. In fact, is Amazon still doing their Friday sales? If so, they may have some even deeper discounts if you order by the end of the afternoon tomorrow...

I second the motion of the All-Clad MC2. It's quality cookware, but not a bank-breaker. $200 probably isn't enough for one of the sets, but if you splurge a bit and shop around, you could get him a nice basic set of the All-Clad MC2 for about $300. Here's a sample on cooking.com:

http://www.cooking.com/products/shprodde.asp?SKU=213457

A set like this is a very nice start. If he's super serious, he'll want more, but this covers the basics and it's a great set to build around. If $300 is a little steep, I'd recommend choosing a couple of individual pieces rather than going with a lower quality set. If he really enjoys cooking, I think it's better to give him a couple of nice pieces and the ability to slowly build a collection than it is to give him a full set that he might outgrow but feel like he can't replace because it'd mean buying duplicate pieces.

The other brand that I'd consider, though it doesn't come cheap, is Le Creuset. It's enameled cast iron that's both beautiful and of outstanding quality. I have two of their dutch ovens that I use constantly. They make beautiful saute pans, but they're extremely heavy, so at least for starters I'd stick with the All-Clad in that arena. What's more, the Le Creuset enamel obviously isn't going to match Calphalon for nonstick properties, but it's no slouch. They're beautiful pieces that will last him the rest of his life.

Lastly, you mentioned stir-fry. This is, thankfully, a really easy one to cover. I'm of the school of thought that a good wok should never cost more than $30-$40. I won't go into the full spiel on wok selection here, but if you private message me, I'd be happy to elucidate. Expensive woks are not only needlessly costly, but in most cases they're actually inferior to a simple, cheap steel wok.

Hope that helps, though I suspect it may raise more questions than it answers

Here's my chance to again mention http://www.cookwarenmore.com

They've got irregular all-clad pots and pans about 30% off amazon's prices. Marshall's also sometimes has le creuset irregulars at very low prices.

Might not be the best bet for a gift, but good to keep in mind for your own needs.

gleam wrote:Here's my chance to again mention http://www.cookwarenmore.com

They've got irregular all-clad pots and pans about 30% off amazon's prices. Marshall's also sometimes has le creuset irregulars at very low prices.

Might not be the best bet for a gift, but good to keep in mind for your own needs.

I would also add that I have been hard pressed to find the so-called 'irregularities' on the few pieces I have purchased from Cookware N More. I would have to assume that All Clad has fairly rigorous quality control standards. On one pan, the only thing I could find was a small scratch on the exterior.

That sure won't affect performance.

I have a couple of Tramontina items--a 4.75 qt Dutch oven and a 12" French skillet. I've found them very useful: they're heavy-gauge, stainless+aluminum core, decent heat density and even spread. They're quite rugged; originally from Brazil, I suspect most are now made in China.

Sometimes a version of one of their sets is available in Wal-mart. But I'm not sure that that's the Real Thing. The authentic stuff is widely available, here's one site:

http://www.125west.com/Tramontina_Kitch ... kware.html

It's not as good as All-clad, but it's awfully good for the price.\

Geo

i'm a huge fan of 'blue steel' sautee pans.

good restaurants use them almost exclusively for sauteeing. they heat up quickly, conduct heat well, clean up easily, and just basically rock.

i was recently in northwestern cutlery on lake and they had a pretty good selection of blue steel sautee pans for $25-$35 each.

this link shows the kind of thing i'm talking about, although their prices seem a bit high.

http://culinary-direct.com/alias.cfm/Bl ... l_Fry_Pan/

I'll second Geo's recommendation of the Tramontina cookware, I think I have the same 2 pieces he does, the dutch oven and the skillet. I agree that they represent excellent value for the dollar. The dutch oven especially, presents a cooking surface that very nearly matches the Le Creuset in terms of evenness of heat and heat retention, at about a fifth of the cost of enameled cast iron. The lid on the Tramontina dutch oven isn't as nice as the one that the Le Creuset comes with, but if you need a tight seal, just put a sheet of foil between the pot and lid.

Also, the recommendation of a cast iron skillet is an excellent one; this sort of cookware has its limitations, but there are so many things it does well. Limitations would be the aforementioned tendancy for the iron to leach into acidic sauces; and early in the pan's life, before it has a chance to build up a surface, things can stick a little. But these are pretty minor, especially considering the things it does better than anything else (like a steak).

Not to take this off track, but how is your dad fixed for knives? The first piece of kitchen equipment I got when I moved away from home was a 10" chef's knife. To my mind, a sharp knife and a surface to use it on is the one thing that a kitchen really has to have. Cutting board-wise, IKEA had a large (24" x 30") unfinished wood block board for $10. I got the mystery oil that Northwest Cutlery sells and now the knife, board and I are very happy.

The Canadian Tire [don't ask.. it's toooo weird to describe this Canadian institution] flyer this morning listed an unbelievable sale on a Kitchen Ware 10-piece copper bottom set:

Kitchen Ware Link

If you've got a friend in Canada, this would be worth buying and having shipped.

And unbeknownth's point about a knife is spot on: does your dad have at least one superb knife? Life changing, that is... An excellent knife has become my standard wedding present. Tuesday Morning* might be a place to look--oh, speaking of that, might be a place to scout for pots/pans as well.

Geo

*?? Do they have these in Chicago??[/b]

While I concur with eatchicago that cast iron makes wonderful cookware at bargain prices, not everyone likes it. It's heavy. It has to be seasoned. It can't go in the dishwasher. You can't cook high-acid foods like tomatoes in it. Before investing in a lot of pieces, check with your dad on whether cast iron suits his cooking style.

In fact, that's really a good idea anyway. Most good cooks are pretty individual in their likes and dislikes when it comes to what they cook with. You might want to let your dad pick out his own birthday cookware. I've been given cookware and tools as gifts, and while I always appreciated the thought, the items were never quite what I'd have bought for myself.

And for all that you think his old pots are crap, he may be attached to them and really be hankering for something like a bread machine. Or a really good chef's knife.

Or, for that matter, a fishing reel. If you were buying a present for your mother, I would tell you flat out, no matter how much she likes to cook, pots and pans are a dangerous birthday gift for a woman, and you should consider something more personal, rather than a tool she'll use to make the family dinner. For a man, I don't know.

Finally, I find my cookware bargains, often, at Marshall's and T.J. Maxx. And while I love All-Clad, I'm a huge fan of heavy, cast alumunium nonstick pans as relatively inexpensive alternatives for many kinds of cooking.

Montreal Costco, this morning: Lagostina 10-piece quite decent copper-clad stainless, under $200. Don't know whether it's in Chi-land Costocos, but would definitely be worth looking for.

Geo

Thanks everyone for so kindly sharing your thoughts. This type of shopping is certainly an area where I was lacking expertise.

Very unfortunately, I've come across a road block. In talking to my family about this gift, I found out that my dad has been using some of my deceased grandmother's pots and pans, and while they are just as bad his own wares, he is attached to them for sentimental reasons. So, my plan to buy a set for him would be fruitless.

The knife suggestion, which is good, came up with my family as well. To make a long story long, my dad is trying to quit smoking. They're putting him on an antidepressant, Wellbutrin. It was recently in the news that someone on this same antidepressant went wack and stabbed his wife with a knife. Thus, we've decided that this is not the best time for a knife gift either.

Once again, thanks for all the input. I found all your comments helpful. Now, I know something about cookware purchases. Papa's getting a gift certificate to a restaurant instead. Such a pity!