All-Clad 5000-9 Stainless 9-Piece Cookware Set: Two things make a kitchen...good knives and good pots/pans

For a good even heat, excellent quality of workmanship, and a dependable name, I can't think of anything better than All-Clad. For years, I used cheap cookware store non-stick skillets and hand-me-down pots and pans my mother used when she first got married. What a difference it makes.

Most cookware is way too thin, which leaves you with hotspots. For years, I would make up for this by using a cast iron "defuser" to even out the heat and keep the direct flame off the bottom of the pan. I don't have to do this any more. With the triple-layering, you get even heating, regardless of whether it's the middle of the pan or the outer edge.


Personally, I like the stainless. MC2 wasn't around when I bought mine, and I might have chosen that because of the low-maintanace exterior, but I'm not regretting it either. I don't have to be worrying about scratching through the coating with it and it cleans up easy enough with a little water and even less elbow grease.

Cooking will always be a chore, even if you enjoy the act in itself, if you never invest in good cookware and good knives. This is the first step on at least one of those. You might also wish to add a double-boiler, the steamer insert and a 1 qt. saucier; and maybe a larger stock pot (12 qt. if you can afford it), but this really lets you hit the ground running.


Product Features

• Set includes 2-quart covered saucepan, 3-quart covered saute pan, 10-inch fry pan, 3-quart covered casserole pan, 6-quart covered stockpot
• Three-ply: stainless-steel layers sandwich pure aluminum core for even heating
• Comfortable lid and stay-cool pan handles riveted for strength
• Dishwasher safe, but hand washing recommended
• Lifetime warranty against defects

Product Description
Amazon.com Review
The bestseller among All-Clad's renowned cookware collections, the Stainless line provides serious and professional cooks all the virtues that make All-Clad's worldwide reputation unsurpassed. Key to its high performance is a three-ply, bonded construction. Sandwiched between layers of stainless steel is a thick core of pure aluminum that spreads heat evenly across the bottoms of pots and pans and all the way up the sides. The interior is highly polished 18/10 stainless steel, so it's stick-resistant as well as stain- and corrosion-resistant. The exterior is gleaming, magnetic stainless steel that works on induction as well as conventional stovetops, and, with care, remains beautiful during this cookware's lifetime warranty against defects--and beyond.

This nine-piece set of Stainless cookware consists of a 10-inch fry pan, a 2-quart covered saucepan with lid, a 3-quart covered sauté pan, a 3-quart covered casserole pan, and a 6-quart covered stockpot. Polished 18/10 stainless-steel pan and lid handles are riveted for strength and grooved on the top for comfort. The pans' long handles (holed for hanging on hooks or pegs) stay cool on the stovetop but won't be harmed by an oven's highest heat. Although Stainless cookware is dishwasher-safe, hand washing is recommended. --Fred Brack

What's in the Box
10-inch fry pan, 2-quart covered saucepan with lid, 3-quart covered sauté pan, 3-quart covered casserole pan, 6-quart covered stockpot