cookware

[sage]

Hi! I'm well on my way to wearing out my two main saucepans and I need help. I'm staring at Amazon's cookware pages right now and I'm baffled by the whole aluminum / copper / hard-anodized aluminum / nonstick / stainless steel / cast iron question. There are so many options! I had no idea!

I have a crazy mix of different pots, most of which are hand-me-downs. My favorites are Cuisinart nonstick, followed by the Farberware nonstick, followed by a dented 3 quart copper-bottomed pot I got from Goodwill (it's a great size, even if it lists to one side a little *g*).

Anyway, the fact that there are so many options implies that the different materials mean something important, right? What do you all use? What is best? I cook only for myself, but I'm cooking a LOT now -- more than ever in my life -- and my poor old saucepans aren't coping well with the wear and tear.

Thanks for any advice!

Comments

[neekabe]

I'm a fan of Paderno's pots. My mom's still using hers after 30 some years, and they still looks the same as my brand new ones. They're kind of expensive, but they have huge 50+% off sales a couple of times a year (I always get a new pot for Christmas ^_~ )

[sage]

oh, pretty, and wow, good steel is expensive. That's good to know about the sales.