Reddit reviews All-Clad Tri-Ply Stainless Steel 7 Piece Cookware Set

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, I sometimes work 14 hour days several days in a row, so yeah.

Anyway, I'll offer you three recommendations, all available on amazon, because I'm really not sure what the selection is like across the pond.

First, this is what I have. I like Calphalon, it holds up and they have good warranty service. It is a bit expensive for what it is, but I like the design.

These pans are a good, less expensive version of the Calpahlons. They will perform just as well, and ought to last just as long. The handles are a nice addition.

Finally, If you're feeling spendy, you can go with these all-clad pans. They will last forever, they heat evenly and beautifully, but its up to you to decide if you will be able to utilize the advantages they offer over the previous two. Don't buy a Ferrari if you never drive faster than 80kmh, know what I mean?

Here's something fun to do with your new pans, also, it'll knock your girlfriend's socks off.

You'll need the following:

2 Chicken legs with thighs attached, skin-on, bone-in

2# of Yukon Gold potatoes

1 cup of small green peas (fresh is best, canned is really not so bad, don't get frozen)

1/2 cup of King Trumpet mushrooms (look around for them, it's worth it over crimini)

1/4 cup pearl onions

1/4 cup clarified butter

1/2 cup white wine

fresh marjoram and thyme

3 T regular butter

2 T creme

2 T creme fraiche

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Do the following the day before you plan to serve this:

1. peel the potatoes and submerge them in water, refrigerate them.
   
   
2. pick a few leaves of the marjoram and tuck them, gently, under the skin of the chicken. You'll have to pull
   the skin away from the muscle a bit to achieve this, but try to do as little damage as possible.
   
   
3. sprinkle the chicken liberally with kosher salt and put it into the fridge uncovered
   
   
4. put some thyme in with the white wine. put in a solid sprig so you can pull it out later and not have to strain the wine
   
   **
   
   Okay, day of here's what happens.
   
   First put on some water to boil, salt it heavily. Like seawater salty. This is to boil your potatoes in
   
   Now you'll want to pull your chicken out of the fridge. Wipe off as much salt as you can and rinse briefly under gently running water to get the rest. Pat the skin dry, and let it air dry while you do the rest.
   
   Next, start peeling the pearl onions. It's a pain in the ass, but you'll live.
   
   Your water will probably be up by now, blanch the onions until they are only still just a little bit crunchy in the middle, about 3-4 minutes. Pull them out and shock them in ice water to halt the cooking process. Pull them out and set them aside to dry.
   
   Next, blanch the peas, again, not quite all the way. Shock in ice water and set them aside as well.
   
   Put the potatoes in the water and let them boil until they are completely soft, then drain them and mash 'em up. Add in the butter and cream to whatever consistency you like. Adjust the salt. Don't worry if they are a bit chunky, it's rustic and shit. While the potatoes are boiling, preheat your oven to 450.
   
   Now is the fun part, hard searing with a pan sauce. Heat a large frying pan to about 350-400 degrees, and put in about an ounce of clarified butter. Give it about 30 seconds and put the chicken legs on, skin down, carefully. DO NOT PUT WET CHICKEN LEGS INTO HOT OIL, MAKE SURE THEY ARE FAIRLY DRY OR TERRIBLE THINGS WILL HAPPEN IN ALL CAPS.
   
   Now, press them down a bit with some tongs to make sure they ar getting good contact with the pan, and them put another pan on top of them for weight. Nothing too heavy - it ruins the meat, you're just trying to make sure that as much of that delicious skin is in contact with the hot oil as possible. Let this scene do its thing for about 3-4 minutes, and check to see that the skin is sufficiently browned, if it is, flip them and toss the whole thin - pan and all - into the oven for another, maybe 7-8 minutes. Ideally you want to pull the chicken out when its internal temperature is like 51.5C and then let it rest (not in the hot pan) for 10 minutes.
   
   Pull the Thyme out of the wine and pour the hot oil out of the chicken pan. CAREFULLY pour in the wine, wait ten seconds and turn the flame on medium high. Work it over with a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon to scrape up all the goodness and then add in the mushrooms, onions, and peas in that order, waiting about a minute between each. You should get hot cooked veggies with a nicely reduced sauce.
   
   Now to plate put a pile of potatoes in the middle of the plate, smack the chicken leg into the middle of it, and pour the veggies and pan sauce over the top of the whole godawful mess. Eat it with your face and dance a dance of joy.
   
   Good luck on your culinary adventures and holla if you have any questions, I can always make time for a fellow redditor.
   
   Edited for formatting. It is super hard to format recipes on reddit.

Stainless Steel is a great cooking surface if you're looking for something that is non-reactive and very durable. This means you can get a good sear on say, a pork chop, and then deglaze with white wine without the sauce turning black from it dissolving the "seasoning" or reacting with the iron in the pan. You can then add some butter, lemon juice and capers and make yourself a picatta sauce or glaze to go with your nicely browned chop. that's just an example of something your can do with stainless steel that you wouldn't be able to do quite as well with cast iron (reactive) or non-stick (doesn't brown or deglaze well.)

My favorite stainless pans are from All-Clad. I have some MC2 series pans which are aluminum with a stainless steel inner cooking surface. My main sauce pans, saute and frying pans are this type. They are cheaper than the top of the line copper core or fully clad pans from All-Clad because the aluminum is not covered and thus gets kind of ugly after a while. But I bought my pans to cook on, not to look pretty.

I would avoid pans that are entirely stainless steel as they are prone to hot spots. I grew up eating mostly burned food because my mother had a set of pans from Lifetime...

I do use non-stick cookware for a couple of applications. Namely, eggs, grilled cheese and reheating leftovers. Stuff that sticks and burns easily is where non-stick really shines. I have a couple of cheap "by Calphalon" pans from Target that suit these purposes well.

I also have a cast iron-skillet which is well seasoned and thus "non-stick". I use this for searing meats when I don't feel like grilling as well as making cornbread. The "seasoning", which is just a coating of oil that's been polymerized from extended exposure to high heat, is pretty fragile and doesn't hold up well to deglazing or abuse from metal utensils.

I also have a cast iron dutch oven (big wide pot) from Le Creuset that is coated with ceramic. The ceramic solves the reactivity problem, but its still fragile and will chip and gouge if scraped by metal. My wife use an immersion blender in our dutch oven and it tore up the finish, so I've got little holes where you can see the iron... I'm still bitter.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00008UA7I/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_1?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

The same one is on Amazon? I don't think it's professional grade, but I'm also not going to be cooking gourmet meals daily. Just looking for something to make cooking more fun that'll last a long time.

Edit: oh actually the amazon one does not include the same set and I am most in need of the covered sauce pan... hm :(