(Part 3) Best saute pans according to redditors

Boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into bite size strips, cooked in a large deep frying pan (medium heat) with about 1 cup of sweet dessert style, mead (my dad brews his own mead)... until the chicken is almost fully cooked. Drain the mead completely. Coat the chicken with light to medium sprinkling of greek seasoning. Return the chicken to the pan and brown @ 3/4 heat. The sugars from the sweet mead will caramelize a bit. Then turn the heat down to 1/4, add two bottles of classico creamy alfredo sauce and a bag of your favorite frozen vegetables. My personal choice is a mixed bag of Baby broccoli florets, sugar snap peas, water chestnuts, and carrots. mix the vegetables in with the sauce and chicken. Cover the pan with a lid, stirring about every two minutes for about 8 minutes. remove cover. let sit on 1/4 heat uncovered while you prepare the garlic bread. turn on the broiler when you put the bread in, not before, or you risk burning the top of the bread rather quickly. about 4 minutes is all it should need in the broiler, just to the point it's slightly browning on top, not blackening.

Hope that helps. finding a sweet dessert mead will probably be your biggest challenge. Although you could probably use an extra sweet dessert Riesling instead if you can't find mead.

Here's the pan I used.

This one.

Folks seem to love Cast Iron here, but I'm not going to be making rice or pasta or roasting a chicken in a cast iron pan, you can do those things and more in a 6-7 qt. stainless saute pan.

I probably use it most for pan-frying(*chicken breast, pork chops, fish) but I feel like I could do more with a saute pan & lid than a fry pan. Also the Sitram Catering saute pan is a little cheaper than the Bourgeat copper fry pan by a bit.

What would be the benefit of the fry pan over the saute pan?
Have you ever had a problem with welded handles (vs riveted ones)?

I apologize for so many questions. None of my friends are cooks so I have to look elsewhere for advice. I really like cooking and want to get more into it (still as a hobby but a more serious hobby).

allclad pieces, whatever you need, not non stick. And not stock pots, not worth it, just buy cheap ones for that. Start with 2 or 3 quart Saucier (round bottom) , and 3 quart Sautee pan,
Non stick pieces should be cheaper and not BIFL.
Good Knives, for budget conscious I recommend Mundial start with 8" Chef's, 8" carving and a pairing knife. Pick your color/handle style.
Cast Iron pan and/or dutch oven.
Some will disagree (about using electric sharpeners), but I'm very fond of my Chef's Choice 120 sharpener.
Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Make sure to get one with metal gears.
Cordless Drill not really buy it for life, but a good one will last a good long time, and really useful for your home. Bosch, Hitachi or Ridgid are usually the recommended brands.

Something like this should work well

I am a fan of Cuisinart. Cuisinart has many different product lines, and it can be confusing when you are shopping, especially on line.

First, they have some made in France, which are better than the made in China lines. Second there are two kinds of tri ply. Many of the Cuisinart pans are only tri ply for the base, and the sides are single ply stainless steel. Cuisinart does make some pans that are totally multi ply just like All Clad. (This is true for Calphelon as well. I think the Calphelon pan you linked has a tri ply bottom only.)


I would avoid any pans with glass lids, because I don't want to risk breakage, and there are options with stainless lids.

Finally, I use my saute pans (straight sides) far more than I use my frying pans.

I have a 3.5 qt and 5 qt saute pans. The smaller one is similar to this:

https://www.amazon.com/Cuisinart-733-24H-Classic-Stainless-2-Quart/dp/B00008CM6H

This ha a tri ply base and plain sides. It is fine for what I like to cook, but some people prefer the full mulitclad ones.

These are the copper pieces I have now. Got them for 330, 200 and 180.

http://www.falkusa.com/falk-copper-cookware-stock-pots-and-stew-pots/falk-copper-cookware-stew-pots/32cm-classical-line-copper-stew-pot-1.html

https://www.amazon.com/Mauviel-France-MHeritage-Copper-6504-30/dp/B00022M30Q/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=936P8A5VSKV78BENF632

https://www.amazon.com/Mauviel-France-MHeritage-Copper-6504-26/dp/B00009Y34M/ref=pd_rhf_gw_p_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=936P8A5VSKV78BENF632

And I'm waiting for these pieces to come in the mail.

http://www.falkusa.com/32cm-falk-classical-line-copper-paella-pan

http://www.falkusa.com/40cm-x-26cm-classical-line-copper-oval-au-gratin-pan.html

http://www.falkusa.com/32cm-classical-line-copper-cover.html

How much would you be willing to pay for a replacement pan?

Because you can probably go to TJ Maxx (or Marshall's or some other similar 'name brand over-stock' store) and get a 12" high-sided saucepan like this for about half that, or $40USD. Though even if you pay full price, a pan like that will last you decades if you hand-wash it and scrub the bottom clean from time to time.

I've got a similar 10" (I don't serve as many at home) and I can make rice dishes galore without burning.

testing notes

> The price for our winner is steep ($219.95), but it offered a stellar heating performance, a roomy cooking surface (a good 10 1/2 inches—a more generous expanse than the cooking surface of our favorite Dutch oven, as well as of our recommended skillet), a stay-cool handle, a helper loop, and a snug-fitting lid. But if you can’t bring yourself to spend more than $200 on a pan that you won’t use every day, and you can do with less cooking surface and a slight drop in quality, our Best Buy pan ($79.95) is a good bargain bet.

WINNER
Viking (listed above) - $219.95 as tested.

or

All-Clad Stainless 3-Quart Tri-Ply Sauté Pan - $224.95 as tested.

BEST BUY
Cuisinart MultiClad Pro Triple-Ply 3 1/2-Quart Sauté Pan with Lid - $79.95 as tested

A saucepan, preferably a Windsor pan like this...maybe find a cheaper one though.