Does Cookware Matter?

As I stood there in BB&B drooling over a big anodized stirfry pan with a domed lid, my eye caught the price tag of $234 and I said to myself, “Are you crazy? You don’t need really need another pan, especially at this price.”

Then I looked across the aisle at the knock-offs and saw what looked like the same pan at a fraction of the cost. Hmmm... I wonder if it really matters or not.

I don’t think of myself as a gourmet cook, although I love to cook good food. When we remodeled our house, I made an attempt at modernizing my cookware by adding a few random Calphalon pieces, but not being able to part with many of the early-attic pieces that had served me well over the years.

I remember reading a comparison in Cooks Illustrated before laying out the bucks for the Calphalon. At that point I must have been convinced.

Looking in the first drawer we have hodge-podge #1: several Calphalon saucepans and frypans, a tiny All-Clad (Cadillac) frypan which was supposed to lure me to buy the rest, and a Revereware double-boiler that my husband brought into our marriage.

The bottom drawer is about the same eclectic mess: two Calphalon covered skillets, an Club aluminum skillet, and two pieces of the Magnalite I used before we were married.


The pantry holds more possibilities if I can’t find what I need in drawer #1 or drawer #2, including the ancient Le Creuset pot you see at the top of this post. I am happy to say that pot is still being sold today at $200, so perhaps it has actually appreciated with age. Well no, the enamel interior surface bears the marks of incorrect stirring implements used over the years.

But the question still remains – Is there a “best” pot/pan for every dish? Or is this all just a big ploy to make us spend money? What do you think? Do you have a favorite pot or pan?