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794 of 841 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT POT at a FABULOUS PRICE, March 21, 2004
Having used Calphalon pots and pans in our kitchen 20 years or so, and my wife and I both being avid cooks, and having raised four children in the process, I feel I can give some pretty good advice here. This particular Amazon offer is how I like to buy Calphalon, at least after my initial set purchase. Everynow then you see something really useful for your collection at a GREAT GREAT price. I've got this very pan among the 15 pots and pans in my Calphalon collection, and use it quite a bit. Some reviewers contend that you can't wash these pots in the dishwasher, you can't use brillo, or that the anodized coating will wear off, or that the handles get hot. Yep, all true, But, errr, so what? I have purchased Calphalon for my family many times, and most recently for my recently wedded son in law and his bride. What I figure about Calphalon is this: You got two choices with it: A. You can use brillo, toss it in the dishwasher and don't worry about it, OR B. Take very good care of it, meaning don't put it in the dishwasher and don't use brillo. Now in comparison, All Clad Stainless steel can be put in the dishwasher, but you're now using a stainless steel pot around an aluminum core, and I think Calphalon on a gas burner is the cat's meow as far as I'm concerned cooking. Copper pots are pretty, super expensive, but they are a REAL pain to keep pretty. (My wife snorts reading this...you DON'T know, she says. I guess she does clean our copper pots and I don't.) What I like about Calphalon is that you CAN toss them in the dishwasher over and over. (By the way it's the harsh dishwasher detergent that causes the problem of metal discoloration.) And I do use brillo. YES, eventually some of the anodized coating wears off (on the inside) and this way of cleaning them results in metal discolorations over a period of months or years. So what, I ask? They're just POTS, for gosh sakes. We don't need to mystify them. I still use the original pots I bought 20 years ago, and like the ONE RING, I don't think you can destroy these pots. I've dropped them on concrete floors, left them on burners and in the oven. And yes the handles get a bit hot. Use a hot pad. With metal handles you can toss the whole thing in the oven at any time. And I like the metal lids over the glass. They don't break. I can take off a lid to look inside the pot if I need to. I'm not trying to be smart alecky, it just seems to me that if you want eternal pots and don't EXPECT them to look brand new ten years down the road, you can clean these pots anyway you want to and they'll remain completely functional for YOUR lifetime, at least. If you're THAT picky about looks, you can get copper and work yourself to death using copper polisher, and alternatively brillo will still scratch All Clad in stainless steel (even though you CAN toss those in the dishwasher without discoloring the finish). So since no pots are PERFECT, then the PERFECT, but expensive solution will be to buy pretty copper pots to hang up and display above your stove (but don't actually use THEM), and buy the Calphalon to use, take shortcuts, be lazy, abuse the heck out of them and store them in the cabinet...<G> But I just buy the Calphalon (and a couple of copper pots and cast iron items for other things), and the copper pots aren't looking so swift either cause we (errr...she) got tired or cleaning them meticulously years ago. Pax, Chris
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