I would rate this 4.6; reasons to follow:
To start off, I spent around 5 months of looking into cookware before I made a decision on these. Some of the "Honorable mentions" would be All Clad, Emeril Ware, Simply Calphalon, Calphalon One, Calphalon NonStick, and the Calphalon Anodized. After much debate, handling, and "weighing of pros and cons", I settled on this set.
The BreakDown:
I LOVE this set and would definitely purchase these lil' gems again. I plan on getting married soon and I'm the more of the cook in the relationship; hence, I was looking for something long-term and that both of us would feel comfortable using.
THE SELLING POINTS:
Stylish, brushed stainless steel coating. Looks good now, should still be in style later on. Traditional look with a contemporary style.
See-through lids (although it fogs up and you can't see anything anyway, it's a splashy idea nonetheless)
Smooth handle with "Y" connected handle - This is GREAT since the heat transfer area is slight and really keeps the handle safe to the touch. The other thing with the handle is that it's easy to hold even with the heavier pan (3-quart sauté pan). When I checked out All Clad's cookware, their handles hurt my hand. Theirs is in the shape of a sharp edged trough - I could barely hold the thing without pain; and this was before food was in it.
Weight: These don't really weigh all that much compared to some of the other brands. By no means is it lightweight; but it provides a "solid" feel to it. My Fiance, who has small hands (ring size 3) doesn't have a problem handling these. She used All Clad and hated the handle design and the weight of them.
Even Heating: it's been mentioned before, but these really do heat up evenly. Some (Emerilware) have this little copper/metal base on the bottom of the pan. Pretty much only the food above the base gets cooked and the outsides don't. I've never had a problem with uneven cooking, even with a largely stuffed pan. Don't misunderstand this, you still do have to rotate food while cooking; but this isn't a serious concern.
Non-stick: Although this set is NOT non-stick. It sure has some of it's properties. I can make a fried egg with no problem and saute stuff with no sticking. IF food does start to stick, see Tip 1 below.
THE BLAHHH:
Heating: It IS true...these will heat up quickly. DO NOT put these past HIGH! Even Med-High is pushing it. In my experience, I can saute onions, peppers, chicken ect at low-med heat with no problem. I can not tell you how many times I've burned olive oil in these things; and it's a $***& to get off. If you do happen to burn stuff in these, get BarKeeper's Friend. It takes off most of what you had on there.
Tip 1: I found out that after cooking a particularly "dirty" dish (or if food starts to stick to it), I'd have to use BK Friend to get it back to where food (eggs in particular wouldn't stick to it).
Edges: You'll notice that there's an edge for where the lid fits comfortably in place. The problem here is that if you burn something in the pan, you'll need a knife/razor blade to scrape this stuff off. Even BKF won't get off some of this stuff if you burn it on good enough. I like the edges, but the fact that there's no way to really clean this is a con.
Scratching: Ok, here's the deal with this. Calphalon DOES say that you CAN use metal utensils with this set. Using metal utensils doesn't hurt the cookware; but it WILL scratch them. I use wood or plastic with these and have had great luck with it. In the case that I do need to scrape stuff off the bottom. I have no problem with using metal. If I'm somewhat careful, I might inflict a minute scratch.
Washing: This really isn't a Con per se, but it can be a turn-off to some people. You WILL have to hand wash these and DRY them when you're done cooking. No air-drying here. It'll leave water marks and food will stick.
Tip 2: always use hot soapy water when washing this stuff and never put cold water in these when they're hot in order to get the "bits" off. You'll ruin it and void the warranty.
Conclusion:
From talking to other people, this set seems to be a bit more finicky about it's care and use than some of the other brands. For me, this has been a "Smooth" set to work with and it seems to be a great tool. Something that I'll be using for a rather long time. It is one of the more expensive of Calphalon's line, and you can't always find this line. Get the stuff early, and get all the matching stuff that you'd want - it might not be here forever.
