Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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96 of 98 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Experienced Chef Reccomends this line of Calphalon!, December 31, 2006
I have had Calphalon Tri-Ply pans for over a year. I am a school trained Culinarian and Certified Chef of over 30 years. I am qualified to tell anyone that these are "MY" favorite pans.
I typically use commercial products where I work so I am familiar with Calphalon. I have always liked stainless steel cookware. I purchased these for my home (I do most of the cooking there too!) People ask me all the time, what kind of cookware, knives etc. I use at home. I always tell them "Calphalon Tri-Ply is the best and most affordable system out there"! I don't care if my pots and pans hang in view of guests or how shiny they are! Don't make this a cookware consideration!
Buy a good set of pans, keep them clean and so what if they have a few scratches? Displaying expensive shiny pans only tells people you have expensive shiny pans! My pans are for cooking...not displaying! Every so often I will shine them up with Bar Keepers Friend. It works well and is not too abrasive. Just keep em clean inside and out and they'll be fine for displaying! Most people care less about what brand hangs on your pot rack! Or how shiny and scratch free inside they are! Yes insides do get minor scratches when using metal utinsels...so what?! It doesn't affect your cooking or product taste. Here is a tip for people who say clean up is hard...
If you burn something and food sticks... Simply place a cup of water in the pan, bring it to a boil. (similar to when you de-glace food particles) Remove from stove, let sit a few minutes. Wash normally with soapy water and scrub pad. I love the fact that I can just wash lightly and place in dishwasher!
Tri-Ply construction allows these pans to heat on the entire surface (sides too). Do not ever cook on high, except to maybe boil water! The pans will get too hot to cook properly. I always heat my pans, melt my butter/put my oils in, and then the food. This is the best method to get a proper sear or saute and the bonus is most foods won't stick then! A On a stove 1-10, a 6 or 7 usually is the range of cooking for me. I also like to remove the pan from the stove about 1/2 to 3/4 way through cooking sauces and vegetables because they retain the heat and continue to cook (overcook). Lids seal well. I love the way you can see the food without having to remove the lid.
Enough ranting. Bottom Line....Calphalon Tri-Ply is simply in my opinion the best cookware I have found and a great value. If you want to cook well you must start with good cookware! If still not sure...buy a starter piece! (perhaps the 12" Everyday Pan) Try different cooking methods...beat it up (if you can) and mark my words you'll probably get the remaining pieces!
Oh yes, I also purchased a small non-stick omelet pan for cooking eggs! Know what?! I have never had to use it! Stainless works just as good if not better at cooking all foods! So,
Enjoy cooking and always...."Play with your food"!
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77 of 78 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
From Novice to Semi-expert, March 5, 2008
My wife and I now enjoy cooking with fewer concerns and better cooked food while using attractive cookware. We were extremely disappointed in our Caphalon hard anodized pans that we purchased about 4 years ago and soured on non-stick/hard anodized from the experience. I also read on Consumer Reports that fumes from an overheated non-stick pan can kill pet birds, so for peace of mind, we decided against replacing our set with another non-stick set. We firmly set out to purchase a stainless steel set that we felt was a fair value, but would also last us a great deal longer than 4 years.
We had narrowed our choices down to the Emerilware from All-Clad, the Caphalon Tri-Ply, and the Cuisinart Multiclad. We eliminated the real, Made in USA All-Clad because of price. I don't consider pans to be family heirlooms and thus don't need them to last so long that I can hand them down to my grandchildren. A set of All-Clad's would've cost nearly 4 times as much as my budget would allow. I also eliminated the Cuisinart Chef's Classic because we didn't feel like it would last us as long as we wanted. I did recommend that set to my single sister however and she's very happy with it thus far.
Both the Cuisinart Multiclad and the Caphalon Tri-Ply are entirely wrapped in an aluminum core between two layers of stainless steel (Tri-Ply). However, the Emirilware only has aluminum disks on the bottom of the pans. We eventually eliminated the Emirilware for this reason. The Caphalon and Cuisinart have mostly similar pieces in the set. There are two main differences between them. The Caphalon has the pasta insert while the Cuisinart has the steamer insert. I personally prefer the steamer insert over the pasta insert. The other difference is in the covers. The Caphalon has glass covers while the Cuisinart is all stainless steel. My preference here is glass covers.
Our final choice was the Caphalon set because I actually got to look at them and was able to use a 20% off coupon at a local retailer. Though they also sold the Cuisinart Multiclad, I had to order it and they did not have it on display. I honestly think I would have been happy with either set. They both met my price point, quality requirements, included the pieces I wanted (the saute pan was a must!), and were high grade stainless steel. My only real concern at this point, was how to use and care for stainless steel pans in general.
After reviewing care and use instructions from All-Clad, Caphalon, Cuisinart and other internet sites, I wrote up a little document for myself as reference. Some of my notes may seem obvious to some, but they weren't to me since I was neither an avid cooker nor experienced using anything but non-stick pans. I have included the notes below to share with everyone. If anyone has anything to add or corrections, please feel free to comment.
Stainless Steel Care and Use
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USAGE:
· High heat only when boiling water or reducing liquids.
· Medium heat for sautéing, frying, or stir frying.
· Low heat for warming or simmering.
· Every oven is different so test the heat settings to determine correct cooking temperatures, starting with lower heat.
· Preheat the pan 1-2 minutes on low before cooking or to the temperature you intend to cook at. Never preheat on high to heat faster.
· Bring liquids to a boil first before adding salt to prevent salt pits and spots.
· Use oils or butter to prevent sticking, such as when frying.
· NEVER use aerosol cooking sprays. They leave a gummy residue that is difficult to remove completely, causing food to stick.
· NEVER store food in pans after cooking.
WASHING:
· Let pan cool before washing to prevent warping.
· Hand washing after soaking is preferable using a soft cloth or a clean Dobie pad and dish soap, drying immediately.
· Never use oven cleaner, baking powder, chlorine bleach, ammonia-based cleaners or other abrasive or caustic cleaning agents.
STAIN REMOVAL:
· Hard water can leave white or chalky spots/residue. Take 1 part vinegar to 3 parts water and reach a boil. Remove from heat and let cool then wash normally with a cloth or clean Dobie pad and dry.
· To remove burned on food stains, soak enough warm soapy water to cover the stain for 1 hour. Boil the soapy water for 10-15 minutes. Let water cool to the touch and scrub with clean Dobie pad. Wash again with soapy water, rinse, and dry. Repeat for stubborn residue.
· Barkeeper's Friend or Bon Ami can be used as well by first immersing the pan in warm water. Follow directions from cleanser. Rub in circular motion from the center outward. Wash in hot soapy water and dry immediately.
· Exterior can be cleaned using Barkeeper's Friend or Bon Ami and a soft cloth or clean Dobie pad then rinsing in lukewarm water.
· Clean diligently after each use and before reusing as stains or stuck on foods can be more difficult to remove upon reheating.
After a few weeks of use and care, here are some of my observations. After the first use, stainless steel will NEVER, EVER look like they are new. I don't care what anybody says. They begin to show wear almost immediately. I believe that the Dobie pad has actually caused tiny little scratches on the bottom of the interior and exterior of the pans, sort of like the tiny swirls in the paint job you see after washing a car. Cooking is much faster than non-stick pans and requires much less heat. The pans also seem to cool faster. I burned my food the first couple of times while finding the right cooking temperature. Food definitely sticks to the pans far more than non-stick, BUT, if you soak it for a little while, it is rediculously easy to clean. Barkeeper's Friend is a savior and will clean off almost anything off the pans. Rainbowing, is a part of life with stainless steel cookware. If you cannot deal with it (and I wouldn't blame you) then you may want to look at other types of cookware. I know I probably couldn't convince my parents to give up their non-stick T-Fal set.
In summary, I don't think that you can really go wrong with the Caphalon Tri-Ply or the Cuisinart Multiclad. At this point, it would come down to whether you prefer a pasta or steamer insert or glass or steel covers. With promos and coupons, I only paid about $30 more for the Caphalon over the Cuisinart set. If you're like me, you may also want to actually look at the cookware in person. As a first-time stainless steel cookware owner, I had to learn and re-learn a lot of things about using and caring for them. Thus far, it has been worth it. I feel like I'm almost a semi-expert on stainless steel by now. I find myself also thumbing through our cookbooks for the first time, wondering which pans I can use to try cooking new meals.
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63 of 65 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
GREAT set..., March 22, 2006
We just decided to switch to stainless because of the harmful chemicals released by non-stick pans at high heats, as well as a general growing interest in cooking, such as the ability to sear food and deglaze the pan to make great sauces.
We looked at cheaper lines, such as Emerilware, Cuisinart's Chef's Classic, and Simply Calphalon Stainless, and decided we didn't like the fact that the bottoms of those pans are the only areas that are triple-ply, so the sides on those are thinner and don't heat in the same way the bottoms do. Those cheaper pans also don't feel balanced in the hand, and so to me they actually feel heavier because of the awkwardness. The unibody construction of Calphalon's Tri-Ply line seemed to be the same quality as All-Clad's triple-ply construction, but cheaper. After reading reviews of people who have both types of pans, we decided there was no difference going with Calphalon Tri-Ply than with the much more expensive All Clad.
After using this set for a month, we really think it's the best value out there, and it's been fantastic. The food tastes better. The pans heat incredibly evenly and quickly, and the handles actually don't get hot, which surprised me. I personally prefer the see-through lids this set has, compared to the solid lids you will get with something like All Clad. Clean-up is no problem with Bar Keeper's Friend, and really, even if something *were* to be seriously stuck on there, which hasn't happened yet, at least you can use real scrubbers (unlike with nonstick). The best thing about the 13 piece set is the 3 qt. covered saute pan, which is the most useful pan of all. (There's a reason they go for one fifty on their own.) That alone makes this set a good value, because the 8 piece set doesn't have one and is only a hundred dollars cheaper, and with the 13 piece set you also get an extra giant 4 qt. saucepan and a pasta insert.
If you want a GREAT deal on this set, go to BB&B, use their 20% off coupon, and even with tax you will get out of there under three fifty, plus they often have give-away deals, such as the free fifty dollar gift card and free stainless teapot we got with ours. In any case, buy these pans, because they're definitely worth it!
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