Calphalon Contemporary Stainless 13-Piece Cookware Set

We all have had kitchen mishaps/nightmares that we chuckle about, and rarely do we let anyone outside the home know about them, but here goes.I received this set of pots one year ago, and I have put them through a testing regime that even Calphalon would cringe at - and would rightly void any warranty on. Before I start this story you should know I have a Wolf stove - restaurant grade, so it puts our more heat than the normal home stove and has an extreme ventilation system (thank goodness).First disaster - One dinner I placed some sauce in a pot to thicken and then we had a crisis happened at the back of our property that made us rush out of the house to address - forgetting the pots on the stove. Six hours later we returned home - the sauce was gone and charcoal remained at the bottom of the pan. I thought the pot was shot. A little Bar Keepers and elbow grease and (to my amazement) the pot was as good as new.Second disaster - both my hubby and I were exhausted from work and put some food on to boil (I use a Foodsaver so it's the ol' `boil in a bag' meal bag in those instances), but we both fell asleep waiting for dinner. At 3AM when I woke up (Hubby still snoring) the water was long gone in the pan and the bag had turned to charcoal - way beyond the melted bag stage - try `fused to the pan' stage. OK, the pot is a goner - nope, with elbow grease and Bar Keepers as good as new.Third disaster - dinner's back on the stove and one of our horses went down at the back of the property. Back out the door we went forgetting the pots. When we returned to the house we were so exhausted we went to bed forgetting about dinner. In the morning (approx 8AM) we went out to the kitchen for breakfast finding our stove still on and the pots had all turned to a tan color. OK, now the bottoms have to melted out of them and they have to be shot. Nope, a little more Bar Keepers and they all were just like new.You all have to be thinking at this point - why hasn't this person burned down the house yet...I'm asking the same question...I'm lobbying for an in-home cook now, but Hubby isn't hearing of it (chuckle). In over 30 years of cooking I've never had disasters like this, but I'm amazed these pots have handled it.All the above stories my family is chuckling around the table about these days - but it's the reason I'm writing this review. Over the years I've cooked with Teflon, cast iron, copper, etc - and this cookware is the best I've ever used. Teflon flakes, cast iron needs caution handling (plus it's heavy), copper needs `babying' to keep it looking good - this product is bullet-proof. Through all my abuse it hasn't warped, tarnished, and so on. This product is truly AMAZING and well worth the money. The thing that still amazes me is through all my disasters this year I was still able to pick up the pans without a pot holder - the handles were cool to the touch. All I did was place the pot off to the side (away from the heat) until it cooled down, then added water and heated it again, and finally scrub it with Bar Keepers - and they all went back to their new shiny pot-state - AMAZING! So, I'm hoping for no more disasters like these in 2012 (more than I've ever had in my entire life). If you are looking for the `Sherman Tank' of cookware that you don't have to baby - this is it! I'm now a die-hard Calphalon fan. I hope you all get a good chuckle out of my `disasters' - I (and my family) swear they are all true (to my embracement - which is now out there for everyone to see).PS - Before we purchased this set we read all the reviews and I wasn't sure if this was what we should buy. I was nervous that they may need special care, some unique needs for cooking in, etc. Heck, from the reviews you should be able to tell they are a beautiful cookware set that can be hung up for everyone to see - but from my experience you can determine they can handle everyday use (no babying) and end up being a 'hand-me-down' for generations to come. If they survived me this last year they'll probably be around for generations to come - kinda like the cast iron cookware from years gone by.

I have read many of the online reviews on Amazon and other sites for these. I chose these over AllClad because of price, nonstick because I wanted stainless, and other stainless models because I liked these handles baets and they have glass lids. The handles are very comfortable an not too long. The post feel balanced and are not too heavy to move. I cook on an electric stove top. The pots heat a bit slowly, but I think that is my stove issue not the pots. I have also been careful not to use high heat (as the instructions say) and I have yet to find the sweet spot between medium heat and the fastest heating time possible. A work in progress.Much has been written about spots and sticking and rainbow patterns. All that does happen. It is a learning curve on how to use and clean the pots. Lower heat than my nonstick pan is definitely the first step. Preheating the pan is a must. Also the food wants to be less chilled, so a time on the counter out of the fridge for meat helps too. Following these guidelines, nothing has stuck and cleaning has been easy. The staining and rainbow patterns seem to be related to heat, too much, and come and go depending on what I am cooking and how I use the heat. Still learning the right formula. Also, Bar Keepers Friend cleans these spotless and shining while removing the rainbow and any other spots. Remember to dry thoroughly or the water will spot. These are more work than my old pans, but they were cheap with bad handles and thin bottoms that burned as often as they cooked. So the trade off for quality is definitely more work (really attention more than work) but much better cooking results.

After reading many positive reviews I purchased the 13 piece set here on Amazon from Cookware King Inc. and was unpleasantly surprised by the low quality. This pots and pans have rough uneven finish, all grooves and scratches and the Seller claims it's supposed to be like that. My old Calphalon Brushed SS set that was purchased at Walmart has far superior finish and cost less than 25℅.I didn't cook with this set, just put it back in the box and returned it and had to pay over $50 for the privilege of seeing this junk in person. This purchase was a total waste of my time and money.

I bought these a while back when they showed up on sale. My main reason for switching to these is I wanted to move away from all the non-stick stuff I had. I'd heard of the brand and it seemed to be respected for quality, so I took a shot.The pans are wonderful quality. They're easy to clean, especially with the curved interior, so you don't get food "stuck in the corner". They distribute heat very nicely and overall I've had an excellent experience with them.The only issue I've had is with the lids. First off, they fit sort of loosely, so you have to manually center them on the pot if you want a good seal -- they don't just naturally fall into the right position when you put them on. The second issue I've had is RUST. The problem is that sometimes a little bit of water gets trapped under the seal between the metal rim and the glass center of the lid. The seal is lose enough to let steam* in, but tight enough that it's very hard to get that water back OUT when trying to clean it. As a result more than one of my lids has small amounts of rust along the underside of that seal.(*At least I assume it's from steam. I can't imagine much water gets in just from running water over it when I'm cleaning it, but maybe....)

I got this on a great Amazon sale and was very excited for it. But they are not as amazing as I hoped. Food likes to stick to them and they are somewhat difficult to clean. After a soak and a scrub pad they get clean, but their not "this is the greatest ever". They are much much better than t-fal or some other cheaper brand. I don't regret getting them, especially with the sale, I've just had better pans in the past. Oh course a good Scan-pan can sometimes cost as much as this set.