I have asked Santahubby for a nice set of stainless steel cookware for christmas as my practical gift. So now the research begins. I get to pick it, and I want something that will last 20 or 30 years like my mom's has.

Tell me about brands that you like? Don't like? Held up well? Is suprisingly "non stick" for stainless as I've heard many of the newer ones are, or types that everything hopelessly sticks to no matter what you do.....

Qualifier: I want heavy bottom pans..... possibly heavy sided too. I just want nice pans that will last a long time. I do NOT have a grand to plunk down, but I don't mind spending extra to get good, lasting quality.

Tell me what you know please!

I have a good Martha Stewart set believe it or not....copper bottomed...REALLY heavy...at least 5 years old now and still like brand new. Stick-age is average.....I wouldn't fry an egg in there....but I make pretty much everything else in there.

Wasn't too expensive (couple hundred I think) and had 2 fry pans (large and smaller), 3 pots (stock pot, average size, and small), lids and splatter guard.

I like them.

i have a set of wolfgang puck stainless pots that i just love. food doesn't stick too bad, and they heat up nicely. i've had them for 2.5 years and they've held up great thus far. easy to clean too!

My mom has amc classic cookware. It is in excess of 25 years old and still looks in mint condition except for the lid handles. They chip if they fall on the floor. Nothing seems to stick even when cooking waterless. If you manage to burn something, like rice, just add water to the pot and it lifts up instantly.

AMC Cookware :: Eat better - Live better

I have prochef waterless pots. They about 3 or 4 years old and are holding up very well. If I do burn something, it is easy to clean. I burn bird food and rice at least once a month. None of the lids have broken inspite of being dropped on tile. Even the worst burn that all the food is black, water and a plastic scourer clean it. If I want to clean the pot with zero effort, salt in some water lifts everything off. I have burnt so bad that the pot was yellowed but it came clean easily.

This is a selling point to me because I hate cleaning pots. The old type aluminum pots are totally tragic to clean. The stainless cleans off easier than non-stick once it has been used for a while.

Revere and Farberware are good, heavy and costly. They can last a lifetime with good care. I have some off beat brand that we got on sale at Kohls 2 years ago and its holding up well and cooks nice. For ss or aluminum baking sheets I use Air Bake.

My very favorite thing to cook in of all time is my iron skillet. It is well seasoned and there is nothing like it!

Me toooo, cast iron skillets...and I have learned to duck when they come flying at me......

Cast iron can be very toxic if not seasoned properly. Especially older ones. Be careful!

Well...lets see......these pans have been with us for 20 years now....looking in the mirror...yea...I would say thats well seasoned....

Hey thanks all. I will write down these brands and take them with me to the cooking stores to go ask questions/look/touch...