spacedogg79

Sent an e-mail to BridgeKitchenware for a price quote on how much shipping would be to Canada for a Sitram Professional 11" saute pan. Quote from BridgeKitchenware: "...we cannot tell you the cost until the order is packed and ready to ship. As this order is valued at more than $50.00 USD, it must be shipped via Ground UPS, and the shipping is generally less than $12.00 for this item, but the UPS Customs Clearance fees are a minimum of $30.00 USD, and are payable by you before delivery is made, so it is a good idea to order more items to justify the cost of the clearance fees. Once we have a completed order from you, we will be able to give you a better idea on the delivery fee, but the customs fees are out of our control." Minimum of $30 USD. Which only means a good chance that they might charge more. Sigh.

Thanks for the help Sam. I will look at a couple American online dealers. There are a few reasons why I'd haven't even bothered to look at them before: 1. A lot of online places have reasonable shipping charges for within the continental US, but their shipping costs to Canada are often double or more. I have had several experiences where the shipping cost ended up being nearly as expensive as the purchased product. Online retailers justify higher costs since they are shipping internationally. I once wanted to ordered $40 worth of used books through Amazon.com. The shipping from the retailers turned out to be over $45. It was cheaper to buy the books new from a local Canadian retailer. 2. Customs and duties. Typically US made products shouldn't be charged duty. However past experience from friends have proven the way that customs people charge is quite random. Friends have ordered products where they were charged duty...and ordered the exact same product a second time and not charged duty. Duty charged can be quite significant and may significantly reduce or nullify any savings of buying from a large US based retailer. The US retailer generally does not know how much, if any, duty will be charged by Canada Customs. One must essentially gamble on "duty" Russian roulette. 3. Inspection times can cause delays at the border. I've had a package waiting at the border for nearly 2 weeks, when the product was originally said to have been shipped withing 3 business days. Usage of UPS or FedEx helps in shipping times, but delays within the Custom's inspection office is out of their hands. Furthermore usage of UPS and FedEx also increases the shipping costs substantially since they are charging "international" rates. Generally, buying from online American retailers has left a sour taste in my mouth in the past. It's often just not worth the hassle. However in this case, considering how several cookware lines are not available up here in Canada, I will look at a few online dealers again. Thanks

Hi Sam, I've read a number of your articles...great work btw! I am a student on a budget and I've started to get more interested in cooking recently. Ahh...I guess living alone will do that to you. Anyway, I've finally decided to invest in a good versatile pan...probably a good saute pan. I currently own a non-stick saute pan which I use a lot (frying, cooking pasta sauces, etc)...but now I would like something with more even heat and not non-stick so i can use it to sear and develop fond. I'm willing to pay a little more for quality...since I'm sure it will last me for many years to come. I want to go with stainless steel (as opposed to copper) because of the lower cost and maintenance...but then again...my apartment doesn't have a dishwasher, so "dishwasher safe" isn't really that big of a feature for me. Size wise I'd probably go with 11" or 12" (4qt - 5qt) size. You seem to recommend the curved saute evasee type pans...i'm not really commited to a particular type of pan...but curved pans seems to be a little less common at the stores here than the straight sided saute pans...so I have mainly been looking at straight sided pans just because they are more available in my area. I read your post in regards to buying something with a thick aluminum base, as opposed to buying a multi-clad pan, since a saute pan has most of the cooking done at the bottom anyway and therefore a multi-clad pan with 2mm aluminum core will not be as good as something with a thick 7mm aluminum disc base. You suggested Sitram Pro or Paderno Grand Gourmet. Sigh. Slight problem. I live up in Western Canada, and stores here don't carry either (well as you pointed out the Canadian Paderno is different...inferior quality using same name). Any other brands with a thick 7mm aluminum base? Stores up here sell: All-Clad, Anolon, Chaudier (some pieces), Cuisinart, Cuisinox, Demeyere (some pieces), Kitchen-Aid, Scanpan (available through an Canadian online retailer). Other than Paderno or Sitram, any other brands I should look out for? I noticed that most companies don't tend to advertise how much aluminum is in their base. Scanpan Stainless proudly says they have a 5mm aluminum core. Still a good buy? In the photos their handles look pretty comfy (unlike AC). I also wonder if a straight comparison of the thickness of aluminum is the end all of measuring sticks. For example, I wonder how much difference is in the different grades in metals and alloys used by manufacturers and how they affect the peformance compared to just the thickness of the disc. I assume there are different grades of aluminum that can be used in the construction process...so one 5mm aluminum disc pan might not be equal to another 5mm aluminum disc pan. Which in the end I guess only means that you need to test different types of pans side by side to really test their heating properties. But then who really has the time to do that other than something like Cook's Illustrated and Consumer Reports? (and they tend to recommend All-Clad as top choice in their comparison tests. bleh.) Both Demeyere and Scanpan use 5mm aluminum discs. On the Demeyere's website, they mention they use an aluminum alloy to sandwich the pure aluminum for the base disc of the pan. Even though the alloy layer is really thin...I wonder if that changes the heating properties compared to a company (like Scanpan) that does not claim to use an alloy material. So would that perhaps justify Demeyere's higher price? Anyway, any thoughts or recommendations? Muchos gracias!