Kitchenaid cookware?

[bfg9k]

I'm looking at the Kitchenaid Gourmet Distinctions cookware set. Stainless steel, aluminum/copper/aluminum bottom with a magnetic steel outer layer for induction capability, which will be nice when I get my induction stove (someday!). I'm tossing my collection of teflon coated stuff ASAP.

Amazon Link: http://tinyurl.com/2hhswk

Any thoughts on this? The price isn't too bad, my wife likes the aesthetics, there's enough pieces to complement my existing stash of cast iron and a loan carbon steel crepe pan.

Edited April 4, 2007 by bfg9k (log)

[Carrot Top]

I have that set plus some more pieces of the same. Gift from bf.

I like them for most general-purpose cooking. Nice-looking, nice heft, and the balance of handle/body seems "right" to me, more "right" than the other sets in the same range. Good extension of arm, not unwieldy or requiring odd little stretches of upper arm or movements/shifts of wrist as some of the others did that I tested. That may be specific to me, as I am petite.

Before deciding, I would go with your wife to a good department or cookware store and *feel* the various pots and pans. Lift them. Move around a bit with them. That can help a lot in terms of making a decision.

[bfg9k]

I have that set plus some more pieces of the same. Gift from bf. 

Thanks! Any comment on how the multi-ply bottom behaves? Most in this price range have just a thick aluminum disk.

[Carrot Top]

Thanks!  Any comment on how the multi-ply bottom behaves?  Most in this price range have just a thick aluminum disk.

←

Once in a while over high heat there are some minor bits of scorching in spots if I am not literally sauteeing (tossing). I don't think this is due to the pans but rather due to the horrid sorts of electric stoves that exist in rental homes. The burners are not all that stable besides not being efficient. Blech. I can control this by paying closer attention to trying to fine-tune the heat from the burners (again, not easy, the controls on these stoves seem to operate like dinosaur feet - clunk, clunk - ) or lowering the heat and fussing which is boring and exasperating. Neither of these are great options for me because I have two children in the house so that my focus is not that great - certainly not as great as it was when I was a chef. When you are a chef, people tend to appreciate a focused mind. When you are a mother, they try in whichever way they can to destroy it.

But again, I do think that it's due to the stove, not due to the pans. I've had the sort you describe with a "just aluminum" core and think they are even that much worse in this way. Even less heat distribution. When I finally decide where to buy a house and settle down (naturally, the house *must* have a gas stove ) I'll let you know. I *do* know that I have not found cookware that resolves this problem of tool vs. badly-designed heat source yet, for higher-heat cooking besides straight cast iron for some things, good quality teflon for others.

This set is good for soups, stews, braises, easy quick light browning with pan sauces to follow, poaching, the sort of middle-of-the road general stuff.

[Sam Iam]

When we married 20 odd years ago, we settled on the Cuisinart stainless line. My wife still loves the heft and feel of this line, and I like the large, open handles that won't twist when you have a full saute pan of duck breasts coming out of an oven. They do have the disk fused to the bottom.

The price is still right, and you can complete your set by purchasing the oddball pieces on eBay on the cheap. We have a large, high, overhead pan rack and my short wife is not happy about retreiving some of my new, heavy Viking pots.

[bfg9k]

When you are a chef, people tend to appreciate a focused mind. When you are a mother, they try in whichever way they can to destroy it. 

But again, I do think that it's due to the stove, not due to the pans. I've had the sort you describe with a "just aluminum" core and think they are even that much worse in this way. Even less heat distribution. When I finally decide where to buy a house and settle down (naturally, the house *must* have a gas stove  ) I'll let you know. I *do* know that I have not found cookware that resolves this problem of tool vs. badly-designed heat source yet, for higher-heat cooking besides straight cast iron for some things, good quality teflon for others.

This set is good for soups, stews, braises, easy quick light browning with pan sauces to follow, poaching, the sort of middle-of-the road general stuff.

←

I totally agree on the whole rental market thing. I am enamored with the induction stoves since my wife, who grew up with electric stoves, refuses to consider a gas one

The pans sound like what I'm looking for. I checked out the heft over at Kohl's today and liked it.

The gourmet cooking in any case will be waiting until the little boys (3.5 and 1) are a little older and slightly less time consuming to parent

[bfg9k]

When we married 20 odd years ago, we settled on the Cuisinart stainless line. My wife still loves the heft and feel of this line, and I like the large, open handles that won't twist when you have a full saute pan of duck breasts coming out of an oven. They do have the disk fused to the bottom.

←

Sam Iam, the Cuisinart pans seem like good quality at a good price...however, the current ones for sale have that groove in the top of the handle like All-Clad does, and that groove bites viciously into my hand. I wonder if it's a proportion thing, I have large mitts with stubby-ish fingers and any of those grooved handles deliver a fair amount of pain to me.