Martha Stewart for Macys

[Pucca]

I have an enameled cast iron pot from her line that has worked out well so far, especially given the reasonable price point. I was at Macy's last week and saw that many of her pots and pans were on clearance. I was curious to know if anyone here has any experience with her stainless steel or non-stick pans. The reviews on Macy's website seem pretty decent.

[Anna N]

I have 2 pieces of MS stainless. One is a 2 3/4 quart saute pan and the other a small saucepan. Both were from a charity store. I find them to be perfectly adequate. In the past, however, I had a very large MS saute pan which warped soon after its first encounter with a very hot oven!

[paulraphael]

I used a few of the stainless with aluminum disk bottom pans at a vacation house. There were a couple of saucepans and a medium and large saute pan. I thought they were surprisingly good. I used the saute pans on the stove and as roasting pans in a 500 degree oven with no issues.

I actually like them better than some commercial lines, like Sitram and Paderno. On the Martha Stewart pans, the disk bottom tapers at the edge and covers the entire bottom of the pan. On a lot of disk bottom pans, the disk leaves a pretty big gap at the edge. If you don't keep a close watch on the flame (especially tricky on home stoves that spread the flame out to the sides instead of projecting it straight up) you end up with a nasty hot spot all around the outside rim.

Some disadvantages to the M.S. pans are that the stainless steel is flimsier than on the pro pans, and the lids are glass. The glass is conventient, but in my kitchen its lifespan would be about ten minutes.

I found another line of pans that has a nice disk bottom and is roughly in the Martha Stewart price range: Optio by Lincoln. It's their budget line. Big benefit is that you don't have to have something in your kitchen with a "Martha Stewart" logo (I'd pay a premium for this feature alone).

Edited October 1, 2008 by paulraphael (log)