Adventures in Good Shopping

[mighty quinn]

In anticipation of setting up a permanent household sometime in the next six months, I've been trying to revamp my kitchenware and accessories. It's against my religion to shop retail, but darnit, I want good stuff. On the advice of a co-worker I went on a mission to TJ Maxx. I was looking specifically for a La Creuset french oven and I lucked out and found a five quart for $80! I also found a large Cuisinart stainless steel skillet for $45. Haven't heard much about Cuisinart cookware but it seemed like a nice heavy gage and looked pretty sturdy. I'm not much of a Calphlon fan but the shelves were full of Calphlon and copper pots and skillets of various brands. I also found several ceramic oven proof dishes from Portugal in the $4-5 range. Then there were all the cute serving dishes and table linens and the weird older lady who insisted on following me around telling me about her son in Tampa... Anyway, $300 later I ditched the old woman and went straight to Dollar Tree. WHAHTABAHGAN! Plastic containers-3 for a buck-I'll never buy those Glad things again! Holiday cookie tins! Bar towels! Stainless steel cooking utensils! Ceramic ramekins! Stainless steel mixing bowls! OK-might not be the best quality, but for now... long story short, I'd love to hear about kitchen accessory bargains and economical ways to stock a kitchen. Victoria

[megaira]

Read reviews and do some research and decide what you want...then go hunt... When you know what you're looking for, it makes it much easier to walk away from stuff that looks good, but you're not quite sure about..and you end up buying quality pieces that'll last you a long time, vs. cheap stuff that'll die in a year or two.

A friend of mine watches rebates constantly and walked off with a 40$ basic nonstick bakeware set for free through amazon. I'll walk through thrift stores from time to time as well, just in case. Back when I was broke and needed bake/cookware, they supplied me with some decent pyrex pieces.

Target also occasionally has some great deals.

Sign yourself up to Bed Bath & Beyond's coupon mailing list -they regularily send out 5$ off coupons and 20% off coupons... I use the 20% off ones on bigger appliances like a KA mixer, cuisinart food processor, KA blender, etc.

William's Sonoma, BB&B and I *think* Linens 'n Things will pricematch.

Anyway, on to the bargains...I heartily agree to the TJ Max & Marshalls thing - just have to sift through the junk that sits on the shelves with the good stuff.

I found a Le Crueset 8 qt french oven for 90$ at Marshalls...

I've bought cutting boards, mixing bowls, sifters, strainers, wooden spoons and other odds and ends there as well. First place I made a beeline for is their kitchen section... second place I head for is their books... I found the Cook's Illustrated Poultry book there for a few bucks... as well as Lidia's Italian-American Kitchen and a couple others on my list. I've found some pretty fancy looking copper pots stashed in the back behind cheapo t-fal and lower end stuff (I don't need or want copper pots, so they stayed there to be someone elses great bargain).

Calphalon put out their anniversary edition of the 10" professional nonstick omelette pan (there's another one out now, either updated or a different model, not sure which) for 24 (or 28, can't quite recall now)$ at Bed Bath & Beyond. The only difference between it and the 80$ version was the box. They have another one now at amazon for about 20$.

I also picked up the KA 5qt mixer for about 200$, the cuisenart 11 cup for 150$.

Picked up pizza screens from www.katom.com for 3 or 4$ each - beware their shipping costs, however.

Picked up 2 used pizza hut 16" deep dish pans for 2$ each off ebay. They're in great shape & work fine!

I saved about 15$ on my Henkel's 4 star chef knife at BB&B vs. WS.

TJ Max has supplied me with a couple very nice saucepans that have done me well...both were under 30$ and both are clad. I'd have to go look to see what they were exactly... the only complaint I have is with my wimpy wrists, the one, when full, is a pain to pick up and pour.

Another place to pop into is Cost Plus Imports... generally they have cheap quality stuff, but you can pick up plain ceramic ramikens there cheap as well as the odd kitchen utensil like a ricer or microplane inexpensively. They have woks and steamers as well as some cast iron and grill utensils...lots of cutting boards, pot racks, etc.

I'm just in the process of making out a new shopping/wish list...I need breadpans, sheet cake pans, a new pizza stone, silpat sheets, jelly roll pans, large saute pan, a light saucepan with a pour spout.... the list is getting longer every day...

[mighty quinn]

what is cost plus imports?? also thought about tuesday morning- can't remember any cookware there, but have found some pretyy nice dishes and stems.

[cjsadler]

Anyone been to the restaurant supply store at the DC Farmer's Market that sells to the public? I'm curious what's available (especially concerning knives, skillets, stockpots, ramekins, and bakeware) and at what quality and prices.

Edited October 30, 2003 by cjsadler (log)

[vengroff]

Anyone been to the restaurant supply store at the DC Farmer's Market that sells to the public? I'm curious what's available (especially concerning knives, skillets, stockpots, ramekins, and bakeware) and at what quality and prices.

I've been. It's called Best Kitchen Supply or something like that. If you go, absolutely stop in at A. Litteri on the next block for some serious Italian groceries and wine. Best stocks exactly what you would expect from a restaurant supply store--bulletproof pots, pans, dishes, glassware and supplies aimed at high-volume restaurant kitchens where function comes way ahead of appearance. If you need a big stock pot, or two dozen old-fashioned glasses this is the place for you. To the extent their inventory overlaps with Pottery Barrel, they are on the order of half the price. For glassware, it's even lower.

[jariggs]

Anyone been to the restaurant supply store at the DC Farmer's Market that sells to the public? I'm curious what's available (especially concerning knives, skillets, stockpots, ramekins, and bakeware) and at what quality and prices.

I made it there a few months ago and it is as vengroff describes. I was a little disappointed that they only had the all-clad copy frypans in aluminum, not stainless steel as I've seen in restaurant kitchens. Ive been meaning to check similar supply stores in Jessup, MD, but haven't been able to go during the week (only time they are open).

[megaira]

what is cost plus imports??

Cost Plus Imports/World Market is like a larger, less expensive Pier One. They often have food items though as well as cooking utensils, rather than just the dishes and pot racks Pier One carries. If I'm looking for something that's particularily hard to find around here, I'll go in and see what they have... the one closest to me usually has a decent price on pickled ginger and recently started carrying japanese mayo. Lots of odds and ends.

They often have some interesting glassware and dishes at a good price. Definitely worth a looksee if you happen to stumble across one.

[mighty quinn]

have seen the ads for "world imports" in the post-looks like a cool place just to go browse for some retail therapy. also will try the place at farmers market-i'm looking for a couple of new stock pots and it sounds like i may score there. also a good excuse to go to a. litteri. vengroff-you happen to know the hours of operation?

[BBhasin]

Costco at Pentagon City this week has a roadshow selling Vollarth comercial kitchen utensils. Nice and heavy bottoms, even cooking, non-stick inside AND out and gauranteed for 25 years. $ 400 for the set which included some bonus.

I thought it was a good deal.