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All-Clad Stainless Cookware


dennis77

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Okay, we need volunteers. Anyone with All Clad, take a piece or two down to Williams Sonoma and heft it side by side with what they've got on display. Mention eGullet while you're there-maybe we'll get a story in the newspaper, like the burger club.

Do it for science.

PS You go first. :wink:

Why rely on your subjective observations? As long as you're there, tell them you want to check out scales, too.

Dave Scantland
Executive director
dscantland@eGstaff.org
eG Ethics signatory

Eat more chicken skin.

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I don't know about the weight, but I have to wonder if the changes in the handles they mentioned give them a different heft, which might make them feel different? I know that the 12" fry pan my sister got for christmas has a different--it appeared shorter and differently shaped--handle than the one I have.

Just a theory.

Edited to say that I'm sure not gonna haul my beat up old pans down to Williams Sonoma or any other store to check, sorry.

Edited again to say that mine's about 7 years old, I think.

Edited by mrbigjas (log)
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I'd think that if the handles are lighter, that would shift the center of mass further from your hand. I wouldn't think that wouldmake it feel lighter.

There's a nice cookware shop near me that might let me do a comparison. Heck, they might even know more than the customer service people. I've been meaning to check out new scales anyway.

"I think it's a matter of principle that one should always try to avoid eating one's friends."--Doctor Dolittle

blog: The Institute for Impure Science

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  • 1 month later...
  • 1 year later...

I just bought a 10pc from AC SS and am having some serious mixed feelings. Does anyone actually love their pieces? I hope I willw arm up to them but I'm not throwing out all the boxes and saving the receipt in case I want to take it all back. Thanks!

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IMO All-Clad Stainless is ridiculously overpriced. Better performance may be had for similar money, and similar performance may be had for less money.

At the risk of self promotion, you may find my eGCI class on cookware and accompanying ongoing Q&A thread of some use. All-Clad is discussed and analyzed with some detail.

--

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We've got a set that we bought piece by piece and we love every one of them. I'd love to hear more about the source of your reservations -- buyer's remorse? They are expensive, but as far as I'm concerned they're well worth it.

"All humans are out of their f*cking minds -- every single one of them."

-- Albert Ellis

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Thanks you guys. I am only reserved because after using the skillet once, I could not understand how to get rid of the white stains. After soaking, dishwashing, soaking in ACV I finally got the Barkeeper's Friend and it did a miraculous job. I just thought that cleaning would be easier.

They are very expensive but I had my mind set. I've been planning on getting a set for a while and we just did a complete reno, got everything new so I thought ACSS set was in order. LOL.

I think that I simply need to get used to cooking in a new set on a new stove because it was all trial/error with the first meal I cook after we moved back in.

Thanks so much for the great and encouraging posts, though. I appreciate the raves and think I'll take the boxes out!

P.S My favorite is the steamer insert! :biggrin:

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I have several pieces of all clad and I love them as well, in particular my roasting pans.

Marlene

Practice. Do it over. Get it right.

Mostly, I want people to be as happy eating my food as I am cooking it.

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I have been using All Clad almost exclusively for the past 6 years or so. I have 3 pans, 3 pots and recently bought an All Clad stock Pot. For my money there is no better product on the market. I too use Bartenders Friend with amazing results every time.

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I love it too, and have been using it about 9 or 10 years. I have burned them beyond recognition, and they clean up beautifully. One thing I don't like is, (and I've done it twice) if I let water boil out of a pot leaving it empty, the stainless turns a funny brown, never to recover. If anyone has a solution for that, please let me know.

But my favorite story about the product is this: In a three qt. pot, I made risotto. My guest arrived, we ate, had seconds and then left for the opera. I returned home 3 1/2 hours later to find I'd left the burner on warm. The risotto was black like coal, but dumped out like it was non-stick and the pot was untouched. That incident made me purchase the 10pc. and many other pieces after that.

Edited by emmapeel (log)

Emma Peel

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I really hate the rivets.

My favorite 10" frying pan is an AC. I love the pan, but I hate having to clean around the rivets. The rivets are a huge pain in the ass and when I go looking for a new pan, it won't be an AC and it definitely won't have rivets. Trouble is, that damned AC pan just won't die.

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Love my All Clad. Luckily we don't live too far from the Cookware&More AllClad outlet so I have never paid retail for any of it, but if I had to, I definitely would.

Get your bitch ass back in the kitchen and make me some pie!!!

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Our house expert, slkinsey, has noted that All-Clad uses several types of construction. The MasterChef and LTD lines have a thick inner layer of aluminum and work well, though they're still overpriced. The others have a thin layer and do not.

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I've picked up several AC SS pieces via Cookware & More and like it a lot. I'd never buy the new stuff from a retail store because I'm too darned cheap. I also don't think I'd get a 10-piece set of anything; my needs are too mix-and-match. I have skillets, saucepans and a braiser. The pieces I use the most are the skillets.

I think your cooking style may make the difference as to whether you'll like it or not. I do a lot of skillet cooking - brown meat, then build a sauce around it, or saute meat and veggies then build an Alfredo sauce or a pilaf around it. In other words, I do a lot of browning and deglazing in them, and now that I know how to do it I've all but abandoned my non-stick cookware. They clean up easily. I did manage to boil off the liquid in a would-be shallot sauce in a saucepan, burning all the shallots beyond recognition and browning the bottom of the pan badly. It took a lot of Bon Ami cleanser and bad language to get that one cleaned up, and the finish doesn't look the same.

The 13" braiser looks lovely and is a great serving piece, but in the light of my new braising knowledge I'm not sure I'd get it again. It doesn't have the thermal mass to make a good braiser. Still, even if I wouldn't buy it again, I'm in no rush to get rid of mine. It make a good extra stovetop cooking vessel.

Nancy Smith, aka "Smithy"
HosteG Forumsnsmith@egstaff.org

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Thanks you guys. I am only reserved because after using the skillet once, I could not understand how to get rid of the white stains.

One thing to look out for here is adding salt to liquid in the vessel before it has come to a boil. Doing so will almost guarantee pitting -- small white spots that don't affect the pan's function but also don't look so hot. Always make sure the liquid is boiling first.

"All humans are out of their f*cking minds -- every single one of them."

-- Albert Ellis

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