Calphalon Commercial Hard-Anodized 7-Piece Cookware Set

The thick, heavy aluminum results in great heat retention and excellent conductivity, which is crucial for properly searing meats and seafood and sautéing vegetables without overcooking. I've lived in a city environment for the past 10 years where gas stoves are hard to come by, and the heat retention and conductivity have been tremendously valuable when bound to electric stoves.

Although we don't cook with them every day, they've taken a beating and still perform as well as ever. The "stick-resistant" hard-anodized material is an excellent balance in terms of cleaning ease and performance: a brief soak and a Scotch pad will clean them off, but you can still get a good sear that isn't possible with most non-stick cookware.

The only concerns are very minor:

1) The aluminum interior and exterior have stained a bit after prolonged use. A minor concern, as it hasn't affected performance at all.

2) As with all hard-anodized cookware, it is difficult to see the actual color of translucent sauces, stocks, etc. This is admittedly a minor annoyance, but one that becomes more noticeable with experience. Could be solved by buying a stainless-steel ladle or spooning some of the liquid into a white bowl.

I would still recommend a nonstick pan (such as Calphalon's excellent 10" Commercial Non-Stick omelette pan) for omelettes, eggs, or other low-temperature, delicate foods that don't need a hot sear, but certainly not a whole set; nonstick surfaces deteriorate and have to be treated carefully in terms of utensils, temperature, etc. The pans in this line are extremely durable, can be used for nearly anything, and should last a lifetime. I've recently started moving to All-Clad to address issue 2) above, but only because the roommate took his pans with him. ... this set is a steal.


Awesome to cook international dishes but some concerns...   February 24, 2003
 18 out of 19 found this review helpful

I bought this set about 3 weeks back and so far going is great!
I cook extensively, and cook a wide range of dishes like Italian, Chinese, Indian and Mexican. I have tried all kinds of dishes so far - some really special dishes that require good heat or else they will turn out awful -- just to test the pans -- and they did great!

However, warranty terms concern me..especially since even with a lifetime warranty, I might have to spend lots of money in shipping it, and trying to get an answer from Calphalon whether they would pay the shipping costs has so far proved a futile exercise. (The last I called, I hung up after waiting to get a person to answer my call for about 45 minutes.)

Thus the 4 stars that I gave it. Apart from that, following pointers should prove useful in making a decision:
1. It really heats quickly, evenly, rarely burns the food.
2. Handles perform pretty well and stay comfortable.
3. The shape of individual pots is just perfect to cook variety of recipes: wok-like pan is good for stir-frying and the vertical stockpot is great for making dishes that need layering of ingredients and slow-cooking.
4. Even though not non-stick it is very easy to clean.
5. Each one of these pots performs awesomely as a mini oven on stovetop - thus making it perfect for dishes like stuffed bellpeppers, where you must cook/roast them on slow flame. I tried this recipe and bellpeppers really came out great - my earlier stainless steel/non-stick pots burned the bottoms and left the tops raw due to poor heat conductivity. I believe this uses less energy than heating a whole oven to make the same thing.

Also, due to this reason, even though I love glass lids, I think that providing lids made of same material is a good idea.

6. A non-stick pot usually retains moisture while cooking with its lid on -- which affects some recipes that must lose water in order to taste crispy. In this pan that problem is avoided - which is great for recipes such as grilled/marinated sizzlers.
Downsides:
1. Warranty concern, as mentioned above.
2. Needs a hand wash.
3. While making sauces or clarifying butter, it is hard to see the color - which is crucial to know when to stop heating. However, I am considering buying a small copper pot with stainless steel interior, on open stock, to take care of this problem.
4. For making omletts or crepes you need to put extra oil so that they come off easily. (I think this is not the fault of the pans, but that we are spoilt by non-stick ones. However, nonstick griddle cannot come close to the crispiness of crepes made using these.)
5. For gravy dishes, use of things like tomatoes or milk/cream for the base of gravies might react to the coating?? I keep having a nagging feeling in my mind while making those. Once again I would buy some copper cookware for solving this problem.
6. Too pricy, but imagine using them for whole life :-)

Overall, if you can get warranty concerns answered satsfactorily, just go for this set!!


UNBELIEVABLE product!!   January 28, 2003
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I received this set for Christmas this year and was not pleased.....thinking my husband is NOT very original......THEN, I used them. I have never been happier with a set of cookware than with these!! They are super easy to clean up, the handle stays cool on the stove top and you can slide them right into the oven. And, the warranty is great!! I can't wait to add to this set, I can't imagine a nicer set of personal cookware!


A big disappointment!   March 6, 2002
 5 out of 16 found this review helpful

I bought this product, thinking I was buying the "best" product available. To my surprise, the pan leaks through the holes where the handle is attached. For the price, I think this is absolutely unacceptable.
The lifetime guarantee is worthless, because I took the set out of the country (to Mexico) before using it. The purchase was an act of faith, which I have lost now.