Well, sunshineval, if you're looking for easy to use not-too-expensive
quality cookware, Circulon is a good company to trust. I've got two of
their pans and I used them whenever I could. Unfortunately, as Dee
Randall found out, if you cook the food a little bit too long at too
high heat, you'll wreck the bottom of the pan. But if you're careful
not to do that or use metal utensiles you'll have a good set of pans
that will last a while.
Now the downside, of which I only recently became aware. There is a
lot of dispute about the possible harm caused by teflon use and
manufacture. Read the manufaturer's label before you buy it. If you
are concerned about your health and that of your family (especially if
you own expensive parrots...not kidding!), it might behoove you to do
some research about teflon first. I have switched to stainless and I
have never been happier.
But first about the teflon...The biggest drawback in teflon is that if
you scratch it and then follow the manufacturer's instructions (in tiny
print) you should throw the pan away. This is because the aluminum
that is under the teflon is under serious consideration as a major
contributer to Alzheimer's Disease. Do an internet search for the
connection between aluminum and AD and you'll see what I'm talking
about. Secondly, there is a lot of debate about the connection between
cooking with teflon and people's pet birds dropping dead in the
kitchen. There are many sites you can go to where you will see
warnings against using teflon pans if you own a parrot, for instance (
http://www.exoticaquatics.net/birdpage.html -read the warnings at the
bottom of the page). I figure that if it's killing birds, it can't be
too healthy for people. Coal miners used to use canaries to warn them
if the air was becoming poisonous in the same way.
With stainless steel, you'll never have either of these two problems.
You can use any cooking utensile you want. You will probably never
have to replace them.
The best solution to this question that I found is the Saladmaster
stuff. I've been cooking with them for a while now and I must say that
I feel that they are worth the investment. If not just because they
come with a lifetime warranty. That means that if you ever damage them
you can send for a brand new one (therefore never needing to buy
another one again). I was very skeptical about stainless cookware
because I loathe washing dishes. But because with the Saladmaster pots
you cook at a much lower temp. your food does not stick to the pan
(sometimes you need to use a little Pam spray or something similar). I
find these pans to be easy to clean and tough to damage. I was always
treating my Circulon pans as though they were made of fine crystal so
they wouldn't get damaged. But I will warn you (in case you don't
know) Saladmaster is really expensive. You can get them cheaper on
eBay or you can agree to a payment plan to stretch the payments out
(like I did). You wouldn't be sorry if you did go for it, I promise.