For the past several years I've been cooking with a set of Calphalon
hard-anodized aluminum nonstick pots and pans and have been pretty
happy with them. But after researching cookware options for equipping
the kitchen in our summer home I've been convinced to give some other
things a try. If I end up liking them I'll probably buy a second set
for my kitchen in our winter home as well.

Cast Iron: I am thinking about trying this out for our skillets, saute
pan, wok, and dutch oven. I like how durable it is, that a seasoned
cast iron pan becomes nonstick with no worries about fragile,
potentially toxic coatings, and that the addition of some more iron to
my diet will be good my anemia. I've already read up on how to clean,
(re)season, and otherwise maintain cast iron pans, I can handle the
weight, and I know to check the thrift stores first to see if I can
find pans that have already been seasoned over the years.

What I'd like to know now is, should I also buy one or more skillets
(or saute pan, wok, or dutch oven) that AREN'T cast iron? If you have
good well-seasoned cast iron pans, is there ever a need for other pans
in other materials (stainless steel, nonstick, or...?)? I'd really like
to hear from both cooks who use a variety of materials for their pans
as well as from hard-core cast iron devotees.

Sauce Pans and Stock/Pasta Pot: Which material do you think is best for
these items? Stainless steel, hard-anodized aluminum, with or without
nonstick coatings, or...? Do you think I should buy All-Clad or
Calphalon or...? Which of those companies specific lines are best? I'm
not committed to buying a set so mixing it up is fine.

More information about my cooking needs: I am still learning to cook,
and my focus is on healthy (low-fat, low-sugar, etc.) international
cuisine. The cookbooks I brought with me to work on this summer are
Cooking at Home with the Culinary Institute of America, The Best Recipe
by the editors of Cook's Illustrated, How to Cook Everything and The
Best Recipes in the World by Mark Bittman, and Cooking Around the World
All-in-One for Dummies. Our summer home has a relatively small kitchen
without a lot of storage space, so I can't just buy one of everything
for here.

Thanks!





Jacqueline Passey
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