What pot and pans should I buy?

[doebedoe]

With the big caveat that Costco stuff comes and goes and we may not be talking about the same stuff, the ones I bought had slightly different handles that were a little clunkier and I didn't like as much. The pan lip was also a little different, and FWIW they were marked as made in China vs. Brazil.

Huh. All my Tramontina stuff from Costco has same made in Brazil. Same hardware as stuff I ordered direct. Pretty easy to check. Don't think its worth writing off buying from Costco entirely. Tramontina like all other vendors (including All Clad) produces a range of pans of differing quality. No matter the vendor, need to check specifically what you're buying.

[singlesline]

Sets always have so much useless shit. 8" fry pan? 1 qt sauce pan? Who needs that shit?

Agree on the sets, except I love my 1qt (or maybe it is 1.5qt) copper core sauce pan.

It's a bit over the top, but I snapped it up in one of those seconds sales (I can't image anyone paying $300 or whatever All Clad wants for it)...and I end up using it a fair amount.

Also, the current deal isn't great, but this 3qt "Collective" (which I think used to be the Thomas Keller TK line) is my second favorite pot:
https://homeandcooksales.com/index.p...ng-damage.html
I think the handle design is more comfortable than the standard all clad handles and a sauce pan is the sweet spot for having a copper core IMHO.

The TK line was sweet. They took whatever pot he thought was best for that specific task and then gave them all a consistent brushed appearance and the same handle. Fry pans got D5, saucepans got copper core, big stock pots and such were D3.

Only downside was they didn't come with lids because they used restaurant style universal lids...but the remaining stock that they are calling "collective" comes with a lid, although it might be polised steel rather than brushed. But you can fix that by washing it a few times with a green or maroon scotchbrite and suddenly it will look "brushed"

[dan_pdx]

I read something on-line that pro kitchens just beat the shit out of their pots & pans so they they don't really give any shits what they are cooking in ?

any of the Jacque Pepin vids I have watched it doesnt really look like he is cooking in anything special

Spent a summer washing dishes in a Newport Bay (basically an Olive Garden, but maybe 15% nicer), and agree the cooks just went through stacks of no-name saute pans. But when you're buying for home use, it makes more sense to pay more for something that works better/will last longer.