Interested in copper but don't want all copper due to maintenance issues. Also, prefer stainless steel over aluminum due to health concerns regarding the aluminum. Cookware needs to go from stove top to oven.
Calphalon and All-Clad will meet some of your needs. They are about equivalent, and each line has many, many pots. They are not inexpensive. They won't discolor the way stainless steel does.
But cast iron will also be extremely useful, but there are not nearly as many different kinds of pots in cast iron. The Lodge brand is very inexpensive — a fraction of the cost of Calphalon or All-Clad. It's excellent, indestructable stuff, but not stylish. Another brand is Le Creuset — French, very high quality, attractive, and very expensive.
You may wind up with some of all three, like I did. Cast iron frying pans are the best for some things — making corn breads, for example, or frittatas, and the Dutch ovens are wonderful. But for sauteeing, Calphalon and All-Clad saute pans are superior — for one thing, cast iron pans is very heavy and have short, uncomfortable handles, so they're difficult to manipulate in the way you must for a good saute.
I suggest that — as with knives — you have clearly in mind what you want to do with a pot, then get the size, type, and material that will best suit those needs. You won't have a chic, all-one-brand-of-glitzy-pots-and-pans kitchen, but you'll be a more successful cook.
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