I know I’ve asked this before about the pots and pans. Except we ended up just not getting around to buying anything. We are procrastinators at this house.
I was looking through the Williams-Sonoma catalog, though, and saw this set of Le Creuset pans. The 6-piece set has a 10" grill pan, 14×10 baker, 3 1/2 qt. covered braiser, and 5 1/2 qt. covered round Dutch oven. Now it says these are the pieces I’ll need for my everyday cooking. Apparently the braiser pan can be used for browning meat, baking casseroles, whatever. So it’s really like a skillet, but with a smaller handle (which I’m OK with).
Husband thinks we wouldn’t be getting enough bang for our buck with that set and has chosen the Calphalon One 8-piece set instead. It includes 10" and 12" fy pans, 3 qt. covered saute pan, 3 1/2 qt. covered sauce pan, and 8 qt. covered stockpot.
Clearly these are very different collections, but the sets cost the same amount of money. Which would you choose and why?
I’ve always heard that Le Creuset is the way to go and it’s cookware you can hand down to your grandkids and great-grandkids. Some people might think that’s weird, but I actually would like to have some of my mom’s old orange pots and pans just because it’s what I cooked with growing up. I think my kids will feel the same way about our pots and pans because we cook together. And? The clincher? LC is dishwasher safe.
Or I could probably find a set for about the same cost at Bed, Bath & Beyond that’s Calphalon and dishwasher safe if it really means that much to you.
(Update! SWEET! BBB has all the collections for even less money!)
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
We love our Calphalon-got it when we got married 10 years ago and so far, ‘it takes a licking…’ Good luck!
How heavy are the le Creuset pieces by comparison with Calphalon? For me, being able to hold a fry pan or pot by the handle without breaking my arm is key! Even Calphalon is heavy, I believe. Calphalon owners could comment on that.
I have both sets and I LOVE my Le Creuset! It heats better, it’s heavy but solid, it cleans like a dream! They are also very visually appealing! They are the only thing I use and I love the fact that I can pass these on to my grandchildren! You are definitely getting your moneys worth! Good luck!
I’m with Tracy on liking pans that are lighter weight, but I am salivating over that Flame colored Le Creuset combination. I say go for the set that is visually appealing and has long-lasting heirloom value. Le Crueset is known for producing great results, just ask Jules.
Your kids will love having these pans later, and they will remember all the great times you had cooking together with them.
Good for you, for finding a better bargain, too!
Btw, I can recommend a great work out with Tony Horton for the whole fam., so you can get into shape to lift those Le Crueset pans . . . I’m just sayin’.
I hate buying sets for this very reason. I tend to buy my pieces individually. If you stalk outlet stores for sales and check out Amazon, you can do okay. Amazon almost always has some Calphalon pieces at a ridiculously reduced rate. I have several pieces from both companies and love them all. I have an oval dutch oven that is wonderful for stews, soups, and sauces. It heats quickly and evenly. I don’t even worry about the dishwasher with it because it cleans so easily. I also have a round braising pan that I use almost daily. I love the Calphalon saute pans. We have one that is dedicated solely to eggs and omelets. It’s also better if you need something lighter weight. Sometimes the weight matters; sometimes it does not.
Good luck!
This isn’t going to be the response you want, but to really stock your kitchen well, you need both kinds of pots and pans. I have the LC grill pan, 6 qt casserole, and the big baking pan (for lasagna). You can find LC on sale online a couple of times a year for MUCH less than this. You can also find it at Marshalls, Homegoods or TJ Maxx (all the same store) for MUCH MUCH less. I’d look there and just get the pieces you want and need.
For things that aren’t stews or grilled or baked casseroles, you want 18/10 aluminum core pans. I ONLY use All Clad. I’ve tired others, including Calphalon, and have tossed them all. I cook a lot, and I use high heat, and the only pans I’ve found that last forever and ever and ever with NO damage, clean up easily, and never burn food are All Clad.
You can also find All Clad for markedly less on line. The thing about sets is, they’re never a good buy. The manufacturers always put into sets things you don’t want or need, like tiny saute pans or 2 qt sauce pans. Cooks always recommend purchasing the pieces you need and will use daily and never a set.
Look online for what you want. You’ll find great sales, especially on LC, because they have seconds which are usually discontinued colors… which is why some of mine are orange!
I have the most eclectic (did I spell that right?) collection of cookware EVER. Mostly it is hand me down from my mom. She now has a lovely set of All Clad, yes I want to be her when I grow up. I also have the random piece of Calphalon (not in love with the way some of it wears), Wal-Mart stock pot from when we did the “Cabbage Soup Diet”, and freebies from when I was a bridal registry consultant like 80 million years ago. Good luck!
I personally would get the Le Crueset. I LOVE mine and would NEVER use anything else. I have a problem with non-stick pans. I guess I feel that cooking something in a pan coated with chemicals is not the best thing for my family. Have fun shopping.
Here is my (somewhat overpriced) two cents’ worth, backed with the authority of having worked at the Williams-Sonoma call center over the holidays (40% discount, anyone?):
Find a good deal and buy one piece of each brand and compare them in your own kitchen, with your own stove, cooking your own recipes. There is a “product room” at the call center, and I spent many minutes holding a LeCreuset, Calphalon and All-Clad up to the phone for customers’ inspection (not literally, you understand, but trying to use my tenuous grasp of the English language to delineate the differences and similarities).
Personally, I have a potpourri (get it?) of cookware, and I choose the pan by what I’m cooking. I’d recommend NOT buying in sets, but getting the individual pieces you know you will use. Cookware takes up a LOT of room (esp. the LC), and you don’t really want to warehouse things that aren’t serving you in some way. Build a collection that will bring you years of cooking joy. Take your time.
I agree with Magi – I think a combination of the two is the best way to go. I also think buying the individual pieces is a better way to go – we received the set for our wedding and I’ve had to make adjustments here and there which included storing two pieces from the set I never use (it might be because I am the most basic cook ever) but I do love my LC dutch oven!
I’m a Revere girl myself. I just can’t see forking out that much money for pans. Besides, mine are all dishwasher safe and clean like a dream. I’d go with Revere.
We LOVE our Calphalon, but I would recommend going anodized – not nonstick. I find various pieces at TJMaxx too, so I add another piece now and then. And if you look around, you can always add new “Try Me” pieces for an incredibly great price.
One of the reasons we love Calphalon? The handles are made so that you don’t have to use potholders to move them, unless you stick them in the oven.
The other reason? Lifetime guarantee. I know because I took them up on replacing every single piece in my set (huge amount to replace, mind you!) about 2 years ago. They are fabulous still.
Don’t forget to use the coupons, 20% off, make sure you get free shipping if you don’t go to the store, and use either fatwallet or ebates to get around 4% cash back on your online purchase. Then of course use your debit card or credit card with cash back and you’ll save just a little bit of money.
You will not believe this! I was in WS TODAY and lovingly handled a 2.5 quart LC roasting pan for 15 minutes before I lost my nerve and didn’t buy it. Then I just saw on the BBB site that it is 15 cheaper…less with the 20% off coupon!
Oh, didn’t you have a question or something? Oh, yeah, which set to choose: that is really a tough one. I think I would use the Calphalon since it has two more versatile skillets. Then I’d try to get a piece of LC yearly; then you’d have the best of both. Nice sentiment about passing it to your kids. : )
If you buy the set at BBB try to use your 20% off coupon. The coupon says its excluded but the lady at my bbb said if you tell them you will leave and buy it at another store they will always honor the coupon. It saved me a ton on my All-Clad. Its worth a try.
Melanie,
For a while when I moved to TN a few years ago, I attended several cooking classes from a local chef. I asked him about cookware because ours was approaching the 20 year mark. His response? NOT to get a set if I could help it.
Since I’m a bargain shopper, that sent shivers down my spine since I KNOW the most economical way to buy it is in a set. His point was that foods are better cooked (iho) in different cookware, depending on what they are. He recommended buying pieces from different sets, using them, and THEN determining what I liked best.
Thing is…I took his advice and was thankful for it! I LOVE my Le Cruset dutch oven; I have a crush on my Calpholon pots; I have an extra large All Clad stove top pan that serves me well for big portions. But my absolute favorite piece of cookware? Swiss Diamond–not cheap, but well worth it. I was blown away by how much better it browned meats, the look and texture was better (and I didn’t know it could be).
By now you’ve probably made up your mind, but I thought I’d through this out there just in case.
Bon appetite!
Two words for you. All Clad.
Not to confuse the issue or anything. 
Calphalon.
I have burned the enamel off of too many le creusets.
hey melanie,
i have calphalon. weird, since i don’t cook. actually mike bought the big set a few christmases ago and hid a sapphire ring and bracelet in them, not htat i found them because i wanted a RING and i got stupid pans and i DON”T COOK and obviously he doesn’t know me at ALL. But if I’d managed to look through them with a little more grace i would have found the jewelry hours before i actually did. anyway. i don’t cook, but i do have a complaint about the set. yes. a complaint about the set that housed sapphires and diamonds. go figure. um. the lids didn’t always match up to the pots and pans. the sizes were annoyingly, slightly, off.
i’ve never tried the other, but i have some Calphalon pans and i LOVE them … i mean LOVE them. seriously.
Oh, go with the LeCreuset. We’re going to do a cookware upgrade soon, and this is what we’re getting too. My SIL has the set she got for her first apartment, and I LOVE to cook at her house. Though I agree with some other commenters about the sets– it may be cheapest, but not if you’re getting pieces you don’t need. And adding to others’, my above-mentioned SIL saw a LC dutch oven at ROSS… but not at MY Ross (nor any of the three surrounding Rosses that I of course high-tailed it to).
I’ve got two kinds of Calphalon – love the hard annodized kind – smooth surfaces – hate Hate HATE the other non-stick kind they had that has these little bumpies all over the bottom of each pan. Hardest little buggers to clean! If that’s the option you have, then I’d go with the LeCreuset.
I have both and I love both. My calphalon was a “thanks for having my baby” gift and so was the LeCreuset…a girl can’t refuse a gift like that now can she?
My LeCreusets is reserved for roast, chili, thinks I want to cook low and slow or to get it at a nice even temperature (including chickens). Mine is not dishwasher safe though, in fact I ran and got my manual (yes from four years ago) and indeed I have to handwash mine….maybe I should get a new set!
Calphalon is the stuff that I cook all three meals in on a daily basis.