A total of 1 review of this product on Reddit.
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u/juggerthunk is the champ here, and I can’t decide at what thread level to chime in so I’ll just do it at the top.
I have an all-clad saucier (probably 2 quart?) that is basically a small essential pan.. I use that damn thing all the time, and it was my first not non-stick, I’ve had it for a decade, it still looks great, can do some good fond-building in it and make sauces. I bought it when I was single and in college, if I could do it over, I’d probably get a bigger essential pan, the volume lacks sometimes. I don’t recall if they had that ten years ago or not. It’s been on my list for a while, but I am out of work atm so no spending. Someday, that bigger essential pan will be my next cookware purchase. I don’t really need it though, it’s overkill for what I have, but I’d like to use my nonstick less, and I can see some uses for it.
I wouldn’t discount the 8″ nonstick entirely, I find I use it for heating up little bits of things, leftovers for lunch, toasting nuts, etc.. I go through a lot of pans with the way that I cook and wash by hand, so I like that it doesn’t add to the stack as much since it’s physically not that big. Also, heating up bare nonstick is bad, and I don’t like the idea of melting a ton of butter for the big skillet just to fry two eggs, (I baste my eggs, usually, so I like a small pan so the steam area is fairly compact) so I like my little skillet, but it’s all in how you cook.
I don’t have a saute pan at all, between the 12″ nonstick frying pan, the occasional use of the 14″ steel that came to the household with my boyfriend, and the dutch oven, I don’t see the need.
I wouldn’t skip a stockpot in lieu of the dutch oven altogether simply because sometimes you need to boil that pasta that goes with the stew or sauce and meatballs that’s been in the dutch oven all afternoon, and it’d be a really huge pain to dump it in some other vessel, try to keep it warm, clean it so you can start water..etc.. I like juggerthunk’s hierarchy of cookware purchases, though. Dutch oven before stock pot, but don’t skip the stock pot entirely.
My stock pot came with a multi cooker thing (the straight-sided colander that sits inside of it) that I literally have used once. The way it sat in the pan meant that the pasta couldn’t fully circulate all the way to the bottom, so cooking with it as advertised, inserted before pasta is added so you can deftly pull the pasta out all at once with the colander insert seemed like a good idea, but I didn’t think the reduced volume gave a whole pound of pasta enough breathing room, so to speak. I never got rid of the insert, it’s moved to 4 kitchens since I got it, but it literally collects dust. Don’t bother and get a colander.
I personally like my wok because I love making fried rice at home, and I know it doesn’t heat like it’s supposed to, to be legit wok cooking, but my skillets don’t have high enough sides. I suppose I could try in the dutch oven, but I already have the wok so… maybe I’ll reevaluate if I run out of space or when I move.
I would also just like to mention that if you are planning on multitasking tools, make sure that you have a skillet that can go in the oven (bare steel and oven safe handle… you can do this with cast iron but I am a terrible cast iron owner, other people are better but I just keep screwing them up.. it’s really humid here and I have serious attention/diligence issues at the end of the day to care for it properly) if you like steak, and please please please don’t ever put your nonstick in the dishwasher. I was given a great Berndes nonstick set 10 years ago when I moved out on my own this is close but the styles have changed since then…and mine is still awesome and my mom bought herself the same set at the same time and hers all look like crap and half have been thrown away cause she puts hers in the dishwasher.
Also, almost all of my cookware has an accompanying lid, which I am very glad for. I have found it infinitely useful to have skillets with lids.
Hope this helps!
