Damn You Calphalon!!!

Sorry about the swearing, but even though it has been a few months since I had to buy a new set of pots and pans, I am still bitter about it.  When Al and I registered, I wanted to get stainless steel pots and pans.  The lady at Bed Bath and Beyond conned me into hard anodized since "it is like non-stick but doesn't chip."  It is my fault for listening to her, but I'm also a little mad at her too...damn you Bed Bath and Beyond lady!!!  Long story short, the $300 set started to chip after 3 years...ugh.  We always washed them by hand, and they were never in the dishwasher...but alas, still chipping and the beginnings of rust...UGH!!!

After about 6 months of pretending like it wasn't a problem, I started looking into a new set.  Throwing $300 away every 3 years, seemed like a bad idea.  Spending $1,000 on an All Clad set also seemed like a bad idea (because the bank prefers it when I pay the mortgage rather than buying new pots and pans...lame).  I asked my good friend Monica what she used (because she is an awesome cook and is smart enough not to be conned at Bed Bath and Beyond).  She stated that she could not help me since she uses her grandmother's copper bottom set.  That had me thinking...I received two copper bottom pots from my grandmother...hmmm.  Monica confirmed that they were the same brand!

Revere Ware started making cookware in the 1880s.  Although they are still around, their product is now made overseas, and the quality has been compromised for a lower price.  The good news is that their products from the 60s are so good, that many of them survived today.  Stop by any estate sale, and you'll probably find a pan or two.  I started my search on ebay, and quickly acquired the rest of my set.  I also found two pans at an estate sale, but one was in bad shape.  I used Bar Keeper's Friend to clean them up.

The large skillet was purchased for $25 with shipping from Ebay and included a lid.  The large stock pot in back was $30 with shipping.  The small skillet was $1 at an estate sale, but you'll see that it is a huge mess on the bottom.  The following day I found another skillet at the same estate sale (2nd day they reduce prices and with more stuff gone, you can find more treasures).  I think it was under $5 and came with a lid.  The two sauce pots came from Grammy.

...hence why it was a dollar.  I actually forgot to take a
real "before" photo of the $1 pan...so this is after some cleaning...yikes.

Pretty gloves make it feel less like work...since I am fancy.

These four cleaned up fairly easily with a little scrubbing.

This one did not clean up so well.

 I made a paste with the Bar Keeper's Friend and some water and slathered it all over the pan for a good soak.

after one round of paste

after two rounds of paste and one round of Oh My God Get Clean! scrubbing

In the end it cost me under $100 for a new set of cookware.  After a few months of cooking with them, I like them better than the Calphalon set.  The copper heats up the pans super fast, and the stainless steel makes a great sear and cleans up easily.  Clearly I should have listened to Grammy and Monica a lot sooner...they are both very wise women.