Registering, Calphalon Contemporary Stainless Steel or Non-Stick Set?!

I went for the set that I could put in the dishwasher. I love Calphalon, but I don't hand wash so that is what did it for me.

Personally I like having a mixture of pots for different purposes. Non-stick for certain things like making eggs and stainless for searing meat.

Stainless! Good quality stainless is almost non-stick (especially if you follow the "nothing really needs cooking on high" philosophy).

No way would I go with non-stick, it's such a PITA!

STAINLESS!!!!!! Non--stick pans are awful. They don't cook things as well as non-stick. The coatings come off over the years (in your food, which means you are eating it! gross).

Stainless are not hard to clean. Making a paste with baking soda and water will take anything off the stainless. The stainless will last longer. It's usually dishwasher safe (although I NEVER run mine in the dishwasher because it extends the life of the pans to hand wash them).

Getting a good set of stainless cookware for your wedding (like Calphalon or All-Clad) will last the rest of your life if you take good care of them. Non-stick would have to be replaced when the coating comes off.

Why not register for both and see what u get?

I don't care for non-stick. I don't see how some of the chemicals in the non-sticks don't eventually end up in food. Besides, stainless just looks nicer, and it's not that difficult to clean.

I'm planning to register for their Triply after reading lots of reviews. I think you just need to realize cooking of stainless is a little different than nonstick, therefore you may need to adjust your cooking techniques. There are a lot of YouTube videos to teach you what you need to know!

Calphalon kills small animals, like birds (which we own) so we avoid it. Which scares me, if it can kill birds, what does it do to your food/air quality? Yikes!

However, as @Chrissy said, if used, it should be used in a certain way to maximize safety.

I have all sorts of pans, so I would recommend getting both of them. I love my non-stick pans, but I replace them every 5 years because I know that the coating wears off. I cook everyday and for most things I use my non-stick, I tend not to use my stainless steel that often because it's a pain to clean, and I do hand wash all of my pots and pans. Stainless steel is your forever pan, but your non-stick is something that you will need to replace.

I have cheap lightweight non stick skillets for eggs and such and stainless pots. I'd never buy a nonstick pot or pan.

I actually read that it is in the works of becoming illegal to manufacture non-stick because of all the chemicals you scrape into your food while cooking.

What are you use to cooking with? I originally had non-stick and when i switched to stainless(which i love) it WAS a cooking adjustment!

I hate to throw another option at you, but I have the Calphalon hard anodized cookwear and I love it. Things don't stick to it, but it doesn't have a non-stick coating. It could be worth looking into. I sadly did a lot of research before buying my pans.

@Kyersten I believe you're thinking of teflon, the non-stick coating, not the brand name Calphalon

We also received the Calphalon Tri-Ply set. I registered for them after looking at them at Macy's. Nice heavy weight and just a solid feel! So far I love them. The handles don't get hot and they clean up nicely. They cook more evenly (and therefore also a little slower) than my old set.

As a bonus with the set we also received the Calphalon Unison non-stick 'everyday' pan, which so far has been great and works well for sauteeing things.

We also have a couple of non-stick frying pans from ScanPan. These don't have the coating, but a thru non stick material. Nothing will scrape off. They are expensive ... to the tune of $150 to $200 for one frying pan. But worth every single penny. We've had these for the last 5 years and they work great. I always hand wash them. Crate and Barrell and Williams & Sonoma carries ScanPan.

I personally think too a good mix of stainless and non-stick is great. And good quality on both - so nothing does get into your food.

See that's the thing, I have only ever cooked with nonstick :/ And have never had a problem cleaning or cooking with them...But I LOVE the look of the calphalon contemporary stainless I've registered for. That is a 13 pc set, plus registered for a stainless wok, and then two sautee pans and a dutch oven that are nonstick.

I'm just afraid I'll not be able to get used to cooking with the stainless steel ones.. what exactly is the big difference in cooking with them???

And I will look at the anodized set, what's that one all about.

Brandey - I don't think there will be a huge difference. You will get used to the minor differences quickly and would likely encounter them betwee two different sets of non-stick too.

I found it takes little bit longer in the tri-ply to reach boiling point, compared to my old stainless pots. Other than that things work well. I made quinoa last night and nothing burned on, which has happened in my other cheaper set.