Greg:
Those are excellent points, particularly for the average family.
For my family (only hubby, me and a dog) though, the two sets I mentioned are very practical, which makes them particularly moderate price. I have heard of people who never use the 1 or 2 qt pots, for example, but we use them all the time. I have not bought the Bialetti set because then I'd be repeating items/sizes we already had, so I bought the stuff I didn't have and needed the most as separate pieces, but I mention the price of the set because someone in a similar situation to mine might save a bunch of money by starting from there, because just the bigger frying pan or the dutch oven already costs a significant portion of the entire set, for example.
And yes, I agree that very large sizes are needed too, we have a 12 qt pot (got on sale for a steal at Target) that is pretty good, and would have gone to a restaurant supply store at the time if it weren't for the fact both me and the hubby were busy, we needed induction-compatible pots and pans in January (not the best time to be driving around here), the set was relatively inexpensive and our local restaurant supply stores 3 years ago were not big on induction-compatible pots and pans, I hear that as more and more restaurants around here start having at least a couple of induction burners the supply stores are getting better at stocking the stuff.
And, in case I have not said this often enough already, when you buy new pots and pans, it pays to get the induction-compatible stuff. I grew up with gas stoves and, while I didn't mind using the coil burners, once we switched to induction neither the hubby nor I want to go back to anything else.
Cheers,
-- Paulo.
Those are excellent points, particularly for the average family.
For my family (only hubby, me and a dog) though, the two sets I mentioned are very practical, which makes them particularly moderate price. I have heard of people who never use the 1 or 2 qt pots, for example, but we use them all the time. I have not bought the Bialetti set because then I'd be repeating items/sizes we already had, so I bought the stuff I didn't have and needed the most as separate pieces, but I mention the price of the set because someone in a similar situation to mine might save a bunch of money by starting from there, because just the bigger frying pan or the dutch oven already costs a significant portion of the entire set, for example.
And yes, I agree that very large sizes are needed too, we have a 12 qt pot (got on sale for a steal at Target) that is pretty good, and would have gone to a restaurant supply store at the time if it weren't for the fact both me and the hubby were busy, we needed induction-compatible pots and pans in January (not the best time to be driving around here), the set was relatively inexpensive and our local restaurant supply stores 3 years ago were not big on induction-compatible pots and pans, I hear that as more and more restaurants around here start having at least a couple of induction burners the supply stores are getting better at stocking the stuff.
And, in case I have not said this often enough already, when you buy new pots and pans, it pays to get the induction-compatible stuff. I grew up with gas stoves and, while I didn't mind using the coil burners, once we switched to induction neither the hubby nor I want to go back to anything else.
Cheers,
-- Paulo.
Others I have bought on sale...like the 11" nonstick french skillet I just ordered from Macy's...got that for $89.
