Review of Calphalon Contemporary Stainless Cookware Set

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List Price: $970.00
Sale Price: $467.49
Today's Bonus: 52% Off

Calphalon Contemporary is as good as All Clad or any other cookware line on the market, and better than most.

Great heat distribution and extremely high efficiency. You actually have to learn to cook with less power than what you're used to.

Can be used with any cooktop, electric coil, flat electric, gas and induction. (These are downright amazing with induction!)

Doesn't scratch or lose its surface like any non-stick will do

Can use metal or nylon utensils

Non-stick results if used according to directions.

Easy to clean if you use Barkeeper's Friend.

Will be the last cookware you'll have to buy.

I also got the wok, and am thinking about getting another. With two of these woks, I could cook anything and rule the world.

Unfortunately, Amazon is currently out of the woks, so I have to wait for them to restock.

Unfortunately right now Amazon is not the price leader. They often have a $30-$50 discount from the retail $499, but as I write the review the price is back up to list.

Other sources also offer additional free pieces, gift cards, etc. You'll have to weigh that against Amazon's no sales tax.

If you shop hard, you can usually find a 20% coupon elsewhere, plus extra items. I hope Amazon sharpens their pencils soon.

Also, a lot of the Amazon listings under Calphalon Contemporary are for external vendors, so if you see above-list prices, keep on scrolling down to find the Amazon entry.

By the way, even if you don't get these from Amazon, avoid Macy's, who lists this set at $549 plus tax.

Notes after ten months of use (December 28, 2011):

If you can't tell, I really like this stuff, so I got the 8 quart dutch oven for Christmas 2011. I cooked a beef roast and roasted vegetables for Christmas dinner with excellent results.

So in addition to all the cook tops that it works with, add "oven".

You can cook eggs without sticking. Make sure you use PAM or butter and remember that these pans need lower heat than you're used to with aluminum or whatever you've been using.

To remove stains and anything you've managed to "bake on", use stainless steel scrub buds (not steel wool, which scratches!) and Barkeeper's Friend. Most heat discoloration can also be removed with distilled vinegar and a scrub sponge.

Amazon's price is still at list, but they have listings from Amazon store front vendors fulfilled by Amazon at significant discounts, so you can get a good price, no tax, and Super Saver and Prime shipping are applicable.

Notes after about 20 months of use:

Nothing bad to report, still works great, no damage or wear. I'm still cleaning with stainless steel scrub buds and BKF and there is no visible scratching. Have had some of the pots dry out and food burn and blacken when I or my wife have gotten distracted when there was something cooking. An overnight soaking followed by a liberal application of elbow grease have gotten them 100% clean. A pot with a nonstick coating would have been ruined.

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We all have had kitchen mishaps/nightmares that we chuckle about, and rarely do we let anyone outside the home know about them, but here goes.

I received this set of pots one year ago, and I have put them through a testing regime that even Calphalon would cringe at and would rightly void any warranty on. Before I start this story you should know I have a Wolf stove restaurant grade, so it puts our more heat than the normal home stove and has an extreme ventilation system (thank goodness).

First disaster One dinner I placed some sauce in a pot to thicken and then we had a crisis happened at the back of our property that made us rush out of the house to address forgetting the pots on the stove. Six hours later we returned home the sauce was gone and charcoal remained at the bottom of the pan. I thought the pot was shot. A little Bar Keepers and elbow grease and (to my amazement) the pot was as good as new.

Second disaster both my hubby and I were exhausted from work and put some food on to boil (I use a Foodsaver so it's the ol' `boil in a bag' meal bag in those instances), but we both fell asleep waiting for dinner. At 3AM when I woke up (Hubby still snoring) the water was long gone in the pan and the bag had turned to charcoal way beyond the melted bag stage try `fused to the pan' stage. OK, the pot is a goner nope, with elbow grease and Bar Keepers as good as new.

Third disaster dinner's back on the stove and one of our horses went down at the back of the property. Back out the door we went forgetting the pots. When we returned to the house we were so exhausted we went to bed forgetting about dinner. In the morning (approx 8AM) we went out to the kitchen for breakfast finding our stove still on and the pots had all turned to a tan color. OK, now the bottoms have to melted out of them and they have to be shot. Nope, a little more Bar Keepers and they all were just like new.

You all have to be thinking at this point why hasn't this person burned down the house yet...I'm asking the same question...I'm lobbying for an in-home cook now, but Hubby isn't hearing of it (chuckle). In over 30 years of cooking I've never had disasters like this, but I'm amazed these pots have handled it.

All the above stories my family is chuckling around the table about these days but it's the reason I'm writing this review. Over the years I've cooked with Teflon, cast iron, copper, etc and this cookware is the best I've ever used. Teflon flakes, cast iron needs caution handling (plus it's heavy), copper needs `babying' to keep it looking good this product is bullet-proof. Through all my abuse it hasn't warped, tarnished, and so on. This product is truly AMAZING and well worth the money. The thing that still amazes me is through all my disasters this year I was still able to pick up the pans without a pot holder the handles were cool to the touch. All I did was place the pot off to the side (away from the heat) until it cooled down, then added water and heated it again, and finally scrub it with Bar Keepers and they all went back to their new shiny pot-state AMAZING! So, I'm hoping for no more disasters like these in 2012 (more than I've ever had in my entire life). If you are looking for the `Sherman Tank' of cookware that you don't have to baby this is it! I'm now a die-hard Calphalon fan. I hope you all get a good chuckle out of my `disasters' I (and my family) swear they are all true (to my embracement which is now out there for everyone to see).

PS Before we purchased this set we read all the reviews and I wasn't sure if this was what we should buy. I was nervous that they may need special care, some unique needs for cooking in, etc. Heck, from the reviews you should be able to tell they are a beautiful cookware set that can be hung up for everyone to see but from my experience you can determine they can handle everyday use (no babying) and end up being a 'hand-me-down' for generations to come. If they survived me this last year they'll probably be around for generations to come kinda like the cast iron cookware from years gone by.

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I've been cooking quite a bit with this set and do recommend them to the casual cook and/or the professional.

The major thing I've noticed is the amazing heat distribution of these pans. I cooked at friends house a couple weeks ago on a crappy electric range and the tuna steak we were cooking turned out perfect like I was cooking at home on my gas range.

Also a notable achievement is the easy clean up of these pans. The smooth design seemed cosmetic at first but I've been grateful for the rounded interior edges, they've saved me hours of clean up.

Great investment! Lifetime warranty is no joke either. Worth the price.

Honest reviews on Calphalon Contemporary Stainless Cookware Set

We just bought and opened this cookware. It had received several positive ratings so we were pretty excited about it. Unfortunately, the lids have some manufacturing quality control problems. The lids are glass with a stainless steel border that goes all of the way around the edge of the lid. On three of the lids, the seams (where the edges of the border connect to each other)are messed up -not aligned, not quite finished or smooth, and in one case, the seam edge is rough -to where it could possible catch on a sponge or finger. Amazon is great -offered to replace or discount the set, and that's why we love Amazon. But, they couldn't just replace the couple of bad lids. Pack it all up and haul 28 pounds of cookware to UPS or settle with a discount? We're still trying to decide but are really disappointed in Calphalon's quality here.

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We've been quite pleased with this set. The construction is solid and it is quite attractive.

What I like best is the even heating. With previous cookware, to give one example, I've always had a hard time getting olive oil to distribute completely and evenly around a pan. That is no problem with the frying pans in this set. I'm able to actually use less olive oil and get a complete coating with no trouble whatsoever.

I also like the glass lids. It gives us the capability of keep an eye on what the status of simmering food is without constantly lifting the lid to check it. Very helpful.

Because of the multi-ply construction, food truly does cook just as well at lower temperature settings than we are used to using. I still use a high setting to bring something to a boil of course, but simmering and sauteing both happen very well with about two thirds of the heat setting we are used to cooking with. One advantage of this is there is a greater margin of error if you become distracted before something may start to burn, if it even would at all. We have yet to have anything burn or stick while using this set. I would stress that you should read the instructions and follow them to have the same experience. If you just throw food in one of these skillets on high heat and no light oil/butter coating distributed first, I'm sure you could have a bad experience very quickly. LOL So read the instructions and don't use the set incorrectly.

I'm going to make updates to this review as we use the various pieces for different cooking tasks:

* I just made a pot of chili using the stock pot. I've simmered the chili for three hours on low without the first bit of the chili having to be scraped off the bottom. I've never even had that happen with a pot we have which is coated with a supposed non-stick surface. Plus, I was able to fit a really large amount of ingredients in this pot with three inches to spare from the rim. And let me tell you, with the top on no steam at all escapes. The glass lids have a rubber seal around the edge that I assume gets the credit for this. The chili has just as much moisture left in it now as it did when I started simmering it. I'd have had to add water to our old pot a few times by now to keep it from getting too thick (and I'm sure this is a major reason that nothing is sticking to the bottom). I'm very happy with the stock pot and its performance.

This cookware is a good value at Amazon's price. We got it on one of the daily Lightening Deals, and that was an outstanding value for the money spent. The set will serve us well for the rest of our lives.

Highly recommended.