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Heres my honest review on the Calphalon Unison Cookware.
First a little back ground, I attended Johnson and Wales Culinary and I have been a professional chef for 22 years.
I was in the market for a new range top set {frying, saute, boilers, and grill pans}, all of which I prefer to have non stick. Now I am not going to lie and say we use non stick/anodized pans at the restaurant, because we dont, to be honest with you I run a 4 star kitchen and there isnt a "name" brand pan in the place... The pans are old commercial banders, that are dented and burnt on the out side. Dont let anyone mislead you in thinking commercial cookware is good for your home, the pans are very thin so they will heat quickly, they are plain no fancy coatings, handles, or glass lids, we replace them when they start to leak, clean them every night with steel wool and scrapers when needed, and throw them around like they are free... Most things that can stick will be cooked on the griddle which is built into the commercial stove and is just a piece of steel with burners under it, and them item dont have a shot of sticking because we use enough lard/butter that they couldnt stick if we wanted them to. So I hope you get the point, you dont want "commercial" cookware and I wouldnt use any expensive cookware in a commercial kitchen, just cast iron and cheap pans...
Now onto my review, I was in the market or a new set of pans, for my new home kitchen. I prefer non stick pans at home. When most people cook at home there doing other things all over the house {I often cook from the couch}, so the attention you need to pay a set of stainless pans with a chicken breast in them is a lot higher than with non stick pans. Plus at home cooking for my family I use as little butter and oil as possible, non stick is the only way to achieve this...
I have always liked Calphalon products, and there warranty for those of you that dont know is incredible, lifetime with no proof of purchase required, you can buy a pan at a yard sale and it is under warranty, not to mention there customer service is the best in the business...
I initially got scared by the numerous bad reviews on amazon. But since I have used Calphalon pans before and always had good results, I figured I would figure it out for my self, I only bought a 10" fry pan {they call it an omelet pan}, a 4qt saute pan, and a 1 qt sauce pan... As soon as they came a started cooking, first night was pork chops in the fry pan, eggplant, squash, and zuk in the saute pan, and a white cream sauce in the sauce pan... It worked great, I wouldnt change a thing, the sauce pans have a smaller opening so you dont get as much condensation and the evaporation is minimal, plus the non stick worked so well It looked like the sauce wasnt touching the pan. The fry pan seared the pork chops well, they didnt stick at all and they heated fast and evenly, the saute pan, did what it was supposed to I used my olive wood turner to shuffle around the pan and was not being careful, just normal stirring and turning... After I was done cooking, I let the pans cool, and took them to the sink, I hand washed them and inspected them, no a scratch and they were super easy to clean.... All in all a nice set of pans, I like the weight, although if you get a 6 qt pan full of food, its going to be heavy.
I have since purchased 8 more pans, and love them, I have had the first 3 pans for over a year, and they look new, I hand wash and dont bang them around but there like new..
Some tips for the people who want to cook professionally in there home with these pans { or any for that matter}...
When possible, get your foods to room temp {60 degrees or so, surface temp, not internal} I take a steak out of the cooler and put it on the counter for an hour before cooking}, I cant explain what it does but the results are noticable.
Use the correct temperature, the unison pans, will cook better at lower temps because they conduct so well, so if you used to cokk a pork chop on med high in stainless, med will due with these pans.
Never put cold food in a cold pan and let it cook {exceptions for stocks, water, and sauces}, get your pan up to temp and then add the food, once you add it to the pan dont touch it untill that contact area is cooked... Exampleput a hamburger patty on the pan, leave it for 3-5 minutes depending how thick it is, and them flip it, dont swuash it down or move it around the pan, just leave it alone...
In closing I love the pans, there expensive, but there nice, look and perform well, easy to maintain, best warranty around, and have some nice pans available....
PS: nothing is going to replace, having a le crueset skillet, 5qt dutch oven style pan, and oven roaster.. but in conjunction these pans are nice...
Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>
Purchased 4 items of Calphalon Unison cookware, Used them just a few times and now I'm addicted. I now own the complete offering of Calphalon Unison cookware, including Utensils, Towels and Pot Holders. What a difference good cookware can do for your cooking. Also save on the amount of cookware you use. I seared a small roast on the stove top, than put it in the oven in the same pot. Also made homemade gravy (sauce) in the 8 quart stock pot, had it simmering for over 6 hours and there was no burnt sauce on the bottom of the pot. Clean up is a breeze, alittle Dawn dish detergent and a Dobie pad a couple a swirls around the inside and the outside of the Pan/Pot/Lid, rince it off, towel dry and back into the cabinet. They are also dishwasher safe. I am so glad I decided to go with the Calphalon Unison. If you are looking for a good set of cookware, don't look any further.Best Deals for Calphalon Unison Nonstick Cookware Set
My first Amazon review ever. I had researched many sets of cookware before deciding upon the Unison set. A previous a loyal Calphalon customer. I even recycled my old Calphalon (in the box provided with this set)sending it back to the company. I was sorry I did. I should have kept my old pot and pans. After almost 15 years they looked much better than this set did after only a few months. Let me state, I read the directions,care instructions, use the recommended type of utensils and cleaning products to the letter. I could not believe my eyes when the non-stick finish came off! I figured maybe I got one defective pan. Sorry to say that was not the case.Honest reviews on Calphalon Unison Nonstick Cookware Set
I've had Cuisinart 66-14 Chef's Classic Nonstick Hard-Anodized 14-Piece Cookware Set before but after a few years of use the Nonstick coating had worn off and the pans were rusting. I decided to take the plunge and invest in cookware which I hoped would last a lifetime. After doing some research I came to the conclusion that stainless steel, triply was the way to go so I bought Calphalon Tri-Ply Stainless Steel 13-Piece Cookware Set last year and it's nice but my husband and I hate how difficult they were to clean and foods such as eggs, pancakes and rice would stick. They cleaned up well enough but it takes a bit of elbow grease and products such as Bartender's Keeper to do so.After 6 months of trying to work with the stainless steel set we broke down and looked for a non-stick which we could use to cook those foods we found were sticking frequently to the stainless steel and decide to try two of Calphalon's NonStick brands. We purchased one pan from Calphalon's Unison and Calphalon's Bronze collection and we loved them both!
We found clean up to be a breeze with these pans. Eggs can cook with NO oil if I wanted and they slide right off. We found ourselves using the two pans over and over and avoiding the stainless steel set. Finally my husband just took all the stainless steel cookware and put them in our pantry.
I decided at that point that the two pans, great as they were, weren't enough to handle all of my cooking needs to we invested in the Calphalon Unison set and couldn't be happier.
I have been using the two nonstick pans from Calphalon for about 5 6 months and If these pans hold up as well as those two I purchased for trial then I know I'm going to continue loving this set.
A few notes. I have only been using wood or rubber cooking utensils and we hand wash the pans. I know Calphalon says these are dishwasher safe but they clean up so easily we haven't found a need to stick them in the dishwasher.
Another note: The lids for this set has a good weight, they make a tight fit on the pans and steam doesn't leak out.
Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Calphalon Unison Nonstick Cookware Set
I purchased Calphalon Unison because I thought Calphalon was the best cookware around. Was I wrong. I purchased the Unison because it was rated diswasher safe. I was very careful with my new cookware... I had paid ALOT of money for it and wanted to treat it well so it would last a long, long time. I had the cookware about two weeks when I noticed the exterior of the pots that I used the most was wearing off and the pots now have no finish left on them. The interior, the non-stick part is fine... but the exterior of the pots look like I picked them up, used, at a garage sale or something. I will never purchase Calphalon again. For the most part I wash them by hand because I use them more often than I run the diswasher, but I occasionally put them into the diswasher... maybe once or twice before the finish wore right off. I can't articulate how disappointed I am in this cookware.
