Recommend your.....

Katoners

FI and I are going to register soon and I need some recommendations. We have all the basic cookware but it is mostly crappy leftovers from college and random pieces bought later on. We have been holding out on buying anything good so that we could register for it. We are not gourmet cooks by any means but we do cook fairly often and would like some quality pots and pans and such that will last.  I also need a new food processor so any recommendations for that would be great to!  Thanks ladies

ETA: I searched and found some suggestions for cookware but now I have a follow-up question. I usually buy non stick pans, but I know cast iron is great and I see it recommended a lot. So can someone explain to me the benefits of cast iron over non stick, or stainless steel?

Also any good knife suggestions? I have a Wusthof (sp?) chefs knife that I LOVE, but its the only good knife i have. What other knives do yu like that you use regularly?

Kristin789

You don't want to put a knife set on your wedding registry - or anything else that cuts, like scissors or a can opener. You can Google this to learn more:
knife sett wedding penny

or

you can click here to learn more:
http://thebridesguide.marthastewartweddings.com/2010/09/etiquette-when-you-receive-a-present-that-cuts.html

hoffse

Kristin, that's not even slightly helpful.

OP, I don't usually cook with cast iron unless it's enameled.  Enameled cast iron is great - it clean up quickly and heats very evenly without awful hot spots. You can also use it in the stove or the oven, so it's a multipurpose sort of thing. The enameled cast iron tends to be pretty expensive though, so we registered for a small dutch oven and that's it.  It will let us brown meat for stews, etc. and then pop it in the oven for a few hours without swtiching pots.  I know retread always recommends lodge - that's an inexpensive non-enameled cast iron you have to season.  I know I'm not interested in spending that much time with it, so we don't have that kind.  But she might be able to tell you about it.

I love stainless - if you get the right kind (one that is triply, which means it has a layer of aluminum or copper in between two layers of stainless steel), it is very very sensitive to heat so you can control your heat levels pretty easily.  They are also quite easy to clean.  Trick is to heat the pan first for a couple min, add your oil and then go.  Everything will slide right off.  And if it doesn't, it's the only kind you can stick in a dishwasher.  Stainless isn't as expensive as enameled cast iron unless you get super fancy with All-Clad, etc.  We bought a nice cuisinart set for $150 at costco.  They still had it last time I looked.  We love it - it's tryply and it has every piece we might ever need.  It was also much less expensive than other lines (which average $350-$500+ for a set the same size), and I have no issues throwing them in the dishwasher because they were so cheap.

Nonstick is generally considered the least long wearing.  Once you scratch the teflon or whatever the coating is, you are supposed to trash them.   Having two sizes of cheap (basically disposable) nonstick skillets is about all you need in my opinion - that will take care of your eggs and pancakes, and then everything else can be done on your stainless or cast iron.

As for a food processor, cuisinart is classic.  We have a 7 cup cuisinart that we got during black friday and we love it (I know it's only february but if you don't get it for your wedding, try to wait until black friday - ours was dirt cheap).  The kitchenaid processors also get great reviews and are a little less expensive that cuisinart just paying retail.  For most people 7 cups is plenty.  KA makes a 9 cup that is still relatively compact if you want a little more space.  Places like williams sonoma will try to convince you that you need a 13 cup processor.  That's frankly completely absurd.  If you ever need that much space, just make two batches.  The large ones are enormous.

As for knives, we registered for Calphalon Katana.  I wrote about these in the post above yours.  $450 for the large set, but each piece individually retails for under $100.  So we registered for the individual pieces and will return any we get to use toward the large set.  The BBB coupons also work on calphalon, and I don't think they work on Henckles or Wustof (though somebody who is reading their coupon can correct me on this).  Finally, BBB runs a deal that gives you a $50 gift card if you spend $300 on calpahlon products there in one purchase.  Those knives qualify (barely), even with the coupon.  FI got really excited holding them, and they were the perfect price point for us with the coupons, etc.  I got some BBB gift cards for law school graduation that I've held onto so we can buy those knives if we don't get them.

gymbugmj2k

For knives i'd stick with henckels, wustoff or global:
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/zwilling-j-a-henckels-professional-s-8-piece-knife-block-set/
(set is 299 on amazon right now)

hubby and i typically use a large and small chef knife, santoku, and paring knife. not much else!  we like having the sharpening rod and scissors too. 


For cookware:
we do have 1 cast iron skillet. they definitely require skill to cook on (and you need to keep them seasoned and clean them appropriately), and i wouldn't reccomend it for all your food. its just....too much work at some points. you should be fine with decent non-stick cookware.
my mom and i both have circulon and LOVE IT. to the point that i knew i immediately wanted circulon cookware when i got engaged. i'd reccomend the set that has stainless lids (NOT GLASS), but thats just my preference for cooking, durability and what not.
ive never been a fan of stainless cookware. i feel as though things stick/burn too often unless you use extra butter/oil/whatever to coat your pans and are on top of them 24/7 as you cook. i don't find a benefit, other than the "its what chefs use" claim.

Katoners

Thanks for the responses ladies, you've been incredibly helpful!

Cackle6

I'm probably one of the lone ladies here who does not prefer stainless. I'm too impatient to cook with stainless, so we went with Calphalon Unison's non stick pans. They have a lifetime warrenty, and as long as you don't use metal utensils on them or stack them inside each other, they will last a really long time. And if somehow you get scratches when you're not using metal, just call Calphalon and they'll send you a new one - their customer service is almost as good as BBB's. We also have one cast iron pan for when we need to cook above 450 degrees in the oven.