Is Cuisinart Or Farberware Cookware Any Good?

Q: I have been looking at a lot of diffrent cookware. Two of the nicer sets (that are available to me in local stores) are Cuisinart Everyday, and Farberware Millennium nonstick. The Cuisinart cookware is MUCH more expensive than the Farberware (almost $300 for a 14 piece set). But what I'm really interested in is which is the better cookware. Ie how do the two compare as far as hot spots, sticking (not real important), performance, wear and tear over the long term, etc. Dose anyone have any experience with these brands and if so good or bad? I have been thinking it would be nice to get some decent cookware. I would like it to be a life time investment, so quality is most important.

A: First I don't have any practical experience with the Cuisinart cookware but have had satisfactory results with their food processor and toaster. Also, from my personal experience, it is better to buy a few pieces of cookware at a time, that way you can get what you truly need rather than a set of pots and pans that may not be fully utilized. Buy a sample piece from each set, give it a test run, and then buy what you like. I don't know about the Millennium, but, we have been using the same set of Farberware stainless for over 30 years. Most of the stuff looks like it has hardly been used. We recently added a couple of small pots. Cost of cookware does not always indicate quality. You can also get years of good use from cast iron pans, and, our favorite non-stick saut? pans are Club Aluminum available at WalMart. Club aluminum is thicker than most other brands and gives better heat distribution. I've had most of my Farberware for 30 years now and receommend it highly. The only piece I've had to replace was 15 years ago, the double boiler insert, when a babysitter burnt it and half the kitchen trying to make popcorn (Don't ask....) We use it for nearly everything and supplement it only with some often-replaced teflon skillets for sauteeing and (Don't tell the kitchen/wok police!!!) Chinese stir fries. Tried some expensive ScanPan skillets a few years ago and found that they: 1. stuck like crazy, even when I followed directions explicitly 2. discolored badly when heated enough to sear meat 3. peeled around the edges after a few months The mfg. said to return them to the store, the store (Foleys in Denver) said it was between me and the mfg. but that's a whole 'nother story.....

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