Best pot and pan set?

All Clad

I have been buying individual pieces as I need them rather than a set. I have found sets usually either come with a lot of stuff you don't need or to be comprised of cheaper pieces like non stick coated stock pots and sauce pans with thin bottoms.

Best I have used is All Clad but they are very pricey. If you want close to the same performance at a much better price, check out the Cuisinart Multiclad Pro (MCP) line. The MCP line is a 3-ply stainless-aluminum-stainless construction. They are available as open stock or in sets. The sets frequently go on sale so check around. My sets is more than ten years old and still looks and performs like the day I bought it.

For everyday sauce pans, stock pots, and skillets, there are other quality alternative lines out there besides the Cuisinart MCP. By the way, I recommend a 3-ply construction of aluminum sandwiched between stainless. That provides good heat distribution, durability, and resistance to pitting from acidic foods. Anyhow, before I bought the Cuisinart MCP, I tried similar 3-ply offerings of open stock pieces from All Clad, Calphalon, and Sitram. I liked All Clad the best but couldn’t justify the price since the performance difference between it and the MCP wasn’t that great. The Calphalon was about the same as the MCP but had odd pieces in the sets, had glass lids instead of metal (not a fan of glass lids), and was more expensive. I thought the Sitram performed similarly to the Cuisinart MCP. I loved the large round handles and no rivets to clean around but I could never find available inventory on the pieces I wanted. Anyhow, the MCP has served me well and I would buy it again. If you want the best performance but don’t mind dropping close to $1000 on a set, go for the All Clad.

Cuisinart Multiclad Pro

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puffulufogous

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Same.
I don't have a complete matching set, but all of my pots and pans are excellent at what they do.
Function over form, although I do have some very handsome pots.
ETA: I did just buy 2 matching All Clad pots, a 2 qt and 4 qt sauce pan. They are great.

Speaking of bang for buck I found a really nice 3qt saucepan at HomeGoods. It's an Italian brand called silga. I couldn't find a ton of info about them online but they are 3 ply, heavy bottomed, non riveted, everything you look for in the high end brand and it was $70. So far it's impressed the hell out of me for half of an all clad pan. HomeGoods, Marshalls, etc have tons of all clad and Cuisinart but it's mostly nonstick and not high quality, heavy bottomed stuff you want.

As much as I like my All Clad pots, there is a serious problem. When put in a dishwasher the seal over the aluminum layer fails and washes away. At the edge of the pan you get sharp outer steel layers and a failing middle aluminum layer.

The steel layers are sharp enough to cut you when handling.

All Clad no longer recommends dishwasher cleaning.

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Le Creuset stainless

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