Pampered Chef Taught Me All About Cookware
Apr 13 '01 (Updated Jul 14 '08)
The Bottom Line These people taught me all there is to know about quality cookware. Three key things to remember: non-stick, tempered glass & stoneware.
This is a review I wrote last year. The category it was in has since been retired, so I have re-worked the review and am submitting it here.
Let me start by saying:
Up until January of 2000, I seldom, if ever, cooked a meal...we typically ate out or ordered in every single night. I knew nothing about cookware, what was good/bad, what features were necessary, what to look for in a cookware set, etc. One Pampered Chef show taught me all I needed to know.
Mid-January of 2000...everything changed. I was invited to a Pampered Chef party by a friend. My step-dad is really into cooking and kitchen gadgets...so I thought it would be a nice night of "father/daughter bonding." I called him up, asked him if he'd like to go out on a date with me...and off we went. I haven't been the same since.
At the beginning of the party, Kelly, the Pampered Chef consultant, asked all of the guests to go around the room and state their feelings about cooking. My reply was, "I eat out." Everyone laughed at me. But, by the end of that party I was a changed woman. Kelly whipped up this fabulous "Mediterranean Pizza" appetizer and an absolutely mouth-watering "Chocolate Praline Skillet Cake." She threw these things together in no time flat...while chit chatting with all of us and showing us the various products that Pampered Chef sells to make cooking so much easier and faster.
By the end of the party, there were so many items I wanted to buy...so Kelly suggested that I host a party of my own, and earn "hostess points" toward getting free products. So, I did. I walked away from my party a few weeks later with several hundred dollars in free merchandise...and I use the items daily, because not only did I learn about kitchen products, but, I also learned how to use them. And, one of the biggest perks...every product came with a little booklet of recipes!
Some of my favorite Pampered Chef items are:
Generation II Cookware: Their cookware set consists of 1 1/2qt. and 2 1/2 qt. saucepans, a 4 qt. casserole, a 10" frying pan, a 6qt. Dutch oven, and a steamer that fits inside the 2qt. and 4qt. pans. You also get tempered glass lids for the two saucepans, a tempered glass lid that fits both the 10" frying pan and the Dutch oven, and a tempered glass lid for the 4qt. casserole. The tempered glass is an important feature to have in glass lids as it will keep the glass from breaking into shards if you drop it. The cookware has a non-stick coating and is manufactured by the same people that make Circulon and Analon. Non-stick is also a wonderful feature as it makes the cookware easy to clean and maintain. I got my cookware set for 1/2 price for hosting my party. The set sells for $195.00, and you can get open stock pieces for $20.75 to $65.50.
A few days after I got my set, I was making pasta and walked away from the kitchen leaving the pot of pasta to burn. An hour later I came back to find the water had all evaporated and there was black burned pasta stuck to the bottom of my brand new pot. I was in tears. I picked up the pot and brought it to the sink all prepared to spend the next 45 minutes scrubbing it. I turned it over and the chunk of black burned starch simply fell out in one piece. I wiped the pot with a paper towel, and it was good as new! Now that's what I call non-stick!
Classics Collection Family Heritage Stoneware: I can't name one piece of stoneware that I love more than the others...I love them all! They are good for cooking just about anything. They cook things evenly, regardless of how unevenly heated your oven is. And cookies always come out perfectly. I use my 15" Round Baking Stone for making cookies, pizzas, and beautiful wreath shaped appetizers (thanks to Pampered Chef recipes). I use my Deep Dish Baker for chicken breasts, pork chops, cinnamon buns and fish sticks...and my cinnamon buns don't taste like fish sticks! I use my 9" Square Baker for casseroles and cakes, and I use my Stoneware Bar Pan for brownies, cookies, and Mediterranean Pizza like I had at my first Pampered Chef party! Did I mention that I got just about all of those pieces for free when I had my party? (I bought the Bar Pan at the first party I ever went to). They recently came out with a new line of stoneware that is glazed on the outside which makes it really pretty for taking to pot lucks. The stoneware is so easy to clean, too...just soak it in some hot water and scrape the food remnants off with the nylon scraper that you get free with the stoneware. And, don't ever use soap on your stoneware, there's no need for it and it will just soak into the porous surface of the stone and give your food a funny taste. Their stoneware prices range from $14.00 to $38.50.
Pampered Chef Cookbooks: I realize cookbooks arent' really considered "cookware," but to the beginner cook, they are an essential part of your cookware ensemble. I can't say enough about the Pampered Chef cookbooks. Pampered Chef comes out with a new cookbook every time they come out with a new catalog (several times a year) and it is called the "Season's Best" recipe collection. The best part? It only costs a buck and typically has about 30 recipes in it! They also have cookbooks specifically for using your stoneware (Stoneware Sensations and More Stoneware Sensations), specifically for children (Kids in the Kitchen), specifically for people trying to lower their fat intake (Light & Simple) and many others. And their recipes are all so very simple and take very little time to make.
My husband laughed at me when I told him I was hosting a Pampered Chef Party, but he sure is whistling a different tune these days (check out his review: http://dannyzmom.epinions.com/hmgd-review-4E3E-608AFDA-38DA503C-prod5). He used to call me from work and ask where I wanted to go to eat dinner that evening, now he calls me and asks me what I am making for dinner...all thanks to Pampered Chef.
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dannyzmom
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Member: Carolyn
Location: South Florida
Reviews written: 109
Trusted by: 609 members
About Me:
Drop me an email if you would like to feel more Pampered in the kitchen!!
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