Can you choose for me?

[geminigirl]

zedrikcayne is celebrating his tenth anniversary (technicalities count-they count the years at Hypnotix plus the years at EA) and so they gave a list of options for tenth anniversary gifts. After deciding that there was some stuff we really didn't need (like an 18 inch tv/dvd player combo) we're left with two choices for "stuff we really don't need but is kinda nice and would be the best for us of our options."

So I come to you, to help me decide what to add to my kitchen...

Option 1:

Cuisinart Multi Clad cookware, 18/10 cooking surface, cook grip handles. The set includes a 1.5-qt saucepan/cover, 3-qt saucepan/cover, 8-qt stockpot/cover, and 10" skillet.

Option 2:

Le Creuset 5-Piece Essential Set of enameled cast iron cookware in red. The set includes 9" skillet, 1.25-qt. saucepan and lid, 3.5-qt. round French oven and lid. All feature iron handles.

Now I don't actually need either of these. I've wanted some Le Cruset for years, but the 3.5 quart oven is kind of small, and I'm not sure it's quite practical for my cooking.


[Poll #1730156]

Comments

[lonebear.livejournal.com]

I'm with Alton, and others. Don't buy a set, get the exact parts you want. So fond the Le Cruset pieces that work best and get just those.

We got a 'complete' set when we got married, and I almost never use about 1/3 of the pots and pans.

[geminigirl]

This is free stuff from his work-I don't get to pick and choose the pieces I get...those are my two options. I will eventually splurge on a Le Cruset French oven in the size I want, whether I get a couple of pieces of Le Cruset now or the Cuisinart. I'm not investing in a set of cookware now-I have stuff that works well for us right now, but I'm also not going to turn up my nose at good stuff that's coming to me for free, you know?

[lonebear.livejournal.com]

Ah. That wasn't clear to me in my quick read. Bad me.

[rdhdsnippet.livejournal.com]

Red enameled anything trumps anything non-red enameled, IMO. ;)

[geminigirl]

You live! You're still on the Internet! How are you? How is your family? And your almost six year old????

Are you and Schez on Facebook or Twitter? I'd love to hear more about what you're doing.

[rdhdsnippet.livejournal.com]

Red enamelled anything trumps anything non-red enamelled, IMO. ;)

[stenodork.livejournal.com]

for some reason when all the details are laid out, the multiclad wins.

[jennifer0246.livejournal.com]

same. when i read of this on FB i was in favor of the le creuset, but here i am voting for the multiclad. odd.

[also-huey.livejournal.com]

We're in the process of thinning our three kitchens worth of shit and only one kitchen worth of space to keep it in. A 22-year-old friend just moving into her first apartment is getting pretty much a complete set of pots & pans and other implements of destruction, and we'll probably send a pretty good-sized box of other good stuff to the Salvation Army, and another good-sized box of stuff that probably should have been retired a while ago to a landfill or the scrap-metal guy.

So, here's my theory: get the big bunch of new pans, use those to replace whatever you got that could use it, and whatever's left that's still useful can get donated to somebody.

Couple years ago, I briefly got to use some Red Cross pans. It's cool that the Red Cross has pans, but they gotta come from somewhere.

[geminigirl]

Three kitchens? Did I miss something? I thought it was you and The Girl-is there a third party there?

[also-huey.livejournal.com]

No, but she's worked in restaurants for more than twenty years. We have both more cookware and more glassware than the place she's currently working.

[sweet-tea79.livejournal.com]

I am a bit of a whore for Le Creuset, so that wins in my book.

[klwalton.livejournal.com]

In my experience, anything smaller than 5 quarts in the Le Creuset line is relatively useless. I have two of the 5 quart, and they are in constant use. I say go for the Cuisinart. Not quite as nice as AllClad, but I have a couple of their pans and they're close enough to make no nevermind.

[ladysmith.livejournal.com]

I adore Le Cruset, even though I don't own any. We got enameled Lodge. ;-)

[whitebird.livejournal.com]

The Cuisinart set looks more useful, but what I really suggest is to plug all of the options into eBay, figure out which will give you the best dollar return, get that option, and then buy something you actually want.

No, I never game the system... ;)

[wait.livejournal.com]

I would go for the set you like. And then see if you can exchange some of the pieces at a store. Or Craiglist it.

[entirelysonja.livejournal.com]

I think the Cuisinart set looks more like stuff you'd actually use every day. We have some similar pans from other companies, and like them very much.