There is also the situation where you want high end cookware but can't afford a set and willing to buy one at a time while saving for the next! :)

I bought a Le Creuset Dutch oven several years ago, and it turned out to be the work horse in my kitchen. It was totally worth the price.

You could do an entire series on "the questions to ask" for various topics ... • The questions to ask ... when buying a chicken • The questions to ask ... when selecting a melon • The questions to ask ... etc

To be honest, all most people will ever need is a quality Dutch oven and a frying pan lol. Can make so many recipes with just those 2 things. Get a silicone spoon, and a couple of stainless steel and wooden spoons with and without slots, some tongs, some measuring spoons/cups, a rasp, a set of knives with cutting board, and you're basically good to go lol. Everything else is very optional, especially if you will only use it once every few months. The stuff above is basically essential - you will use daily. Maybe a sauce pan that can double up for rice could be rice... but you can even get away with that if you don't cook rice.

I got my first le Crueset round 'Dutch oven' I love it, it is fantastic.

Years ago, I worked in a Restaurant that had beautiful copper pots. Since then I have invested and have a few pieces that I use daily. I LOVE cooking in them. I know they are High maintenance, but there is something special about preparing food in a copper pan. P.S love your channel 😋💕💕💕

Two considerations not mentioned: how much space is in my cupboard and what do the heating elements on my stove look like? The big oval Dutch oven is sadly out for me for both reasons. I do have the round one, and I can’t live without it. Good tips! 👍🏻

My favourites are OLD the cast iron pieces inherited from my grandmother. But, I also have super expensive copper, carbon steel, old terracotta (clay) pots, and all-purpose, mid-range stainless steel pots and pans for everyday meals.

Very practical information presented here. Cheers, Stephane!

Stephane, you are a truly professional. This video really makes sense. Thanks to you I will not buy uneccessary pots, which I was going to buy

I have the large oval casserole. It's been in my kitchen for about 40 years and has been used weekly. It is always washed in the dishwasher - and it is perfect, it has not deteriorated, it is shiny and lovely. A good buy Stephan, but ditch the Marigolds. x

copper pots and pans i only use Mauviel, great and price is good, cast steel/iron pans only de Buyer, awesome quality for the euro, cast iron pots i use invicta, cheers from germany

I use the sublime John Pawson designed line for Demeyere - amazingly great. Far out performs my abilities but the consistency and quality inspires me which brought me here to @French Cooking Academy. The Matfer line of spatulas, dough scrapers and spoons are worth a very special mention - they, too, are life long tools.

Got a mix of Le Creuset, Lodge cast iron and carbon steel, and All Clad and a Cuisinart France sauce pan for stainless steel pieces. Love them all. For a roasting pan for turkeys and larger cuts of meat, perhaps a Mauviel if I could justify the investment for it if I use it often enough those are expensive but worth it.

I agree with that checklist. Been bying cheap for years but gave that up when i really started to cook. I saw the episode where Stephane showed his Mauviel and started to look at those. Ended up with buyin gthe saute and fryingpan since i really want the heat control. Together with my 12 litre enameld Le Cruset i can cook just about anything for me and my son and also if i have guests. Though i dont really agree with buying a set of mid- to high range. Quality cost alot so i think it's better to save up and then buy one at the time.

Very helpful.. thanks. I have some great pans from my grandmother that are almost like new so... good quality pays off in the long run.

Good questions! A word of caution regarding this brand: Though I love my Le Creuset cast Iron pot (a.k.a. Dutch ovens), their ceramics are unfortunately not very good. If you fill them to e.g. make a gratin that is fine, but if you put a piece of meat that only partially fill it there is a great chance it will crack in the oven. Happened twice to me.

Great questions to ask Stephane. I guess you answered one for me....what do I cook most? Lots of French and Mexican. Lots of times I'll make a dish in advance(sometimes a day in advance), put it in the fridge, clean the pan and make something else in it per the recipe...I need more sauce pans! It's so tempting to buy a brand new set of cookware, but your right, buy individual pieces first, then decide on a new set, or not.

I have the same Dutch oven, only in the color 'Dune' (years ago). I love it. This video is helpful, thank you!

Now that I am living here I bought the same Le Creuset pot but in white, was my second pot in 30 years and I have been using it for a year and it's great. Muriel from Normandie I believe are more expensive but the quality is very hard to compare. I am not a professional but I like them they look good and they perform, which a must

A great video, sir. The "spur of the moment" purchase will usually only benefit for a spur of the moment. Perhaps a video on the maintenance of cookware? I would certainly enjoy and be edified from it.

Love my Le Crueset pieces & also have Cuisinart stainless steel deep sauté pan that is 35 years old & still going strong. Good quality cookware is worth it.

Some very sage advice. I've a collection of pans at the moment. Some modern steel with copper outers for general cooking & a couple of de Buyer heavy oval mineral iron fry pans that I don't think they make anymore. I've also been building up a collection of antique copper cookware. But taking my time to get ones in good condition. Also some speciality cookware like tagines & a Portuguese tinned copper cataplana. It's nice having cookware that you enjoy cooking with so I don't mind taking the time to search for the right pans. But I can see where you are coming from on buying a good set of pans all at once. They'll serve you well. Have you ever played with the science behind beating eggs in a copper bowl? It does seem to make a difference but it would be interesting to see you do a video on it to get your opinion.

We upgraded our cookware to a 10-piece All-Clad D-5 set plus a D-5 Lasagna pan and La Creuset dutch oven. We've been very happy with the performance of this cookware. I also use a cast iron wok and pizza pan (which I also use to make tortillas). Quality cookware really makes a difference.

I bought some very good, very expensive pans 40 odd years ago . I put in dishwasher but avoid thermic shocks. Favorite: high sided sauté pan with glass lid. Price compared to long life makes them cheap and, most important, a pleasure to use every day

Thanks for helping me think through this, Stephane. For the most part, I think I've made reasonably sound choices so far. I've had the Favorit series from IKEA for 20 years or so, the set and a few supplements. This has served med very well, and was remarkably high quality for its very modest price. Unfortunately long since discontinued, and as far as I know not replaced with anything nearly comparable. I may be in the market for upgrades in the future. I'd like to know your view on Mauviels products with stainless steel handles. I assume the issue with dishwashers and your set mostly applies to cast iron and bronze handles? I have a small kitchen, and being a bit lazy, I'd like to leave the dishes to the machine... I got a Staub cocotte for christmas (very specifically "hinted at" after muc rummaging for information on the interwebs, and the whole family chipping in). Gradually falling more deeply in love with each use. I've been playfully experimenting with carbon steel pans, though. Garcima proved too thin, DeBuyer warping a bit more than was good, Matfer being convex from the start, but responding very well to a few solid hammer blows (a pice of wood for protection and spreading the energy). Last purchase was the swedish Kockums pan which has a shape similar to your Le Creuset, and is very stable. Perhaps not a good shape for tossing or flipping food, but I never do that anyway. Maybe my favourite so far. I want a gas stove at some point, as that would effectively nullify any criticism of all the carbn steel pans I've tried....

LOL LOL LOL...I just purchased both of those Le Creuset pieces this last year for the same reasons!

We were lucky enough to pick up a scanpan cookware 9 piece set that was on special offer for £150....really good quality I think

One question he fails to consider is what heat source you are using, induction hobs need special cookware for example. Another thing to consider is whether you can use the same pot/pan on a hob, in the oven or under the grill. As for non-stick, the modern stoneware/granite types of coating are way superior to the thin black Teflon coatings of the past. I buy individual items of the best quality that I can afford. My Tefal set failed, one frying pan warped and was no longer flat and the Teflon coating on the saucepans only lasted a couple of years despite careful hand washing without abrasives.I live in Spain and have found that several brands of Spanish cookware are as good as Le Creuset at a fraction of the price.

Should follow this video up with a video about cleaning and caring. My stainless steel pans and pots have gotten quite stained and discoloured over the years from high heat and burnt on foods. It probably doesn’t matter from a cooking perspective but aesthetically, they look terrible. I hate to be wasteful and throw out perfectly functional cookware just because it look old. Would like to see if it is possible to recondition them or how to avoid the staining and discolouration.

Cast iron all the way. I have a nice set of stainless with thick copper bases, but I still cook with the 2 50 year old cast iron skillets and enameled cast iron dutch oven/braising pans more than anything. Of the nice stainless I have, I use the 2 sauce pans and the stock pot (just for soup). The skillets collect dust. The only others I use are a couple of MASSIVE stock pots I have to make stocks and broth and a 5-gallon pot for making beer wort.

Totally concur on points about quality over cheap--you don't have to run a channel to realise the value in saving up for a $300 pan that will last nearly forever vs. quickly spending $20 for something similar in size but that must be replaced every 100 uses.

Stub is my choice and I love it .Same few pieces of Mauviel working hard every day

More questions “How heavy is it?”, “Is it compatible with my health?”. Cast iron isn’t great if you don’t have the strength to lift it, or if you have high iron levels in your body due to haemochromatosis.

Please do a similar video on chef knives :)

You can tell a carpenter by their tools, same goes for cooks; even home cooks like me.

I dont know are this kind of questions work in France, but in most parts of the world outside of the old europe it dont. Most of cookwere in many countries are rubbish (at least it is so for Latvia and Russia). Finding good cookwere there really a problem and i really know only 2 brands what work for myself 1 italian and 1 japanese.

I have the same cocotte (except red) and almost the same frying pan (mine is green, and has a lower rim). That pan is great, the rough black surface works better I think than the smooth white one. I wish I had the higher rim though... Why Le Creuset and not Staub? I've used both cocottes, and prefer the black Staub surface.

question #6. How much storage space do you have?

I would love if you could make some videoes with defrend kind of soups, specially european soups or well most of us in europe is making the soups on almost same way, but just soups to try, now when its the season soups and BTW your french onion soup is delicious

Where did you buy your large rustic saut'e pan? I cannot find a source. Thanks

I'm envious of that Le Creuset sauteuse with the wooden handle. As near as I can tell, they're only available in Australia; they're not even listed on the Le Creuset official Web site. I wonder how much it would cost to order one from Teddington's and have it shipped to the USA, or if that would even be possible.

Is there going to be a recipe this week too?

I was given a 23cm Le Creuset pot some years ago and I love using it. I've um..."well done" a few things and it's cleaned up easily :) As much as I'd like some more, it's outside my price range. My frying pans are mid-range Tefal, except a big Woolies one with a lid, which isn't lasting (how did I know that it wouldn't :P You get what you pay for :| )

Fissler Pans will last you a lifetime and are great! Stephane, why do you use gas and not induction?

1. is it discheascher-safe? 2. was first Q. asked? 3. has it a pour over rim? 4. does it work on induction? - because induction is the only best cooking tech.

What are best 3 size for Charlotte mold I can buy please let me know

Merci pour votre aide

Le creuset pans have been on my wishlist for a while. And a gasfire, we've got induction unfortunately.

I can't afford Le Creuset, but I bought a MasterClass casserole dish recently, very lightweight. Hope it works for my needs!

Which model of Le Creuset is the one with the wooden handle?

Hello Chef: What brand is that black sautè pan? Who sells it? Thankx Mucho😎

For once, I totally disagree with your recommendation. I would suggest that people NOT buy a cookware set, because different kinds of cooking are best done with different types of cookware. Sometimes multiply stainless steel is best, but sometimes cast iron is best and sometimes non-stick is best. And sets may include items one would seldom if ever use. An à la carte collection made up of only really essential items is the way to go.

How did you make the choice.. well French cooking academy would get le creuset obviously. 🤭 surprise.

Merci pour

Nice video. Could you please write down the brands (and models) of your new pans? I am unable to transcribe French, sorry.

Charlotte mold has numbers I don’t understand how many quarts are they

I have that same Dutch oven. Does wonders

I’m first

You left out big or little also

just want to hear your accent.....

I’m a fan of your channel, but really?? You sure you wouldn’t rather just be honest with your followers & tell them you’ve been sponsored by the pots & pans company. Personally that doesn’t put me off. My main interest is finding high quality, professionally made equipment.

Umm Ahmed from Palestine, Gaza Strip, good people, I live in a rented house, my orphaned children need you to communicate, attached with a personal photo 🌺🇵🇸

أم أحمد من فلسطين قطاع غزة يا اهل الخير أعيش في بيت أيجار أطفالي الايتام بحاجه إليكم لتواصل مرفق بصوره الشخصية

Stub is my choice and I love it .Same few pieces of Mauviel working hard every day