Bachelor on the Cheap

By Mike Thayer

High quality, value priced

Down to my last sauce pan and the Teflon coating wearing thin, I was need of some new pans, like yesterday... 

If you like to cook, you need to have some reliable cookware, something that will last and can hold up to regular day-to-day use.  Buying the el cheapo pans (Mainstays) at Walmart for $7 - $9 a pop and no lid just doesn't cut it.  That's actually what I'm replacing, Mainstays sauce pans, which lasted me maybe 4 years with regular use.  Lesson learned.

I considered stainless steel saucepans, but since I'm not going to be searing anything in these pans - they're sauce pans not skillets after all - they'll be used for soups, stews, gravies, pastas, making mashed potatoes and the like, I don't need to apply high searing heat to brown something in these pans, that's what skillets are for.  And the convenience of easy clean Teflon came into play.

Stackable Sauce Pans, a HUGE plus in a small kitchen

I did some shopping online, I looked at Target and Kohl's, but I found what I was looking for at Sam's Club.

I bought a Tramontina 6 piece stackable sauce pan set for $29.99.  BARGAIN!  I became familiar with this brand when doing some saucepan homework online.

Not only do I get to take advantage of the easy to cook with and easy to clean Teflon surface, this pan set stacks! Not all pan sets lend themselves to easy stacking by inverting the lid, this set does, which comes in handy in a galley style kitchen with limited cabinet space.  Another plus, this easy clean Teflon surface is supposedly metal utensil safe, but I'm not even going to test that.  Using rubber, silicone and/or wood/bamboo utensils extends the life of any pan.  And here's a tip:  Although this set is dishwasher safe, don't do it.  I don't care what kind of pan set you buy, routinely cleaning them in the dishwasher ruins the finish.  Hand wash your pans and do NOT use any abrasive scrubbing pads!  You'll prematurely scratch the finish and wear the Teflon coating thin.  Additional features:  The glass lids are tempered and the pans are oven safe up to 350 degrees.

Melting some butter for a bechamel sauce

I'm giving the Tramontina 6 piece stackable sauce pan set 4 out of 5 Bachelor on the Cheap stars.  I was looking for high-quality cookware that is value-priced and I found it in Tramontina Cookware.  The set met my budget (it actually came in way under) and totally serves my cooking needs.  I would say this is a repeat buy, but I won't have to, not for quite a few years!  I won't be trashing any of these pans as I did so soon with Walmart's Mainstay pans.  The only knock I have is the set doesn't come in black, I 'had' to settle for metallic blue.  Obviously not a deal breaker.