T-fal C770SI Signature Hard Anodized Scratch Resistant PFOA Free Nonstick Thermo-Spot Heat Indicator Cookware Set, 18-Piece, Gray

After researching many cookware sets I finally settled on the T-fal 18pc hard anodized. I would have loved a cast iron set as the healthier option but they're out of my price range for everything I need at the moment and I'm not convinced they would be totally practical for us due to weight and storage (I have to hang my pots and pans up), so I decided to hard anodized was best for us. I used to have a Paula Dean porcelain set.. It was a gift so it served its purpose for almost 6 years. We took great care of them for a couple years then got lazy and started dishwashing them. With hard water they faded a lot and the red coating on the handles was peeling but surprisingly they held up pretty well.I love the number of pieces in this set. The price plus an Amazon coupon offset the taxes I was charged probably because there's an Amazon warehouse is in my state it shipped from, plus give it a bit more of a discount and made the price per piece cheaper than the smaller set. I needed the bigger skillet which is also not included in the smaller set. The steamers are pretty much just extra goodies I may use once in a blue moon but nice nonetheless. Better than the few times I've tried putting a stainless bowl-style steamer in a pot... that's messy. The red heat indicator in the center works surprisingly well. I cooked chicken all the way to the edge which tells me it heats all the way around considering my range is a bit smaller than the largest skillet. You may find you have to watch the heat setting.. I'm used to cooking at higher temps because my old set took longer to heat and didn't hold it very well. With these once it's heated you're good to go and may even cook things too fast! Something to get used to. The chicken w/ sauce meal I made slid ohhh so easily out of the pan which was a wonderful plus. Cleaning is super easy (we're back to hand washing so the hard water doesn't discolor the outside or destroy the coating.) My husband did point out a couple darker spots on the bottom of one of them from debris that was on the burner. Haven't tried to get that off yet but I am not expecting these to look fresh from the factory forever. The vents on the lids are nice.. I'm not sure how they will work for my rice. I made rice and it turned out soggy. It's a different brand/style than I'm used to using though so it's possible that was a user error. Hopefully it wasn't the vent's issue.Oh, and my husband read where someone reviewed searing a steak with these, so we decided to buy a steak (rare for us) and cook it following some good online searing instructions. It was excellent! We just have to work on our seasoning/marinating preferences for the next time.SHIPPING FLUKE: We had a bit of a rough start with these. I ordered them and they were delivered the next day (likely because the facility they shipped from is about 45min away from us). It was bitterly cold so I didn't pay any attention to the box as it was brought in but as I started to open it I noticed some pretty big crunched in corners. Didn't think much of and it and continued to open it up unsuspectingly. The first lid had huge dents in the metal that sits inside the pans. Another lid had even worse dents. One of the strainer's handles was bent down, and one of the handles to a skillet had the plastic cracked and broken off near the part that attaches to the skillet. I was severely disappointed because I had literally just given my other set away when the box was delivered! I unpacked the entire box (bad idea) then called Amazon. Of course I had to repack it and mail it back which wasn't too hard.. it most definitely did not go back in the way it came though. Amazon told me my replacement would arrive the next day, and it did, and it was in perfect condition. I hesitated for get a replacement concerned about the product's ability to take a little abuse but I knew what research I had done and if I could just get a new set I figured I'd be fine. CHECK YOUR BOX!!

We needed a new set of cookware to replace our tank-like and expensive Circulon Commercial set, which we bought about a decade ago. Sure, the old set was built heavy-duty but for the last few years we've noticed (1) tons of scratches and (2) food sticking pretty badly. No peeling, but obvious pitting...and it was a real pain to scrub the food out from those circular grooves.The old set was around $500 and we didn't really want to spend that much again this time around. The T-Fal set pretty much fit the bill in terms of replacing all of the old pieces with comparably-sized ones -- at a much lower cost. They look nice and do heat evenly.Pros:- Tempered glass lids, including one for the biggest frying pan (I like being able to see what's cooking).- Good range of sizes on pots and pans.- Two steamer inserts, one large and one small-ish- Handles feel pretty good, and with the lids inverted over them, most of the set hangs neatly from our suspended pot rack (didn't have room for the dutch oven or the covered 2-handle deep fry pan)Cons:- Metal seems a bit thin, but on the other hand I'm comparing to those commercial-grade Circulons (one feature of which I never liked was how heavy they all were... so it's a tradeoff)- The frying pans are a little shallow...but hey, if you're making Hamburger Helper as one other review remarked, the frying pan is the wrong one to use; go with the large 4.5 quart saute pan, that's what it's for, or the 10.5" deep fry pan.Pro-tips: Follow their instructions before use -- hand-wash with soapy water, dry with a towel, then use a paper towel to season the inside with a light coating of cooking oil. (Instructions recommend heating the pots over 30 seconds or so of low heat, then apply the oil; makes sense.) Also, even though they say the pots are dishwasher safe, my decades of experience through several sets of cookware -- both cheap and expensive -- is they always last longer if you hand-wash 'em and never use anything but soap, water, and maybe a soft scrubber sponge or pad. Finally, never, ever use metal utensils on them. Rack-hanging is best, or spread out in a large shelf, but if you do have to nest them due to space constraints, to avoid scratches always put a napkin or paper towel or cloth towel between them.Conclusions: We're not expecting these to last forever. The only cookware that does last 'forever' is cast iron (of which I have a few pieces as well), but that takes a lot of work to keep well-seasoned, especially if you use them often. And I suppose stainless, but except for cooking pasta and boiling water, I've never mastered the ability to use stainless without making a horrid stuck-on mess. Most of the reviews and reports I've read have said in general, non-stick cookware should probably be replaced roughly every five years, give or take depending on wear. I think I'd rather spend a little less. Even if we had to replace these twice as often as the Circulon, it'd still cost less in the long run.Would we buy these again? Probably, unless there was a better deal to be had for a comparable product. Would we recommend these to a friend? Again, probably -- but it also depends heavily on budget and cooking needs. We cook a lot and do need quite a few pieces.Update: We've had a few days to cook with these and are very happy with the purchase. Top things we like: Much lighter and thus easier to use than the old Circulon set. Definitely much more non-stick than the pots they replaced. The large 4.5L saute pan is terrific for making stovetop popcorn (1/3 cup comes close to filling it when popped) -- especially given the glass lid so you can watch it pop. This set did not include a stockpot, so we added one, also from the T-Fal line.2-week update: We are really liking the T-Fal cookware set. Here, the remarks have been, "We really should've replaced that old set sooner." The non-stick really doesn't let anything stick. Tonight we had rice pilaf and the pan could've been wiped clean afterwards with nothing more than a paper towel (we still used soapy water anyway). Good handles, light to use but not too light, even but fast heating, and the visibility through the glass lids is great for cooking. I think we just went from 'probably would buy again' to 'definitely would.'