I'm slowly building up a solid kitchen. Got some sweet wine glasses, a nice wusthof knife set, a killer epicurian cutting board, and now, I want to buy some fantastic cookware...

I generally cook lots of chicken, fish, steak, veggies, rice, pasta. Pretty basic stuff, but I'd like to eventually branch out to some more exotic and complicated dishes. I use a gas burner stove top, and one of the burners has a very high flame.

I really like the advantages of non-stick cookware, especially since I don't cook with alot of oil or butter, although I've been reading that there might be health risks involved with that. Also, many times I cook it's on the go, and I don't want to spend alot of extra time cleaning my pots and pans. I tend to cook chicken, fish and steak at a high flame, because I like crusty, kind of burnt outside to my food.

The gold standard would seem to be a pan, or a set that has a copper sandwich or lining, and is made of a durable material, with some sort of non-stick surface. Does that even exist though? And if it does, is that a good product to buy, or is there better stuff out there?

What I'm really asking you cooking enthusiasts is, can you please point me in the direction of cookware that has fantastic performance and durability, with as little maintenance as possible? I'd really appreciate any help I could get.

Muchas Gracias,
Mark

One good option for your kind of cooking is cast iron. It's inexpensive and will virtually be non-stick with good seasoning. You can buy pre-seasoned Lodge cast iron.

Another more (much more) expensive option is All-Clad copper core. Get some Bar Keeper's Friend for cleaning. It's next to the Comet cleanser in your supermarket.

The right way to use all cookware (except non-stick) is to preheat the pan, then preheat the fat (you don't have to use much) and have your meat at room temperature. You'll be surprised how little sticking will occur and you'll be able to build a fond that you can deglaze to make tasty sauces with. You might want a non-stick piece or two to cook eggs in.