Hi CA.
Have you checked out All-Clad? That is my favorite for so many reasons....3-clad, SS, even cooking,stay-cool handle, glass-top cooking, best clean-up, and lifetime warrenty. However, I have found there is a cookware I found @ Marshall's and TJ Maxx that is really quite comparable @ 1/3 the $. It's called TRAMONTINA.

I didn't care for the Calphalon Contemporary at all. To me the design is hokey, and contrived. It doesn't look like high end pro cookware to me. I love the design of the Cuisinart. Very clean and functional. The Calphalon is way overpriced, and I was really surprised at how light the cookware was. Not a good thing. For that price you can get All-Clad which is gorgeous, and the best there is at that price. Why would you want the Calphalon when you can have that? That Calphalon should be priced at 1/2 of what it is. Looks and feels like junk. Sorry, but even the cookware sales people at Bloomies were laughing at it.

I have boughts several sets of pots from Ebay and had WONDERFUL experiences and never buy them via store front anymore, I bought three sets and paid what I would have for one out of BB&B

blondelle - even the people at Bloomie's were laughing at these? I noticed they carry a lot of them.

There's a good chance you and they know more than i do, but I have to confess to being a newbie and loving these pots and pans. To me they are beautiful - and the handle and contouring feel very comfortable. I was prepared to get an All Clad piece or two, but the handles are very uncomfortable for me. So no point spending money on something uncomfortable.

I bought a calphalon contemporary 4 quart chef pan and love it. I've only used it a couple of times - and I might not know good performance from bad. But I certainly enjoyed it. I also just ordered the contemporary 2 qt. chef pan from Amazon (it was a special for $39 - that price seems to come and go).

I really need a saute pan and had considered the contemporary, but since it's not specially priced, I'd like to wait and hear any other opinions about this cookware.

Thanks.

Just an update in case anyone is searching the archives on these pots and pans. I've now used my 4 quart chef pan several times (including risotto tonight) - and still love using it.

I still need a large saute pan (not non-stick) and went back to Bloomie's to look at their pans. The salesperson who helped me seemed to be very knowledgeable. He said the all-clads were the best - in terms of heat conductivity and evenness of heating (no hot spots). But I find those handles uncomfortable (I think I hold pots a little different to compensate for weak wrists - and all clad dig into my hands). When I told the salesman this, he said that he definitely thought the second choice would be calphalon contemporary stainless. He would pick either of those over any other brands they carry (and this Bloomie's carried a lot - berndes (?), cuisinart, analon, circulon, and a few others I had never heard of.

And Cooks Illustrated likes all-clad saute and omelette pans (with wolfgang puck as the inexpensive alternative).

I took some cooking courses at the Calphalon Culinary Center near me. We got to use many of the different types and sizes of Calphalon pots, pans and bakeware.

They did a lot of target market research with Contemporary SS, hence the love it / hate it opinions seen here. It is aimed at affluent design conscious women. It did not appeal to me at all, but I am a male engineer, so I like the high-tech Calphalon One.

Contemporary SS is good, solid, well made tri-ply cookware. You may get more prestige with All-Clad stainless, arguably better cooking performance with aluminum Calphalon One or All-Clad LTD, and maybe better value with discount cookware like Emerilware, Costco or Sam's Club.

But in my experience Calphalon Contemporary SS is good quality and performs well. So if you like it and want it... go for it.