My vote is with Saladmaster too...excellent pots and pans...ridiculously expensive though...

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1995 black pearl/black Mercedes-Benz E420 :

I have a cast iron set, which includes sauce pans (all with wooden handles.) I've pretty much retired the sauce pans, keeping them seasoned is hard, like when heating tomato sauce. I use Corning glassware now. I love being to look at the bottom of the glass pots and see if its burning and they have similar mass to cast iron.

I have a cast iron question: the ones I see in stores are sand cast and in some of them the bottom of the inside is that rough sand cast surface. I'm thinking that rough surface would stick to everything. Opinions?

I've gone over mine down to fine sand paper to get a real smooth surface.

I've heard Teflon is toxic if overheated, and Teflon users can't keep birds in the kitchen, aka canary in a coal mine.

Just had to break 1000 posts

Jim, the cast iron with the rough surface . . . not Lodge I bet. Considering that Lodge pans are cheap, there's no reason not to get the best, made in the USA, hunks of iron. The surface of any cast iron pan is full of micro fissures and cracks, but when you put the heat to it, the metal expands and fills in to create a slick surface.

Overheated Teflon is toxic to pet birds and can give some people "teflon flu" which causes runny nose, flu like symptoms for a day or so. All "non-stick" coated pan (T-Fal, Silverstone, Teflon II, Circulon, Analon, etc) all have warnings not to use high heat on the pans, but most home cooks really don't heed those warnings since they believe their cooktops only have two settings, OFF and NUCLEAR FISSION. Non-Stick will never give you a great steak or chop because you shouldn't get it hot enough to sear and seal.

Go with SALADMASTER! That's the best IMO. They use that surgical stainless steel grade, yes quite expensive. They got my wife on their free home demonstation. check it out!

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1996 E320- 18" Chrome AMG, Bling Bling Mirrors

Cast iron skillets, carbon steel woks and revere ware pots. Will look into the Saladmaster stuff.