Tami
What is waterless cookware? I have never heard of it.

Joanne

It essentially is a pot with a good lid....supposedly so that the vitamins don't dissolve in the cooking water. It was a big thing about 50 years ago.
I'm not sure anyone really covers food with water and boils it anymore.
But I can't figure out how cooking with less water will cause you to lose weight.
Linda C

I had a set that I used for about 20 years. They were OK pans, I forget who mfg. the ones I had, gave them all away. I did not lose any weight when using them... ;)

I like my Calphalon much better.

Nancy

Mine are supposed to be waterless. I've had them for about 35 years or so. Even then, they never claimed to be entirely waterless. You need a couple of tablespoons of water to prevent the food catching on the bottom if cooking something like vegetables.

The idea is that as food cooks, it releases its own water in the form of steam, which you keep inside the saucepan with the lid on. If you spin the lids, it forms a sort of partial vacuum, much like a pressure cooker, and as long as you keep the heat low, so that the steam doesn't escape, you use less power, and you drain fewer vitamins - not to mention colour and flavour - down the sink. In other words, they are steamed rather than boiled.

So, use as little water as possible, put the lids on as soon as you begin heating, and once steam begins to escape from under the lids, reduce the heat to low (or even turn off the heat if things are fast-cooking), give the lid a good spin, and leave it. You'll find the food will cook faster than usual this way, so keep an eye on things until you get used to it. You'll rarely need to turn the heat up to High (or if you do, you'll quickly learn to reduce it), so you could well end up with a healthier bank-balance, too!

I sure as eggs haven't lost any weight using them, but I'm certain I've saved a lot on electricity bills, and have consumed more vitamins than I would have done without these saucepans. They cost an arm and a leg even in today's terms, but have been worth every cent. They still look like new. Yes, I admit to having had some burnt offerings in them once or twice! They are stainless steel, so easy to clean.

It looks like daisyduckworth and I have had the same experience with waterless cookware. My parents purchased theirs in 1967 (and my brother is still using it), and I got mine 1976 and we're still using it today. I agree with her, it was worth every cent.

Instead of boiling cabbage (yes, people really used to serve boiled cabbage), you could cook it in waterless cookware and it was still nice and green when it was done (steamed in it's own juices at a low temperature). It didn't stink the place up while cooking, either. Cabbage was called "LONG DISTANCE FOOD". You cooked it for a day, smelled it for a mile, and burped it for a week! Because it was steamed in the waterless cookware, you didn't drain all the vitamins down the drain in the water it boiled in. It cooked quickly at a low temperature - which aids in keeping nutrients in the food. It was a form of steam cooking because of the tight-fitting lids.

The Saladmaster Cookware I have was also "greasless". You braised meat and poultry. You could fry chicken without adding a quart of oil or 2 sticks of butter to the fry pan, but we all know there's more than enough fat on chicken (with the skin on) to liberally add it's own fat for frying. It just wasn't "swimming" in fat.

One benefit is that you can stack the cookware and cook a whole dinner on one burner. In the dutch oven you can cook a roast and potatoes/carrots/celery. You could put in the rack and steam a Graham Cracker Cake in another pan under the dome lid on the dutch oven. On top the dome lid, you could put one or two more pans.

-Grainlady

This is not a new idea. My mother had a set of Wearever aluminum waterless cookware boughtin the late'30s-early '40s. Unfortunately, it didn't improve her cooking!

Mine is thru healthcraft. Add a .com to it to see the web site. Daisyduckworth and grainlady are correct. My main thinking in the weight loss is the amt of butter, oil, ect I use when cooking normally. And veggies taste better if they still have all the "goodies" instead of pooring them down the drain, so they don't need the butter & salt that usually goes on them. (And maybe, maybe, I'll eat more of them!) I don't like many veggies, so maybe this will make them taste better to me! And using less power to cook with keeps the kichen cooler in the summer! I did the lasangna(sp) in the electric skillet and you didn't smell it cooking, even. I'm doing creamed chicken and basmati rice tonight, probably with green beans. I like the fact that the pans are made with the same heat conductivity all the way around, not just on the bottom. This is definitly going to take some getting used to but I think I'll like it and we will be healthier, even if we don't loose much weight!

Tami

My inlaws have some of these pans. Personally I think she already cooks pretty low-fat, so I'm not sure why she even purchased them. I accidentally saw the receipt and nearly choked to death when I looked at the price. She nervously said, "You weren't supposed to see that." I think the bill came to just over $1,000?, maybe more? for two pans.

I'll stick to my Revere Ware. I'm convinced that by eating less, rather than using different pans, I'll lose weight. I have yet to test my theory, though. ;P

They sound gimmicky though useful. My daily cooking is rock-bottom low fat already. And no one seems to mind as long as it tastes good.

Tami:
I'll go along with what you said.
leel:
I have one of those . It was born in the late 30's
I inherited it from my mother.
It cooks great. This one is big enough to hold a Chicken and Potatoes.
Or a large Pot Roast.

In the set, There were three other triangle shaped pots, with hook on handles.
They all fitted on one burner. You could cook 3 different things at once.
They were waterless too.
LOU

I bought a set of waterless cookware from Blue Lake Brands and I love it. It came with a cooking video so I could learn how to use it. We cooked a pot roast on top of the stove. It came out so juicy. My favorite thing is the steam cooked veggies.

Lou, was your mother's stuff Guardian Ware? My mom had some too. Great aluminum cookware, but her pieces are (like most aluminum) warped. Hey you can find this great stuff all over ebay!!!! LOVE the triangle pieces but mom never bought those.

Here is a link that might be useful: Guardian Ware on ebay

Jessy: I back in here. That was the name, Guardian ware.
I saw one similar to mine, on Ebay.Buy it Now $99 .
I cooked the biggest Chicken I could find in it.
You may have seen the one I had tied like your's.

I wanted to tell you about that, tying the legs and wings.
Make a loop and hook it on the wing, past the first Joint.
Go across diagnal to the leg knuckle,wrap and pull tight and tie.
That will bring the leg and wing up and towards the center more.
And you won't have all that string to deal with.
I still have the picture somewhere.
Lou

My sister has been using hers for about 35 years and swears by it.

We just bought a set and love it. Hubby is the main cook in this house and wanted a new set of cookware that sits flat on the burners and cooks food evenly. We really like it expect it to last for many years.