Your stainless steel won't work? Or are those aluminum?

Like you, I have way too much cookware, now that Elery and I have combined kitchens. His was a lot better than mine, though, LOL. Fortunately, we both have gas stoves and so everything works.

Annie

How generous! Someone is going to be very lucky to have your old favorites!

Di

Holy crap! You really have to get rid of all of those pots & pans!

I sure hope you love your new cooktop! LOL

(Wish I was you neighbor, too!)

Linda

Annie, I'll bet you have a lot of cookware! You and Elery will have to cull out some like I am. Would your girls take some?

I was shocked, stainless steel pans will work only if the base of the pan is a magnetic grade of stainless steel.

Di, Thanks, I hope they go to good use, that will make me feel better about giving them up.

Linda, Considering the snow you are getting right now, I wish you were my neighbor too. I hope your drive to work isn't too challenging!

I gave some to my SIL and niece - they were happy and more in the basement for our retirement home - I just couldn't part with some of my calphalon pieces

Double check those stainless pans. They look like they're good quality.

Put some water in them and see if it boils.

Hmmm, that Florida vacation is starting to seem more tempting.

Actually, Cathy, both of my girls need some new pans, but I'm keeping the copper, the stainless and the cast iron. I have a couple of pieces of Calphalon anodized, but they are losing their coating. I loved them at first, now not so much.

My stuff was all pretty much carp, so I've ditched most of that. Elery's was nicer stuff, so we're using his. Actually, he gave a lot of his stuff to his daughter, he's completely furnished her kitchen three times now, every time she breaks up with a boyfriend and moves out, she just leaves her stuff there and takes off in a huff. I've given a couple of pieces to the girls, but we have "odd" things that they won't ever use, like a paella pan and an asparagus pot, LOL.

So my girls will just have to be like me and not get any good pans until they are over 50. By that time, maybe I'll be done with my cast iron.

Nah, I won't.....

Annie

Cathy, I'm a pot crazy woman too! What we did was to give our niece, who had just purchased her first home, half of the pots we had. When I asked her if she could use them ... she stuttered and hesitated then said "used pots??". When she got them, she called saying they looked like new. Had I used them? Yes, but her uncle had scrubbed shined and done everything he could do to make them look really good. They were almost all Cuisinart pots that cleaned up like new after 10 years of use. My good friend who lives in N. Florida and who has MS got the really big pots and the niece got the collection of first-home pots. Everyone was happy and I went on with my life. Even now, 3 yr later, both parties are cheerfully using the pots/pans and enjoying cooking with them.

That's some gorgeous jewelry, er, cookware. Yes, try it with water and not rely on magnets. I even bought a pot whose tag said it was induction compatible, but it wasn't.

I gave away some favorites, too, but that pain heals. I never looked back but I only had a few really nice pans.

I might just pack all those nice pots and stash them, for a while.

Seriously Cathy. Are there 2 All-clad pans in that picture? I can't believe those aren't induction capable

Annie, I hope you gave the asparagus peeler along with the asparagus pan, that would have sealed the deal. LOL

L2C46, Westsider, Yes, they are tri-ply. I'll try boiling water to double check. Thanks for the tip.

Pam, Come on down. You can recoup some of your expenses in pan $'s.

Cathy, why are you awake at 3:40 AND online too, lol

I have All-clad pots etc and they all work on induction. Can't wait to hear if yours do too.

I would do what west is suggesting, try them out, if it's a no, still stow them for a bit.

You're so nice! So did you christen your new cooktop yet? What was the first thing?

Lilianne, Our (relatively new) AC/Heat system is broken so I had 3 kitties sleeping on me trying to stay warm. I got up to plug in the warm kittie bed for them and hit the computer before going back to bed.

I tried boiling water in the tri-ply, no luck.

Robin, I submitted a breakfast report on my Extreme Excitement thread. Thanks for your interest!

I'll try Craigslist if I don't have interest from friends and family.

Cathy - if you are just dying to get rid of 'em, I'd love to have 'em - but I'm way north of you in PC and won't be coming down your way until probably mid-summer.

Cathy, that looks like some good stuff there :o) You're sweet to offer them to people who might be able to use them (but we knew you were sweet already)... I probably could use a few of them if you don't find anyone who needs them more first... I have a lot of pots and pans but some of them are the cheap ones I bought when I was first on my own and didn't have much money and I haven't replaced them because they still work technically.

If it would be an excuse to get together, sign me up... I think it's been 5 years and we're long overdue :o)

Bobby! I was just in Orlando 3 weeks ago to visit my Mom!

Dang it!

Not all stainless is induction capable. I do find that of my pots, the ones made for the European market (my Kuhn Rikon and Fagor pressure cookers) work great on induction. Some Cuisinart pans I got about 20 years ago work very weakly, if at all, on induction. That makes sense; induction has been used over there for a longer time than here in the US. As induction gets more common here, I expect more of the pots and pans marketed here will be induction capable. Even the inexpensive Wolfgang Puck set from Sams is induction capable. (My MIL has those, and they actually are pretty good for that price point.)

It all depends on how many iron atoms are in the mix. Some All Clad has an inside of copper, which of course won't work on induction.

arley,

I only had a couple pans that wouldn't work on my induction and one of those was an 8 qt. Cuisinart stockpot about 20-24 years old. It was my first "good" pan and my first WS purchase. I liked it for sentimental reasons. It lives with my DIL now though so all is well.

/tricia

If you're looking for an induction capable stockpot and you've just won the lottery, I can recommend Matfer Bourgeat. I bought a 26 quart stockpot with spigot several years ago; it works fine on any heat source including induction.

I'm glad I bought it a while ago. Maybe the dollar fell against the euro, maybe the French workers are on strike, but I couldn't justify buying one now. Still, it's a great item. They also make non-spigoted (is that a word?) stockpots for somewhat less.

Here is a link that might be useful: matfer bourgeat

Arley, I am in love with Matfer Bourget but wow their prices are high now. I bought myself 4 baking sheets from them about 15 years ago, and 15 years ago we were much poorer, and you can bet your last dollar I wouldn't have spent the $40 each that they are now. My pans still look brand new and they never ever warp.

Cathy, I have both the asparagus pot and the asparagus peeler. Neither have been used by me. (grin)

The asparagus pot belonged to Elery's mother, she never used it either, but we keep it. I tried to get Elery's daughter to take it, she said she HATES asparagus. I'm sure you could cook something else in it, but she doesn't want it.

For those who are relatively new, Cathy sent me an asparagus peeler several years ago. I didn't find the note that she apparently enclosed and I couldn't figure out what order got mixed up that I got an asparagus peeler in the mail. Eventually my brain kicked in and I realized it was Cathy, she's sent it because I said here that I'd never peeled asparagus and didn't know anyone who had ever peeled asparagus.

Being the gadget guru, you KNOW she had to send me the gadget for it. I do appreciate the thought and I still smile when I see the asparagus peeler, although I still do not peel asparagus.

Annie

Bobby, we can make that work!

Annie, I don't peel asparagus either but I guess someone does or there wouldn't be asparagus peelers. But then maybe some industrious person thought the could convince us that they need to be peeled.

Arley, that is a outrageous price. It must be some special cookware.

Cathy, just a thought. If you are getting rid of the pressure canner/cooker and large stock pots, and no one wants them, you may want to donate them to a homeless shelter or soup kitchen. The large size makes it easier for them.

Great suggestion for shelter donation.

Please try out your enamel coated pans as mine work well. I prefer them for eggs and also use my dutch ovens on occasion. Love, love my DeMeyer SS if you're still looking for replacements -- good deals often on line.

I love cookware, and would love yours - of course I'm not located anywhere near you...

I'd like to second the suggestion of a shelter or non profit. Here, our Clothes Bank (United Council of Churches and the clothing is free to those in need) accepts cookware and bedding as well as clothes - with a lot of enthusiastic gratitude. As does the shelter for displaced women and their children.

I dropped off bedding at our Clothes Bank once, not even sure if they would accept it. They were on the phone to someone who had been on a waiting list before I had even finished unloading my car.

When I went to induction, I had to do a similar purge. My large stock pots and the Anolon non-stick set I donated to a just-about-to-open women's shelter. My asparagus pot and crepe pan went to my brother-in-law who is a avid cook. The one that hurt the most was my Scanpan non-stick omelet pan. It took several years after that until Scanpan came out with an induction-capable non-stick line.

Also, and this has been mentioned, perhaps some will work in the oven and not on the cooktop. In my small kitchen, I cannot have oven only cookware. Your kitchen looks lots bigger than mine.

CARP, CARP!!! I completely forgot about my stash of Dansk pots in the laundry room. They are induction compatible.

omg, Cathy. How could you "forget" a dozen big red pans? lol

/tricia

Tricia, because I have my priorities out of whack! I am embarrassed, I had so many that I forgot so many. Pots and pans shouldn't be a priority as you can attest to considering your current situation.

Here's a lesson for me: âÂÂGood things happen when you get your priorities straight.âÂÂ

If you have extra room in the attic or basement, I would box them up until they are needed. If they are expensive pans...eventually you will need them for something. I would NOT give away nice pans unless it is to family.

What a lovely find! Now you're cooking!

Cheryl

Just adding--my own experience was that my older Cuisinart Multiclad did not work on induction, but my new Cuisinart does. The company changed the stainless content to make it induction compatible.