Yes, I did post that somewhere else, but I should have posted here. Sorry. Walmart.com is now carrying at least 3 different kinds of Tramontina stainless steel triply clad pots/pans. 1. A. The nifty all-clad copy which Cook's Illustrated listed as a best buy. These are being phased out it seems and there are currently only a few styles left in this line. If the copy, text, says it is a best buy, then it is the line about which I wrote, with good intentions. 2. B. A newer triply clad line but not nearly as thick as A. It is more expensive than A and not nearly as weighty. There are walmart.com reviewers who have discovered and noted these differences. One woman actually weighed and compared items from A line to B line. 3. C. Tramontina triply clad Gourmet which is also not as thick or heavy as A, and in some items, only oven worthy up to 350 degrees, rather than 500. So I did order two 12 inch frying pans for dil and me and I ordered while the website still listed the A line. But they sent me C. I gave one to dil, since it was still kind of nice, but not what I dreamt of, and about 4 weeks later, I returned mine to my local walmart store. I felt cheated. Disappointed. But not earth-shattered. Real life intervened and put it all in perspective. My 22 yr. old daughter had a ski accident in Montana, where she is a student, and tore up her knee. We are flying there on Wed. for the Friday surgery (She is still going to concerts!). That's bad bad and also sucky is the awful travel to Montana from Chicago, in winter. Five hour layover in Denver and then on a puddle jumper. As in -you are seated in row 16 and you think,-- wow, I got a seat in the front of the plane, until you realize that 16 is the last row! And you walk down stairs (in the open air) to deplane(for this O'Hare girl that sucks). Insult to injury, I now need a wheelchair to traverse O'Hare. Paris would be faster, easier. This is the daughter to whom I am bequeathing my Pots and Pans. During which conversation, she said, "Pots?" Yeah, babe, pots. She just doesn't understand.

"dcarch - I don't have scientific answers to your questions, but having quasi-followed Appliances over the years I've NEVER seen anyone question that electric boils faster than gas. " I will take your word for it since I have not visited that Forum. The key is to locate actual controlled studies to confirm if that is an empirical truth or one of the many anecdotal kitchen myths. I will say this again, I am not claiming that it is not true; I am saying that I have questions which I myself can't answer. "Evidently a gas flame is an even poorer delivery boy. " Either that or whoever tested gas was not aware that "watched pot never boils" :-) "Are you saying when properly adjusted, natural gas isn't a clean burning fuel? That'd be news to me, too. " Not what I meant. If gas is such a poor deliverer of heat then all the extra BTUs will be wasted in heating the air, and air conditioning is a big cost in restaurants. Gas also require an immense amount of make-up air for combustion, and to exhaust air for a restaurant to the roof thru fire proofed welded steel ducts in a high rise office building in NYC is incredibly expensive. In addition, electric cooking appliances are much easier for cleaning, and cleaning is a big problem for commercial kitchens. Why don't they use electric? "I'd guess there are many factors involved. Some I've already touched upon, and economics would certainly come into play." This heated debate really boils down (PUN + PUN!) to one single question: Except cooking in a TV studio, why no chefs prefer electric for cooking? dcarch

I just got a Martha Stewart enameled cast iron casserole - the 2.75 qt for I think $29? I'm in love with this pan. Heats evenly and well on the ol' portable induction. I might get the bigger one if I find it marked down. Browns things well without burning. Pans I think are needed depend on family size, how often you entertain and for how many. The venerable chicken skillet (12-14" heavy straight tall sides and a lid), egg pan (8" non-stick), chefs pan (10-12"), couple of 2-3 quart pans for veg, couple of small pans (1-4 cups) for cooking cereals, melting butter or reheating soups, one 6 quart pot(s) for making soup, chili, stock, pasta. A non-stick griddle. Maybe a 12" black steel frying pan, maybe a larger stock pot - like a 12 qt. Not criticizing johnlin, but I can't imagine what needs a 20 qt pot. Flotilla of lobsters? Tomato sauce for the jolly green giant? One of those things where you cook the pig head? Seriously, other than canning, what's it used for? I'm kinda agnostic about woks. Partly that's because they don't work well on my p.o.c. range. Brightens up Maybe I can get an iron one and use it on the induction.

So long as your stove works to cook your food, it's a good stove. :) You're probably okay with any cast iron pot that fits with the better part of an inch air space all around. I second the recommendation. Cast iron is a poor conductor, which is good for cooking. It takes awhile to heat up, but it holds temperature well, and tends to even out oven temperatures, making it ideal for less than perfect ovens. The big difference between cheap and expensive cast iron is the quality of the metallurgy. Expensive is lighter/thinner. Both work. There also could be a difference in the quality of the finish. Cheap and plain often can be improved by sanding the inner surface, since they save labor by not doing that and leave the casting texture, but you should know what you're doing before taking power tools to your pots. If it's cheap and enamelled, there might be small marks or flaws in the finish, which don't affect function, but you have to be careful of the colors. The rich, beautiful enamel colors often have heavy metals in them, which is fine on the outside, but you don't want it cooking the food, especially anything acidic. Sometimes there's textured black enamel which is supposed to kind of mimic the cast texture, and others there's a smooth cream or beige. Those are all fine. White may not be so make sure what it's colored with. Anything with bright colors on the inside is for decor not cooking or culinary plants. Anything under $100 is a good buy, and under $50 is very good, for enamel. The fancy French stuff goes for several hundreds at full retail. Look for specials and sales on the French stuff online or in stores at Zwilling (Staub) or Le Creuset Outlet. The latter also sometimes has huge discounts on flawed exterior enamel. Re the TMJ, of course go by what your practitioner has instructed about the temperature. Re the exercise, I can describe it here. It's gentle and just basically looses things up, which should help with the pain. Sit up straight but comfortably, body properly aligned, head in a neutral position, neck extended but not stretched, shoulders down but relaxed, jaw relaxed and mouth slightly open in your least stressed position. Look forward with your face relaxed. Lower your eyes (look down without moving your head) and open your mouth, lowering your jaw/chin. Return to neutral. Raise your eyes (look up without moving your head) and close your mouth/raise your jaw. Shift your eyes to look right and move your jaw/chin to the right. Return to neutral. Shift your eyes to the left and move your jaw/chin to the left. Return to neutral. Do several sets of this. Now, raise your eyes and lower your jaw. Return to neutral. Lower your eyes and raise your jaw. Return to neutral. Shift your eyes right and your jaw left. Return to neutral. Shift your eyes left and your jaw right. Return to neutral. Do several sets. Don't pull doing any of these motions; it's not supposed to be a stretch. The point is just to confuse the muscles enough that they loosen up. Again, not seeking to countermand your practitioners, and not knowing how this would apply to your case, but cranio-sacral therapy could potentially help, which is physical manipulation, rather than medical intervention. Good luck with all of it. JC