Agreed.....and often not for the beauty but because it was your grandmother's pot or your mother's.
However some pots just do do a better job with certain things. My wok is just the right shade of black....if someone scoured that, the food cooked in it would not taste as good.
It has been said that a certain bowl used for mixing bread makes the bread better because over time it becomes imbued with micro organisms that make the bread taste better. I have a huge crockery bowl that I used to use for bread....but now I mix it up in the food processor.

Well, I do think there are scientific reasons why the Staub pot made better rice, but it's a very subtle difference. Similarly, it's not that I couldn't cook in my college Farberware, but it never seemed as good or as easy as the thin aluminum junk pots we had when I was living abroad with practically nothing. I bought my first Le Creuset pot on a whim when they had some at the market, and it was so much better! I think the conductivity of the aluminum made up for the stamped out of sheetmetal construction, and the insulated qualities of the cast iron, made them both objectively better at cooking, just like I think it was the nubs in the lid of the Staub that made the rice so good.

I'm not sure, however, that my mother's Wagner cast iron frying pans are objectively better than my Demeyere multilayer stainless one, but since I absconded with them (she doesn't cook anymore), they've been my go-tos and stay in a stack on the stove, even though they need to be taken down and reseasoned. Except, if I'm browning ground meat, I tend to use the stainless. Not sure why. Actually, I think my mother used a big heavy aluminum pan for that and my color memory might be making that choice...

BTW, my pot choices are different depending on fuel. That first Le Creuset was a “soup pot” with flared sides which take up the heated air from the around the burner. It's a perfect size for household cooking (rather than entertaining multitudes). The shape isn't great on induction, however, because there is no side heat to capture and the flat bottom, which is the part that heats directly, is too small in proportion to volume to heat and respond well. OTOH, the sauce pans which are fine on other fuels but not special, come into their own on induction, with their wide flat bottoms, and smaller vertical sides. They've gone from snore to fab. The soup pot is much more beautiful, but it waits for its chance on the gas.

I'm sure some people might not notice the differences, but I do...

There are so so so many tools, utensils, gadgets, pots, pens, etc. for the kitchen for cooking. But there is one that is common in all kitchens across all cultures, namely, knives, the one tool that gets used practically everyday, and one of the very few tools that require frequent maintenance.

A good quality knife is important and may not be that expensive. A good sharpening skill is relatively easy to learn.

A relatively sharp knife is a pleasure to use in the kitchen.

A very sharp knife is all about making good sushi.

But don't go to a knife forum to talk knife. To many there knives is a religion. :-)

dcarch

Using things that you find pleasurable keeps your mind and body happy and adds to your overall health. There's been many studies about this, water molecules, rice and scientifically they seem crazy but it's true.

Amylou, I knew you were going to say that, LOL.

I think using the right tools, or items that you like, make it more enjoyable to cook. Cooking with the wrong tools makes it harder or less convenient, and sometimes I just think "that's just too much work" or "too aggravating", or the end result isn't what I expected and then I just don't make it again. With the right tools or containers, things are often easy enough that I don't hesitate to do it again at a future time.

And, of course, if it's the right color, then double bonus! (grin)

Annie