I have had T-Fal in the past, currently use Calphalon. I would not buy T-Fal again. The metal and coating were both thin, just felt cheap. I only got 4-5 years use out of them, this was about 20 years ago, they might be better now. The first Calphalon set I bought lasted 15 years, I just replaced them (with more Calphalon) a few months ago.

Just like your furniture shopping, this is a great opportunity to buy high quality made in the USA items instead of cheap Chinese crap.

I purchased this made in the USA All-Clad D5 10-piece set on sale for $584 this past fall and they have been excellent.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/prod...00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I suspect this set will last us a lifetime. I also got a chance to check out the cheaper D3 line from All Clad as Amazon sent me that set first by mistake. The D3 was ok, but I definitely prefer the thicker & heavier D5 over the D3 line. The D3 also had very sharp edges that were a hazard.

We use the pots and the sauce pans pretty much every day, the 2 smaller fry pans don't get used often (as expected). However at this price it was less expensive to buy the set rather than individual pieces. If you can be patient I expect the sales will happen again in the near future. You can setup price alerts at CCC:

https://camelcamelcamel.com/product/B006ZNCMBQ


I would then add an All-Clad non-stick fry pan in the size you prefer, we use an 8" non-stick pan most frequently for things like eggs.

The 14-ish (?) piece Costco / Kirkland non-stick aluminum pan set has been amazing...

Bought it for an apartment for work three years ago and moved here so don't need the apt and now use it at home. Super sturdy, think I paid like $160??

Consumer Reports Ratings:

Non-stick best in class: Cuisinart Green Gourmet Hard Anodized 12-piece cookware ($155 on Amazon)

Copper-clad stainless: Anolon Nouvelle 75818 Copper Stainless Steel 10-piece set ($260 on Amazon)

I usually get cheap non sticks, and get better pans for "regular" ones. I love All Clad, but they are expensive. Staub's enameled cast iron is also lovely, but also expensive. However, it isn't as expensive as La Creuset (also fabulous), and does go on sale.