Cookware 

    

I can no longer market this cookware; as Belkraft no longer has 
dealers and distributors but markets only through their  website 
www.belkraftcookware.com
  But I did so much research and homework 
on this subject I felt you needed to know what I discovered. So I have 
retained all my info for you to absorb and ponder so you can make the 
right decisions in selecting the cookware for your home. Enjoy and be educated.
I'll get the pics put in soon.

What is best?   Why do I need good cookware?  This page is a thorough  
education in cookware.    cookware presentation

There's a big story to tell here. It's not just about finding the best priced 
T304 surgical stainless steel with titanium cookware on the planet,  MADE 
IN AMERICA not in China, but about many things you and your family need 
to know that affects your health and well being involving how you cook your 
food and what you cook it in to gain maximum nutrition and flavor from your food. 

What pans to stay away from        cookware demonstration links    

why waterless/oilless?                   how it's made-how to use it

cookware facts-faq                        T304 - the Rolls Royce of cookware 

sets and pieces available
   
           How to place an order

How did I get into cookware of all things?
I'm sharing my hundreds and hundreds of hours of research on this subject.
Our cookware was a mishmash of junk and pieces purchased from Salvation Army, 
Goodwill, St Vincent De Paul, Sears, Walmart, etc. over the years and we knew it 
was time for a change. But to what? Like buying a car; the first step is to get 
informed. Little did I know that what I really needed to know, I didn't know. This 
page will get you up to speed on what you need to know to make some intelligent 
decisions in choosing cookware.

Our First exposure to real cookware
After sitting through both a Lustre Craft as well as a Kitchen Craft stainless cookware 
demonstration at our state fair I was impressed enough with all the things I wasn't 
aware of to know this was an area I had to look deeper into. I decided to research 
the subject further to determine what was the best cookware set to buy for us that 
didn't fracture my pocketbook like the two brands above; which are also made by 
the same manufacturer by the way. It was obvious the benefits of waterless/oilless 
cooking were great health wise.  I knew what we had wasn't good; aluminum, cast
iron, copperclad, teflon, even a couple stainless pieces, but didn't realize how 
important using the right type of stainless was either. Food stuck to the stainless 
pans we were using. This was not a quick research project and led to many deceptive 
offerings and wallet robbing practices prevalent  in this industry. I even subscribed 
to Consumer Reports to get their feedback on the subject but they are not up to 
speed on what the industry currently has to offer.

I discovered that  www.regalware.com bought out most of the competition including  
West Bend, and now makes, imports or controls 90% of the cookware sold in 
America today through a gazillion labels. You can see many of these cheap sets 
on Ebay where you get lots of pieces of low quality cookware for too little money 
spent; many of which come from China. If I know their fish is fed chicken droppings, 
milk powder from China contains melamine plastic, and their chicken is sometimes 
comprised of dead renderings instead of fresh killed; why would I trust their stainless 
steel to be the expensive surgical T304 stainless instead of scrap stainless; no matter 
what the label says? I will only know after it separates, pits and warps. On Ebay you 
can also find good prices on used quality cookware like saladmaster, at a reasonable 
price. Saladmaster is considered by the unknowing as the cadillac standard cookware 
is judged by with a price tag to match because of how it is marketed. Their claim to 
fame is they use 316L stainless instead of T304 surgical stainless like other top 
brands,  but the difference is only a 2% molybdenum component added for more 
salt resistance normally only required for nautical applications. 304T has 19 parts 
chrome and 10 parts nickel. With the Titanium, this metal is 92 on the Rockwell 
hardness scale.
316 has 17 parts chrome and 12 parts nickel with 2 parts molybdenum 
and is 95 on the Rockwell harness scale.
When either of these two metals are used 
in the manufacturing of cookware, there would be no significant wear or porosity 
difference in the course of use over a lifetime. Both are ideal.
Basically the 316L 
stainless claim is a marketing gimmick to help justify the product's high end cost. 
The Saladmaster brand is only a 5 ply pan, NOT a 7 ply with surgical stainless 
only on the inside, not the outside also. They don't disclose that on their site.  
Good product but there is better for much less money.  Saladmaster can run you 
$3.5K - $7k and more for a set. Crazy.  Most Saladmaster cookware is sold 
through home dinner parties which pay lots of commissions to the people who 
put on the parties. A really nice 23 piece set of American made 7 ply - the whole 
pan including sidewalls is 7 ply, not just the bottom, T304 surgical stainless inside 
and out,  with the three way whistle lid and wrap around cool touch handles, 
Belkraft  can be had factory direct for much less.  All are great cookware, just 
depends on what you want to pay and how many plies wall thickness you want. 
The more plies, the higher the heat retention and more even the cooking. There 
isn't a better grade of cookware out there that can beat the Belkraft label cookware. 

How cookware is sold
I also  discovered most cookware is way over priced because of the way it is 
sold; through fairs, home parties, home shows, TV ads and demonstrations, 
etc. There are simply too many middlemen in the distribution chain getting a 
piece of the action so you end up paying 3 times or more what the cookware 
is actually worth. Typically, if you are buying Saladmaster, Kitchencraft, 
Lustrecraft, Healthcraft, or other brands marketed in this fashion, you are paying 
for up to 8 different levels of commission.  It is not like you get what you pay for. 
You pay for a lot of different people in the marketing chain involved taking a piece 
of the profit such as:
Master Distributors
Regional Distributors
Master Dealers (even here they have different levels of dealers)
Secondary Dealers
Managers
Senior Consultants
Consultants
Referral commissions needing to be paid, etc.
Buying directly from a wholesaler/manufacturer or the manufacturer's rep and 
eliminating the middleman overhead is where you want to be headed.  I'll show 
you where our journey took us.

Want a better price without 8 hands in the cookie jar?
You can get a 16pc Master set (sets A and B) that we sell here for 
less money than you would have paid for a 5 pan - 3 lid  Basic set of 
Lustre Kraft
at their "fair special" of $1695 (a 2014 price - I didn't pick up a 
sheet at this year's fair) and even though 7 ply, their set doesn't have the 
whistle lids to tell you when to turn the heat down. The difference is in 
steaming your veggies instead of vaporseal cooking them at lower 
temperature (165 - 180 degrees) which preserves more nutrition.  Our 
16 pc Master set (sets A and B) contains everything most families need at 
a very reasonable price and there is no better quality out there - Lustre Kraft, 
Kitchen Kraft, Health Craft, and SaladMaster included.

Non stick; really?
Most waterless stainless cookware is not as non stick as they would have you 
believe. Easy to clean yes, most of the time, if you didn't apply too much heat, 
but not absolutely non stick like they try to demonstrate at the fairs. The T304 
stainless with titanium is very closed pored though so sticking is not a big problem 
and guidelines on how to clean an overheated pan with a resulting sticky bottom 
mess work well if followed. T304 surgical stainless is as close as 
you will ever get to non stick for a stainless pan. As you master low heat cooking, 
you will master the non stick feature of T304 surgical stainless where you can 
simply wipe out the residue with a paper towel. But I would question selling a 
person any stainless pan and claim it is as absolutely non stick as a brand 
new teflon pan or a titanium pan. Teflon pans are a real no-no today. Here's why.

You have to move into a titanium coated aluminum to really get non stick; 
and it is absolutely non stick. We own two HG-Pro titanium ceramic skillets 
made by Vollrath and like them very much, have had them over a year now,
use them almost every day and they are still non stick. They are not a super 
thick pan and won't heat the sides evenly like  7 Ply  will but have a fairly 
stout base. Cost is $80 - $120/pan on up. http://www.pro-hgcookware.com/ 
The best titanium pans  are made by http://www.titaniumexclusive.com 
in Germany, are very expensive - like $250 for their smallest 8" frying pan, 
are 7 - 8mm thick, but they are the most non stick pan you can get and should 
last forever. However, none of their pots and pans stack on top of one another 
like this line of pans do for cooking a meal on a single burner, and only a few 
models of their fry pans or deep fry pans contain a ferritic steel layer in them 
for use on induction stovetops or with a countertop induction unit like the 
Nuwave Pro1800  cookstation (~$180) you see at 
http://www.hsn.com/shop/ming-tsai/11559
  which can be regulated to within 
10 degrees of what temperature you want to maintain the pan at.
Think no more burnt popcorn or anything with such control.

All our stainless pots and pans are induction burner ready.

What type of pans to stay away from
See  cookware toxic pans   for some pics of what I mean. Read all of that 
page. First stay away from aluminum pans unless they are clad (the aluminum 
is encapsulated between other layers and doesn't touch your food) . Aluminum  
intake enhances alzheimers and all aluminum pans scuff off some aluminum into 
your food during each use. ALL of them! The results at the University of California 
found that 90% of autopsies of people who died from Alzheimers had high levels 
of aluminum in them. From where? Probably many sources including aluminum 
pop and beer cans, the high quantities of aluminum powder being dumped into 
our atmosphere via chemtrails;  but a huge source is aluminum cookware.  In 
Canada it is illegal to use aluminum cookware when preparing food for the elderly 
in old folks homes. Next they are trying to get aluminum pots and pans outlawed 
for use in public restaurants.  I help prepare a meal for about 120 homeless each 
week at our local church. Huge kitchen, beautifully done with stainless tables 
and all. We have ONE pot that is all stainless; EVERYTHING else including all the 
large pots and frying pans is aluminum. Aluminum cookware is a huge problem 
people are not yet aware of. 
Stay away from Teflon pans of any kind  - think TFal. The teflon eventually comes 
off, ends up in your food, and is a poison to you as is the aluminum left underneath 
the teflon once the teflon leaves.  Also when you find a teflon coating you also find 
flouride
along with it. Teflon cookware contains perfluoroctanoic acid (PFOA) and 
is now found in the bloodstream of virtually every US citizen. As the teflon surface 
breaks down PFOA's, think increased cancer risk, are allowed to enter your 
bloodstream. Cast iron rusts and sluffs off iron oxide as you use it, is too porous 
and harbors bacteria in those pours..  Men don't need more iron. Too much iron 
in the body increases free radical damage to too many tissues. The only way 
men can decrease iron content in their blood is through blood donation so they 
are making new replacement blood cells and diluting the overall blood volume.
Copperclad, like Revereware, heats unevenly and the cookware warps if over
heated. Copper cookware can release copper into the food by leaching through 
the usual single layer of low grade stainless it is attached to and is often used 
with nickel in the coating, both of which increase cancer risk. Ceramic, enamel, 
and glass cookware  may contain lead, an unknown fact to most people. Lead 
gives the cookware shock resistance and color uniformity.
Lead toxicity can 
damage the nervous system.

Stay away from cheap made in China look alikes.  Wholesalers buy cheap 
Chinese cookware sets as low as $35 for a complete set and then turn around 
and market that junk for $150 - $200 - $300 so people think they are getting a 
great deal in a price range they are willing to pay for; but in fact it's terrible stuff; 
pits, warps, separates, and sticks.  You are probably getting stainless scrap 
metal in your china cookware and not high quality T304 surgical stainless. 
Some cheap cookware says made in America but is really a Chinese pan with 
handles put on in America so they can say it is American made. Beware of 
paying too little for your cookware.

History of cookware
www.belkraftcookware.com  belongs to the original founder of Belkraft cookware,
Cy Bulke. 
Cy started the Belkraft Company about 56 years ago, late 50's,  
and built it to where at one point there were 590 salespeople. Each were 
expected to produce at least $2500/month in sales. They supplied free samples, 
did their own financing, etc. This company earned a very excellent reputation.
This cookware was originally manufactured in Canada but later manufacturing 
was moved to the  New Era facility in Clarksville, Tennessee which made the 
same pots and pans for them and put their label on them. 
New Era makes pots and pans for some 36 different labels. After 30 years of 
running the business Cy retired, and gave the business to one of his sons. The son 
started lowering the salesman's commissions, removing the perks, and one by one 
the salesmen left. It took only 3 years to see the business flounder. Then 
Cy took the company back and decided to change the way the cookware was sold, 
using the Internet and selling product factory direct instead of  using home parties, 
fairs, TV ads and a sales force. This has proven successful and Cy has other 
family to take over his position if he chooses to retire again. Us type A's never 
retire we just do something different.

Waterless cookware demonstrations
Go to www.youtube.com  and type in "waterless cookware demonstrations" and 
watch a few videos to get the hang of what this is all about and why cooking in this 
manner is such a health boost. A good one to watch is from Health Craft  and can 
be found at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXvAQaN1doo 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wXvAQaN1doo&feature=pyv
  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtzDFYSuSYA  is yet another. 
Watch several videos from different companies and don't be lured by the ads 
as they are all trying to sell you overpriced expensive stuff due to their multi level  
deep commission structure as I mentioned above.  Return here and continue on 
for the rest of  the facts and where to obtain a high quality set for a reasonable price 
without having to ransom your daughter in the process.

So why would I want or need to do waterless/oilless cooking?
What's wrong with broiling, boiling, frying, or baking at 375 degrees?
Here's the short answer and go to   cookwarefacts    for a more complete answer.

Oilless cooking should be a no brainer. Oil is fat, worth 9 calories per gram 
as opposed to 4 cal per gram for either protein or carbohydrates. Both 
unburned protein as well as unburned carbohydrates are converted by the 
body into fat and stored as fat.  So why would you compound that problem 
further by consuming fat in the form of cooking oils, even olive and coconut 
oil, if you could cook food in their natural juices and not have to add  any oil 
at all? Your dietary fats should come in the form of nuts and the natural omega 
3 rich oil in the fish you eat and from avocados;  not from external oil, especially 
processed liquid artery clogging transfat oils, sold and promoted for cooking 
your food in. The soy oil, canola oil, and liquid vegetable  oils you see on your 
grocery store shelf are simply poison to you. You can cook your fish or steak in 
a bare heated T304 surgical stainless pan without any additional oil whatsover. 
In fact you may probably have to drain off some of the fat that liquifies as it 
comes out of the meat during cooking. 

Vapor cooking is a process of cooking your vegetables and meat in a 
vacuum vapor.
 Other methods, such as steaming or  boiling (a 58% loss 
of nutrients) or Microwaving (even worse as it changes the molecular structure 
of the food)  all bring the foods to 100 Celsius or  212 Fahrenheit or more, 
which is the temperature where the vitamins, minerals and nutritional goodness 
break down. See my page at microwavemadness.htm  for why you don't want 
to do microwave cooking at all. My wife will not allow a microwave oven in the house.

When cooking in a vacuum vapor the temperature should not exceed 74 Celsius 
/ 165 Fahrenheit to 180F, therefore retaining 98% of all the natural vitamins, minerals, 
color and taste. 
Without features such as the vapor seal, vacuum-control valve, 
heat conducting inner core that extends up the sides of your cookware also, 
you cannot cook the proper vaporseal waterless way.  This heat conducting 
inner core also offers energy savings, of up to 70% compared to your normal 
way of cooking foods.
  Other cookware companies such as Saladmaster, 
Lustre Craft, and Kitchen Craft you see demonstrated at fairs will make claims 
of retaining all the vitamins but in reality, the old fashioned waterless method 
is simply steaming your vegetables and steam is the same temperature as 
boiling water or greater. They have no mechanism to tell you when to shut 
off or lower the heat to stay in between the 165F to 180F cooking range that 
preserves all the vitamins in your food. Only this line  with the 3 way whistle 
lid does that. 

There is only a 2% average vitamin/mineral loss with the vacuum vapor control 
method of cooking. This means a 98% nutrient retention using vacuum vapor 
control stainless cookware. Your vegetables stay colorful and sweet. They don't 
shrink and you can cook several kinds of vegetables in the same pan because 
the flavor of one doesn't bleed over into the other. There is also a lot less 
shrinkage of your meats. You sear both sides 3 minutes each at medium heat 
and then turn the heat down or off to finish cooking the meat. The multiple 
plies in the bottom and sidewall of the pan retain the heat necessary inside 
the pan to finish cooking your food.

Flavor is retained because you didn't throw the baby out with the bathwater. 
Since you use no oil, you will consume less calories. Start the pan on 
medium heat. When the lid knob starts to whistle, close the vacuum 
control knob and turn the heat to very low or off. The food will then cook
automatically with the heat locked in the vacuum vapor. You WILL notice 
a taste difference cooking in this manner. The food is much more flavorful.  
My wife's mom from Russia sent her two small pots designed for waterless/
oilless cooking and we love them. I had a fit when I found out she paid over 
$300 each for them.  You can stack cook with these so one burner cooks 
several levels of food; putting meats in the bottom maybe potatoes in second 
level and veggies in top level. You can even bake a cake in the top level, not 
having to use your oven at all.  Your oven simply becomes an energy waster. 
As heat conducts upward there is very little difference in temperature from the 
lowest pan to the highest pan in the stack.  Each cookware set comes with an 
instruction book as well as an instructional DVD as there's differences from 
using normal pots and pans that you should adhere to when using waterless 
cookware.
 
See more about this at my very extensive FAQ page  "Cookware Facts"
   

Stack cooking - using one burner to cook your whole meal
Using pots, pans, and lids that are made to work with each other you can 
stack cook a whole meal using only one burner as the inside temperature 
of the top pan is very close to the inside temperature of the bottom pan.
That's where the 7 layer construction shines as it really evens out the 
temperatures inside the pans.

 
This line of cookware is American made in Clarksville, 
Tennessee by the same company, New Era in the same plant,  
who used to be the Vollrath Corp but was purchased from Vollrath by New Era 
in 1982..   Although they are the manufacturer for 34 other different brands 
and manufacturers of waterless cookware, it is  the factory direct sales 
outlet for this line of cookware; a 7 ply all the way up the sides T304 with titanium 
surgical stainless as the inside layer and outside layer. This manufacturer has 
an A+ Better Business Bureau rating. There isn't better cookware out there. 

My research reveals this line of cookware is  by far the biggest bang for the 
buck in cookware today.   It has  the three way whistle lid and cool grip handles 
that extend far enough out so burner flames can't reach your fingers. 
View   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F3fwGfHneQ  
and     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmBPa2lM2rc&NR=1 
for a good introduction  to this type of cooking and cookware.

Other good  youtube videos to watch to introduce you to this 
mandatory vapor method of cooking can be found at :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1GBhTpaSXk    How it's made
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KY2X51qByGo
     How to use your 
new cookware and how take care of it
http://www.healthcraft.com/pages/cookware-use-care.html   Use, care 
and how it's manufactured video from Health Craft - one of the most complete 
and informative of videos available. Watch all of this one. Health Craft (made 
by West Bend, now Reverware) makes a good product but it is only 5 ply, 
doesn't have the whistle lid to tell you when to reduce or shut off the heat, 
and costs about the the same as this line factory direct at 7 ply. Healthcraft 
is demonstrated at fairs, home shows and on TV so has much higher marketing 
costs associated with it.  Joe Public can't get as good a buy on it as he can on 

factory direct sales.

Buy American Made - WHY?
Here's why; short and quick. https://www.youtube.com/v/4FrGxO2Fn_M 

Here's some more reasons - what's in your pan besides stainless steel?
If Made in the USA is important to you, you know that most American 
made products cost more.  For one, American workers earn considerably 
more than our foreign counterparts, and because of it, our families enjoy 
a higher standard of living. Equally important, is quality. What is in your 
foreign made cookware?

Stainless steel cookware varies in price and is determined by the quality 
of the stainless steel. 18/10 stainless is the minimum standard to qualify 
as stainless steel (18 parts chromium, 10 parts nickel total 28 parts out of 100). 
“What then, are the other 72 parts of “filler metals” in foreign made cookware?

This line of cookware is manufactured to strict standards and specifications 
in Clarksville, Tennessee. The same manufacturer has been in business since 
1874, and they have been manufacturing cookware since 1965. Only 
the highest quality filler metals of Vanadium, Titanium and Steel are used to 
create surgical stainless steel quality in this line waterless cookware. We 
guaranty it for a full 50 years! 

Our newest and innovative 7-Ply  Induction Cooking System incorporates 
Full-Body Construction (not just a slab bottom) to provide perfect heat 
conduction, preventing heat loss during and after cooking. The technology 
used in creating our Full Body Construction cookware was developed by MIT 
and it is exclusive to this line . 

We believe that your family deserves the best, without compromise, and 
we make the World's Finest Cookware, in the USA, saving jobs and the 
American Way of Life.

You might ask why would I buy this premium  line instead of cheaper 
cookware as is found on  EBay? This cookware is a 7 ply construction versus other 
supposedly premium lines such as Saladmaster that is only 5 ply construction.   
And most pans are only single wall sides with a multilayer bottom. The 7 ply 
pan has 7 plies all the way up the wall for even heating. And the sidewalls 
of the pans are thicker in this  line. It's a stout piece of goods. Most stainless
sets sold on E Bay are foreign made with questionable stainless quality.

Stainless lifetime waterless cookware at reasonable prices
You get what you pay for outside of paying for the marketing distribution chain.  
Saladmaster www.saladmaster.com is one of the better brands (but not the best 
brand as everyone thinks) out there quality wise, but the way it is distributed 
through shows, fairs, TV commercials and home parties make it one of the 
most expensive products you can buy.  A good set of saladmaster can cost you 
3.5k to 7k and up or more plus your daughter's right arm.  And it's only a 5 ply 
product. and you won't find pricing on their site.  We liked the quality of both 
the Lustre Craft and Kitchen Craft products (7 ply and both made by the 
same manufacturer)  but to pay $1695 for only 8 pieces (and 3 of those 8 
pieces are lid covers) or $1995 for a larger sized pot/pan set of 7 pieces 
too large for just two people (you need to use the smallest pan/pot you can 
so the pan is as full as you can make it) , which didn't include the smaller pieces,  
or $3195 for a more inclusive 15 piece set,  or $5495 for an all inclusive set 
which included small pieces and large pieces just didn't set well with us. Go 
to here to see the brochure I got at our 2014 state fair so you know I am not kidding. 
The way they were marketed, just like Saladmaster,  increases the end cost 
way too much and there's not enough choices to get exactly what you want in 
the sets they make available. 

Wouldn't you rather buy factory direct, get better product, get to choose exactly 
what you want, and save a whole bunch of money? 
Belkraft  doesn't do free food cooking demonstrations. The merits 
of the product and the price they can sell it for sells the product. Cy's been with 
this cookware under the Belkraft label since 1975, he must know something 
about pots and pans.   I just didn't like the "fair price specials" prices I got 
quoted at the fairs. People watch the Saladmaster, Health Craft, Lustre Craft 
and Kitchen Craft demonstrations and come away from those liking the concept 
but sticker shocked  at the prices and want to know where to get the stuff by the 
piece at a reasonable price. Belkraft can provide the answer and solution to that.

Absolutely the Best Quality available 
Go to here to see all the different sets and pieces available in this line
such as the 12 piece family set you see below.
 
 

View   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3F3fwGfHneQ  and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmBPa2lM2rc&NR=1 
for a good introduction  to this type of cooking, cookware construction, and care 
and use of this cookware.

Health Craft is also American made but is only 5 ply and costs close to Belkraft, 
within 10%. Probably a bad move to buy Health Craft when 10% more would get 
you 7 ply construction and the three way whistle lids.

This cookware is marketed factory direct, normally over the internet,  which is 
a best buy for Joe Public because he can get a very high quality piece 
of goods while spending the least amount of money. If you are Joe Public, 
it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that you can either save 
money on the cookware by buying it factory direct or you can put that money into 
some show demonstrator's pocket along with his chain of command pecking order.

This cookware with a 7ply bottom, 7 ply sides, T304 surgical stainless 
with titanium  inside and outside, is a top of the line piece of goods. The 
main reason these cost less money than Saladmaster, Lustre Craft,  Kitchen Craft, 
or Health Craft is simple. They are a wholesale supplier of cooking products and 
accessories, and not a retail outlet. They market their products over the Internet 
where you can order them and there is no warehousing of inventory. Your order 
is shipped directly from factory stock.  They do not advertise, nor do bulk 
advertisement mailings. They do not conduct the very popular cooking demonstration 
parties that many of the other cookware brands do. If you buy this product under 
the Belkraft label at a party or fair you will pay more for the same thing.  Because 
of great pricing resulting  from direct internet sales, they sell more sets and are 
able to purchase the sets directly from the manufacturer themselves and are
therefore able to receive great discounts on each set, which they pass on to 
their customers.



You will be amazed at the difference in how your food tastes using 
this cookware. I like the frozen Alaskan breaded codfish pieces you get at 
Costco. When we fried these in a regular pan we had to add too much oil 
and they still stuck to the bottom. If we baked them in the oven they got too dry. 
If we used our tabletop hot air convection oven it dried them out too much and 
left them tough.  By using the waterless/oilless stainless pan we just put the 
frozen fish pieces in on the bare pan after the pan was brought up to temperature, 
put the  lid on it, set it to whistle mode, when it whistles we turn the heat down 
to very very low, and the fish comes out moist, flavorful and with the breading 
cooked just right. Truly - I was amazed and more than pleased. That was a biggie 
for us. Now our favorite is stir fry which used to be so so; but the difference in 
flavor with the vegetables slow cooked in their own vapor is truly astounding. 
The trick is to make all your vegetable pieces about the same size; so the 
broccoli is about the same size as the carrot pieces and the snap peas, and 
onions, and water chestnuts, and orange pepper slices, and the mushrooms 
and we even add some black olives and bean sprouts to the mix also. Cook 
your meat slices first in no oil, leave the meat juice in, and then add the veggies 
and throw in some Yoshida or orange sauce  to mix in when the veggies are 
about done and you could probably eat that every night. We do a fajita burrito
thing also in a similar manner that now turns out a lot better than it used to 
because the veggies now have a lot more flavor. 
Visit  www.detailshere.com/salsa.htm  for some good Mexican recipes. 

Neither Lustre Craft, Kitchen Craft, Health Craft, nor Saladmaster have the 
"whistle when I'm hot enough" 3 position lid feature that I believe is mandatory 
so you don't overcook the food. You don't want to steam your veggies in 212 
degree heat; you want to slowly cook them in a 165-180 degrees vapor if you 
really want to get all the nutrients and flavor out of them as well as have  the 
least amount of shrinkage.  The Belkraft line has this feature. 
And you don't want to listen to an annoying lid (think saladmaster that goes clickety 
clickety clickety). When the Belkraft lid whistles, put it in the closed position 
and turn the heat way way down or off and let it continue cooking properly in 
it's own juices. That's why you want the thick 7 ply sidewalls. Nothing works 
as well as the 7 ply.  


You can buy a really nice  starter set A of a 2 qt saucepan and lid, 12" large skillet 
and lid, 6 qt dutch oven and dome cover, and a steamer/grater insert which allows 
you to stack cook a full meal for a little over a grand. The steamer grate fits inside 
either the 6 qt dutch oven or the 12" skillet. The 12" skillet is a good fit on top 
of the 6 qt dutch oven dome lid for the second level of the stack.  The 8" dutch 
oven  in the Universal set is the same diameter as the 6 qt dutch oven, but is 
deeper so holds more. That's not always good as whatever pan you choose 
you want to fill it up as much as you can with food. Bigger is not always better 
in this case. Use the smallest pan you can to hold whatever it is you wish to cook 
is the rule so it is filled up with food when you cook it. You don't use a 12" 
skillet to cook a handful of veggies in. The lids on the 6" and 8" dutch oven 
and the 12" skillet are the same size diameter and are therefore interchangeable, 
like if you wanted less airspace in the dutch oven you could use the large skillet 
lid, or if you wanted more air space inside the skillet you could use the dutch 
oven dome lid. If you bought the master chef set which includes starter set 
A as well as starter set B; you gain the 1.5 qt saucepan and lid, the 3 qt 
steamer/collander which fits both the 2 qt and 3 qt pans, and the small skillet 
and cover. The steamer/collander also fits inside the small skillet. You could 
have an efficient triple stack just by using the  2 or 3 qt sauce pan or small skillet, 
with the steamer /collander on that and a sauce pan or small skillet on top of that. 
Cook the whole meal on a single burner. The chef set comprised of both the 
pans in set A as well as set B, leaves little left to be desired unless you wanted 
to add the poached egg steamer rack. 
You can buy the poached egg steamer rack in a 3 egg version (fits in a 2 qt or 
3 qt pan) or 6 egg version (fits in the large skillet or 6" dutch oven)  separately. 
Again,  go to sets and pieces  and see the sets that are available as 
well as individual pieces available.  The 16 piece Master Chef Set (includes 
sets A and B) with a poached egg steamer rack, a $3900 retail list,  and can 
be had factory direct for about half that to give you an idea of savings to expect.  

You can buy USED Saladmaster sets on EBay for $3000 and more. You 
have to go to a home party or sit through a fair demonstration to find out 
what the new stuff costs but it's guaranteed to empty your wallet. You can buy 
Belkraft at 7ply sides and bottom, much better quality than 5 ply Saladmaster
at less money because there isn't 8 hands in the food chain cookie jar getting 
a piece of the action.   

This cookware is the Rolls Royce of T304 surgical stainless with titanium 7 ply 
throughout (bottom and sides for even heat distribution) waterless/oiless 
cookware that is out there today. 50 year warranty, special whistle vent to 
let you know when to turn the heat down or off, vapor seal self storing lids 
and lids, and you can stack cook several dishes on one burner.
There is no other cookware has all the features this does. Even 
saladmaster at 5 ply doesn't whistle at you and tell you when to turn the heat 
down or off and close the lid which is a very important feature. Saladmaster 
has a very annoying lid rattle ; clickety, clickety, when it gets up to temperature. 

I hope I have helped in YOUR search for suitable cookware for your home. 
I know the search has been an eye opener for me but well worth the time 
spent in the endeavor to know I've had to spend the least amount of money 
for the best cookware out there.
 
Ber 

email me at  berry@detailshere.com as 
I also manage sites at www.detailshere.comwww.heavensfountain.com
and my wife's site at www.iisusbog.com , a real education in Godly mattters.

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