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Tips for Buying Cookware

Big Bucks Not Needed

By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com

October 22, 2005

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Consumers don’t need to spend thousands of dollars to get a good set of cookware -- especially on their first set. You can buy a good set for a few hundred dollars.

“When you start out, you should spend no more than $300-$400 for a set of cookware,” says John Kinsella, president of the American Culinary Federation. “And you can get a great set of cookware in that price range.”

ConsumerAffairs.com contacted Kinsella after receiving more than 100 complaints from consumers who say they were duped into paying as much as $2300 on Royal Prestige cookware.

“To pay $2000 to $3000 for cookware is outrageous,” says Kinsella, one of 58 Certified Master Chefs in the country. “You could be buying all-copper pans for that amount.”

Many consumers who contacted us were young couples -- buying their first set of cookware.

“A lot of young people don’t know how to cook,” says Kinsella, a senior chef instructor at the Midwest Culinary Institute in Cincinnati, Ohio. “They need to buy an average set of pot and pans and learn how to cook on them. Then, they can move up to more expensive cookware.”

Kinsella advises consumers shopping for cookware to:

• Buy only the pieces you need and will use;

• Start off with Teflon, aluminum or stainless steel;

• Don’t allow someone to come into you home to sell you cookware. This is one of the methods Royal Prestige salesmen use. They also give demonstrations in motels and on college campuses.

• Beware of anyone who claims Teflon coated cookware causes Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, or other illnesses. “There’s no medical link between Teflon and Alzheimer’s or cancer,” he said.

• Talk to a chef or home economics teacher about the pot and pans you’re thinking of buying;

• Don’t be duped into spending thousands of dollars.

“A lot of young people only cook steak, potatoes and soups,” Kinsella says. “They only need basic pots and pans for that. They don’t need and can’t afford an expensive set of cookware.”

The Company Responds

Erik Johnson is president of the Hy Cite Corp., which owns the Royal Prestige brand name. In a recent interview with ConsumerAffairs.com, he defended his company’s cookware and its price.

“Our cookware is designed to use a low temperature/low moisture method of cooking,” he says. “You add little or no oil or water to cook with it. It’s a different method of cooking. And it’s proven that this method is healthy.”

Kinsella, however, says this method of cooking is not recommended for all foods.

“Meat turns gray if you cook it on low temperature. Fish will break up on low. Vegetables will be undercooked, and eggs will stick to the pan if they’re cooked on low,” he says.

And what about the high price of Royal Prestige cookware?

Johnson says it’s worth every penny.

“It’s a great product,” he says, adding the company gives consumers a 50-year warranty and will replace or exchange the cookware at any time. “It’s 9-ply cookware that’s made of stainless steel, aluminum and copper. It’s a better quality than what you’ll get at Wal-Mart. Our quality is at the level of Williams-Sonoma or higher.”

Williams-Sonoma, however, has a more “consumer friendly” refund policy. It offers customers who pay in cash a full refund -- even those who return the cookware more than three days after their purchase.

Royal Prestige only gives refunds to consumers who cancel within three days -- and most consumers don’t receive their cookware until two to four weeks after their purchase.

Kinsella calls Royal Prestige’s 50-year-warranty a marketing gimmick: “Who’s going to be around them?”

And he emphasizes there’s no reason for consumers -- especially newlyweds -- to buy an expensive set of cookware. “All a young couple needs to spend is $300-$400.”

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