P.S. Our wall oven circa 1962 works like a charm too. :)

This is why I’m reluctant to splash out for really quality expensive items most of the time. E.g., that expensive cashmere sweater might last long enough to be worth it in an ideal world, but what are the chances that I’m not going to ruin it at the wash at about the same time I’d ruin a normal sweater in the wash?

I have both Le Creuset and Lodge enameled cast iron, and although there is some difference in quality, it’s not a 500% difference, as is the price difference.

Highly recommend!

Those door dispensers are a royal pain. They have filters that need changing, and lots of moving parts so they break easier. The ice dispenser eats a huge volume of the freezer. Do some research on various issues as side-by-side, top freezer vs bottom freezer, and that kind of thing. Stainless steel will be “old-fashioned” in five years or so; buying for the “in” style is an endless chase that you’ll never win. And honestly, the newer the appliance, the less reliable it generally is. Our stove repairperson told us that we would have a much, much higher-quality stove by fixing the old one we had over getting a new piece of junk. Our 1957 GE oven, which was original with our house, is still going strong. It needed a new heating element and some rewiring, but that is easy enough.

Teflon – the non-stick coating is toxic at high temperatures and I’m not so certain I want teflon flakes (when the pans start flaking) in my food. The sooner we all ditch teflon the better.

I currently am building my core knife set (chef’s knife, paring knife, carving knife). Good sharp knives make all the difference in the kitchen and people will likely scoff at how much I paid for my Mac chef’s knife ($275) but I won’t trade back to my cheap $50 knife after using this one. Slicing through a potato is like slicing through butter. Cutting vegs is unbelievably fast, and you can get them so thin. It comes with an amazing warrantee. I’m in love with my Mac knife…but then it brings value to something I love to do – cook.

Price is not, in itself, a guide, especially as people know that if you whack on a high price people will ASSUME it is high quality, regardless of the reality.

I think this is the main point. I believe everyone would buy reliable if they could, perhaps there needs to be a publicly available checklist for people to print out and take to stores to go over as they shop (going for the demographic that doesn’t have time/doesn’t make time to research purchases in advance). (in the UK ‘which’ is not free and therefore not something everyone will look up).

A friend at work made a mistake that I thought would be a no-brainer, the washing machine drum was not one piece of metal but the sticking in bits were plastic added to the metal drum. Of course the plastic part broke off. Then they called out a repair man and her husband paid a call out fee even though the machine was within warranty. Then they had difficulty getting the money back. In hindsight ‘don’t buy a drum with stuck on plastic parts’ seems obvious, but evidently enough people are falling for it for the manufacturer to be able to sell the machine.

Re price, see Priceless by Poundstone which argues that though we have a good sense of relative values, our brains are just not capable of figuring out absolute values and anybody can be made to think any price is reasonable. E.g. I guess La Cruset is genuinely good quality and is beautifully designed, but I would think the sale price of the pot should be related to the cost of manufacturing the pot, and I am sure that they had a hefty premium to this that makes La Cruset a status symbol that then justifies it’s high price for those people wanting status (status symbols don’t work if they are reasonable priced) also those people who want a pot in any colour that is not metal. Pricing is crazy.

You buy cookware so that you can cook, but like an amateur photographer who thinks the latest camera will turn him into Ansel Adams, cookware doesn’t make the cook.

Anecdotes do not statistics make. You had bad pots, I got a good one. OTOH, I blew out three blenders in 4 years before buying a Vitamix. It may of may not have been the best financial decision, but I love it and I use it every day, so it was worth it to me. YMMV.

I don’t like cast iron. Glad I figured that out with the cheapy Target stock pot Cook’s illustrated loved (I believe no longer in production) then the $200 pot.

How does one check appliance relabilty? CR isn’t what it used to be.

I agree with the others who point out that reliable cookware doesn’t have to cost a fortune. I have some pots and pans (some pyrex, some stainless steel) that are probably older than I am, I’m sure they didn’t cost anywhere near $200 new, and they work just fine.

My husband wanted some All-Clad pots, so for our wedding I humored him and registered for a few ridiculously expensive pots. I will say they are lovely and indestructible, but I still don’t necessarily see the difference between how they perform compared to our cheap pots. If anything, they are harder to clean because they are so blasted heavy.

I can’t bring myself to pay for an expensive washer and dryer featured in the photo. I just can’t justify the expense. I don’t care how efficient they are. My Kenmore uprights bought used for $300 work just fine.

High quality furniture and carpets are hard to want to “invest” in when you have young kids or pets. We buy the cheapest that looks decent to us.