I love my Le Creuset casserole dishes but ended up giving away the frying pan I was given for the weight reason mentioned by Waffler - they just aren't practical unless you're a weight lifter and that's before you have any food in them. Never had the saucepans but should think they're worse, the thought of draining with one hand doesn't bear thinking about.

Like many of the posts above I've got a set of stainless steel with copper bottoms which I had for a wedding present 8.5 years ago and they're still going great guns. I don't think you necessarily have to go for a top make, but need to ensure that they're well made and sturdy. It's important that the bases are of a reasonable thickness so that they don't distort over time and you get a consistant contact with the heat source. Proper fitting lids is is also important, mine have a small vent in them which helps stop them boiling over (there's probably a proper term for this but I don't know what it is). Suppose the only other thing to consider is that you make sure you have the right sizes for your needs, we mainly use a small and medium pan, often with a steamer on top but it's handy to have larger ones for when visitors come around.

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Some of us live in the past, always talking about back then. Some of us live in the future, always planning what we are going to do. And, then there are those, who neither look behind or ahead, but just enjoy the moment of right now.

Which one are you and is it how you want to be?