# Opinions on Vollrath, Lincoln Wearever, etc.



## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

Upon returning to the US, I find that my small collection of Calphalon saucepans have been almost completely destroyed by the renters. Not that I liked those pans much, but it's a bit irritating. I want to replace them with good pans at a sane price.

Looking on BigTray and places like that, I see good prices on heavy aluminum and stainless steel by Vollrath, Lincoln Wearever, and a few others. I was thinking of going heavy aluminum -- better heat transfer and stuff than stainless, I believe.

Anyone have experience-based opinions of Vollrath, Lincoln Wearever, or other mainstream standard brands from restaurant supply places?

I've got a good 1-qt with slightly sloped sides, a 3 1/2-qt saucier, and a tin-lined 2-qt copper thing that's sort of like a wide saucepan, I guess more of a saute pan. I was thinking of getting a regular deep 2-qt saucepan, a 2-qt Windsor, and maybe a bigger saucepan -- like a 6-qt or something. What do you think of this plan?

I was also thinking about saving up for a Mauviel SS-lined copper pan, but I'm not sure what would be the most useful size for this kind of thing.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

BDL always liked Vollrath for clad pans and such. I've no direct experience. 

I've bought some Wearever teflon pans as they're inexpensive and as good as any of the others for my purposes.


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Chris!!

At work we use both Vollrath and Wearever Heavy Aluminum. They have both held up well over the years. The only thing we use S/S for is holding and storage, as the heat is to uneven. If possible go to a restaurant supply house to buy, as store markups are high.


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## chrislehrer (Oct 9, 2008)

Thank you, Ed. These are dishwasher safe, right?

I'd buy from BigTray or somebody, and pay $35 a pot, probably. No worries there.

Any opinions on a single Mauviel SS-lined copper pot?


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## dillbert (Jul 2, 2008)

>>Mauviel

I've got a collection of Bourgeat copper ss lined - going on 12+ yrs. to me their cost is worth it - solid copper thermals are a joy - the "expensive but the best" byline is entirely true - I've had one/twp pieces of all the 'top brands' - no comparison, imho.

with my gas cooktop, needed a flame tamer and found 3/16 solid copper at BellaCopper.com - also expensive but veddy nice.


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## ed buchanan (May 29, 2006)

Never used one, in fact never saw one in any restaurant or hotel setting

Dishwasher proof, we have a commercial pot and pan washing machine and the pans and pots don't seem to be any of the worse for it. In fact I have 2 commercial wearever 2 1/2 qt. heavy aluminum sauce pans home. I use them almost daily and received them when I graduated High Trade School in 1960. Once a month I hit them with steel wool and does that shine come back.:bounce:


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

Technically, all aluminum is d/w safe, if you have a strong soap in your d/w you should change to a milder one that won't atack the aluminum so badly. Unless the alum ware is anodized (chemicaly treated) all aluminum will oxidize--that is, turn grey/black. This is a thin coating and will get on your hands, your clothing, shelves and countertops--everywhere the item touches. For those who handle a lot of sheetpans on daily basis, you know what I'm talking about. This is the nature of untreated aluminum.

Unless the pan/pot has a "sandwich" bottom, or is made of cast aluminum it will--within several weeks of commercial use--warp. If you're luck it'll warp concave, and if not, it'lll warp convex. If you have a gas stove this isn't such a big deal, but trying to sweat soup veggies in oil in a convex warped pot is an exercise in patience.

The better pots/ pans use decent rivets to hold the handles in place. The rivets are invariable aluminum, which is soft, and the ceaper ones will weaken and loosen. Nothing worse than having a newbie fill a pot with wobbly handles with liquids over the rivet line and wonder why the pot isn't getting hot and why it smells of gas.... Sigh.. Alum mnfctsr are very reluctant to weld handles on or use a combination of spot welding and rivets. A pot can wight up to 15-20 lbs, fillit with water and jerk it up and down the stove, jerk it around teh stove, and those handles will ooosen up quickly.

Same goes for alum. saute pans. If I had a buck for every cruddy alum saute pan I had to flatten out with meat hammer and peen over the rivets with a meat hammer over a cement parking curb in the parking lot, I'd be wealthy man.


For my money, you're better off getting commercial quality s/s ware. Prices are very comparable, benifits are no warping, no oxidation, no grey soups or sauces, no loosey-goosey handles with a built in "overflow protection device", and very little pitting.


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

We recently acquired a couple Vollrath jelly roll pans and a half-sheet pan. We are very pleased with them - very heavy aluminum and *no* tendancy to twist or warp. I believe - but am not positive - that V is now owned by Kohler.

By internet order, the j-roll pans were about $7.50 and the half-sheet $9. Struck me as very reasonable.

No experience with any other stuff by them.

Mike


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## angrybob (Feb 28, 2007)

I have a couple of frying pans from the Vollrath Tribute line of triply. I have nothing but praise for the 10 inch pan and I really like the 12 inch, but it did warp in use. If you have a gas cooktop it wouldn't be much of an issue, nor do I believe it would be with a traditional coil element electric cook top, but I have a flat top and it is annoying and does cause two zone heating in the pan.

The pans I have have the straight plated handle, not the silicone covered, and are secure and comfortable when using a towel or hot pad. These pans feel solid and well constructed. The interior finish is brushed so any stubburn stuck on bits can be easily removed using an SOS pad, and still retain the original finish. I have no issues with the cooking performance of either pan and use them both regularly. The 10 inch, which hasn't noticably warped heats evenly as did the 12--when it was new. These pans are certainly diswasher safe, but we don't as we use our dishwasher space for table ware.


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## left4bread (May 8, 2009)

I've seen their name a couple times in this post, so I just HAVE to ask, what are your experiences with "Big Tray"?
Sounds like all good.
California based.
Seems small enough to be personable.
Persons that I've talked to seem knowledgable. (even when calling 800 number)
Their quotes are pretty low, too.
not meaning to hi-jack; just figured people who mentioned the name would know.


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## cstanford (Jul 3, 2008)

FoodPump's post pretty much nailed it.

La Bovida would be more or less a prototypical French restaurant supply outfitter. They show copper, stainless steel, and aluminum but somewhat less of the latter than copper and stainless.

Check it out: http://www.labovida.fr/geneweb/catal...PageCatalog=72


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