Since my wife does the quilting I do the cooking. I have a glass top stove and I love porcelain with porcelain insides. There is an art to cooking with porcelain (do not get it too hot) but it is easy to clean up when finished. I got most of mine at Ross's and it is the Tivoli brand, I did get some odd stuff on ebay. . I also have a set of Faberware stainless steel without non stick and for the money it is well made (there is different quality of Faberware so be careful). I have a great stainless pasta pan and steamer I got a Wegamans and various other brand name pans I got at TJ Maxx. I have a handful of cast iron I use for breakfast. There are some wonderful pots and pans out there and I find you get what you pay for. I really do love to cook and have far too many pans for one man to have.

I have All-Clad 3 ply stainless--made in the USA!

I have the set of Farberware stainless I got back in 1974. Still looks good and cooks great. In the last couple of years I've added nonstick "green" pans with the nonstick caramic surface-they are absolutely fantastic-nothing sticks to them. I even got a roasting pan with this surface and it's amazing-nothing sticks to it.

Stainless steel - get a heavy grade or stuff will burn instead of simmer.

Hard Anodized - Caphalon is the most common and popular of this. Very expensive. Cook very nicely. I loved it, my Mom loved it. However, we have sold most of it now. Too heavy if you have wrist or serious arthritis problems. I also think the dark grey is ugly. There, I said it. Dark grey is depressing to look at on your stove. I prefer shiny stainless steel or vivid blue.

Porcelain coated pans - I've never used these, so can't tell you much, but if most of what you cook is tomato based, they are a better choice than the Caphalon. Tomatoes cooked down in Caphalon have a metallic taste. Until I lost my sense of smell, I hadn't noticed this. Now it overwhelms the flavor of the tomatoes.

As much as I've always wanted a matched set, I've bought 2 and find that only one or two pans work for me and I want something else for other stuff. However, if getting only one set, a heavyweight steel works very well.

Go ahead and laugh, but I primarily use cookware that dates from the 30s and 40s. It's not as heavyweight as Caphalon, but not prone to burning. Except for an omelet pan which is non-stick. However, it is not as heavy as the Caphalon. BTW, I don't like nonstick. Things don't brown right - it steams rather than crisps up unless you use high heat and of course, high heat affects the non-stick.