I love to cook fancy, gourmet dishes, but my pots and pans were always "fast food" quality. For years, I've been limping along with a hodge-podge collection of scratched up non-sticks and some ancient cast iron pans. I bought the 9 piece set a few years ago and it's been one of my better purchases. I didn't want anything that required lots of care and fussing - and these DON'T!! I throw them in the dishwasher and then throw them in a messy pile in my cabinet and the still look new!!  
 
I have burned sauces in them and they've cleaned right up with little effort or scouring. I even use (gasp!!) those green scratch pads and they still look great! For really stubborn stuff, an overnight soak is sufficient and then it rinses right out. I always use a spray-on shortening when I cook and it does sometimes leave a brown residue, but that also cleans up with a tiny bit of effort. The manufacturers at All Clad caution not to use salt in the pan without first adding some kind of liquid - I'm imagining that the chemical reaction of the salt could pit or discolor the pan. I use both metal and plastic tools and they both work fine and don't seem to cause any serious scratching.  
 
These pans not only look professional and stylish, they are also very well-made. They feel comfortable in your hand and the handles don't get very hot. After 3 yrs. of serious use, the handles seem as solidly attached as the day I bought them. Food cooks evenly and pans are heavily weighted on the bottom so they don't tip or warp.  
 
The dutch oven or stock-type pan is sufficient for my purposes, but could be a tad small for Thanksgiving size proportions. It's perfect for pasta for a family of four. The skillet is a fairly standard size, but is nice in that it has a little handle opposite the long one, giving you something to hold on to when pouring. Foods, such as omelets, slide gracefully out of the sautee pan (the only pan without it's own lid). The larger saucepan gets a lot of use in my kitchen. It's big enough to boil 3 or 4 potatoes, or most side dishes for a family of four. The smallest saucepan is tall and narrow and fit perfectly on the smallest burner of your stove. Because the entire bottom is making contact with the burner, the food or sauces cooked in this pan heat up quickly. I use it for soup or those small pasta mix packages. This smaller saucepan is perfect for hollandaise or white sauce! The photo is deceiving in that there is not a spatula included in this set.  
 
I think this set has more lids than most sets of its size. The photos is correct - you get 4 lids in this set! I was worried about the lids at first. While they seem pretty industrial, they're flat instead of domed and I'm used to those heavy cast iron type. These flat lids actually work much better at sealing in heat than my old cast iron type lids. Additionally, they are easier to fit in the dishwasher and cabinets because of their flat shape.  
 
While I stated several times that these pans are heavy, I need to point that they are not cumbersome. I have used a lot of cast iron pans (and swore by them) in the past and these are not nearly as bulky and hard to wash. These pans are much, much easier to tip out sauces and such than my cast iron pans.  
 
They cost more than most, but are worth every penny!! No more of those gosh darn non-sticks for me!!  
 
WORD OF WARNING: If your guests see you pull out these professional-looking pans to cook, they're going to expect big things out of you!  
 
