Where do you buy your pots, pans, and utensils?

Just wondering where the best places are to buy nice things for the kitchen - good cookware, casserole dishes, and little things like speed peelers, graters, etc. Seems I keep getting cheap stuff that gets rusty or needs replaced quickly.

I generally go either to Lakeland or to nice little independent kitchen shops. Though we did get some great pans from John Lewis as a wedding present this year! (Lakeland sells a lot of OXO Good Grips gadgets, which are always a fave with me.)

We got most of ours from John Lewis.  Though R did get a new pan recently from Sainsbury's which is great.  (At least I think he did)  It's Anolon.  The others are Meyer.

I'm up for suggestions, too. R apparently didn't believe in cookware, and he's mystified as to why I need more than one saucepan to cook. Mystified. But that's a different thread.

So far I've bought a roasting dish, some pyrex and cake pans from John Lewis, but mostly I've relied on this adorable little tinker shop just a few doors down from us. They have really high-quality stuff, but it's pretty expensive.

I was at Debenham's yesterday buying school clothes, and I saw they had a lot of kitchenware. Are they a good place to buy pots and pans, expense-to-quality-wise?

Wilkinsons! although it's cheap, everything I've had  from there has been good quality & has lasted.

I was at Debenham's yesterday buying school clothes, and I saw they had a lot of kitchenware. Are they a good place to buy pots and pans, expense-to-quality-wise?

I don't know what Debenham's own brand of cookware is like, but they generally sell all the other makes that John Lewis and other department stores have - Tefal, Le Creuset, etc.

Not cheap - Peter Maturi.

Here is their online shop, although I think they have a location in Harrogate as well: http://www.maturionline.co.uk/Scripts/default.asp

For a deal, I shuffle around TK Maxx - sometimes hit or miss, but you can find great stuff there for a song.

Plus some that others have mentioned - Lakeland, Debenhams, Wilkinsons, etc.  We don't have a John Lewis here - I think the nearest might be Sheffield or Nottingham, not sure.

I love Lakeland, but its expensive. If I had to do it over again, I would buy my kitchen stuff at TK Maxx, Home Sense (same as Homegoods) John Lewis...places like that. Or even Ikea. I got my pots/pans at Costco 10 years ago, and I still love them!

I'd like a nice heavy cast iron skillet that can go from hob to oven. I've only seen a few in the Argos catalogue - Le Creuset, I believe - and they were so friggin expensive! Has anyone seen any in another shop anywhere?

I'd like a nice heavy cast iron skillet that can go from hob to oven. I've only seen a few in the Argos catalogue - Le Creuset, I believe - and they were so friggin expensive! Has anyone seen any in another shop anywhere?

I've seen them in TK Maxx for less.  But they don't have a lot of colors, and it's kind of a luck thing as to what they have in stock.  I saw a few skillets last time I went.  I think they were in a sky blue.

Definitely try TK Maxx, Jewlz! 

I've seen them in TK Maxx for less.  But they don't have a lot of colors, and it's kind of a luck thing as to what they have in stock.  I saw a few skillets last time I went.  I think they were in a sky blue.

Hehe... I never even thought about colours. I wanted one like my great-grandma had - the old school black ones that sometimes had the little potholder things that went over the handle.  She made the world's best cornbread in that thing.

Definitely try TK Maxx, Jewlz! 

I will! Thanks!

Our TK Maxx has a HUGE selection of Le Creuset! But it's always in the new colours - pastel pink, blue, yellow, etc. My stuff is the original dark orange colour, and that's not as easy to find at low prices. However, I did once find three pieces (albeit one with a missing lid) for £5 at a car boot sale!

ETA: I also once found a fabulous cast iron griddle pan at a car boot sale. It's well worth it to become a regular car booter! 

Hehe... I never even thought about colours. I wanted one like my great-grandma had - the old school black ones that sometimes had the little potholder things that went over the handle.   She made the world's best cornbread in that thing.

Hmmmm - those are here somewhere because someone bought me one shortly after I moved here, plus I have my grandma's too!  (I don't have the potholder thingies on the handle.)  It's Lodge Cast Iron (made in America - heee!):



I don't know where (what shop) she bought mine, but she didn't get it online.  Hmmmm.

I'm not a Le Creuset fan because I'd be forever worried about scratching up or marring the enamel bits.  I want something that'll take a beating and last 100 years or more!  

I'm not a Le Creuset fan because I'd be forever worried about scratching up or marring the enamel bits.  I want something that'll take a beating and last 100 years or more!  

A few scratches won't hurt - they'll just make it look loved. Trust me, Le Creuset will last CENTURIES! I have one of my mother's French ovens which is 50 years old and going strong!