Re: multi-ply stainless
My wife and I have had and continue to use a "Seal-O-Matic" "waterless" cookware set since 1961. My mother-in-law gave to us as a wedding gift. The waterless part is a bit bogus because you do use water, just less of it. The pan covers seal a pan so that steam does much of the cooking. If I remember the original construction details, it's iron covered by a thin layer of stainless steel. The only damage to the cookware that I recall is my wife singeing the bakelite handle, flame guard notwithstanding, of one of the pots on a gas stove. That was in the early years with toddlers about. We got a replacement for that handle and still have an extra "just in case".
Apparently Regal Ware had the "Seal-O-Matic" brand at least in recent years but has [link|http://www.seal-o-maticcookware.com/|retired it].
[link|http://www.vitacraft.com/5ply.htm|Something vaguely similar] but with an aluminum core.
Anyway, the multi-ply stainless has worked well here.
