I will keep this short for now. At first glance, a full clad cookware seems better because the conductive material is around the entire cookware, whereas a disc bottom cookware only has the conductive material at the bottom. However, disc bottom cookware can be made much thicker than full clad cookware, which means disc bottom cookware can be made more evenly heated at the bottom.
The Demeyere Atlantis disc bottom cookware are known to have very thick conductive material at the bottom.
Another brand of cookware which many people like (but lesser known) is the Vollrath Cookware. Vollrath is more gear toward commercial kitchens. These cookware are not as polished and pretty, but they are very much performance driven.
Lastly, I am not a fan of the ceramic nonstick cookware. I don’t know if the things have changed much, but a few years ago, ceramic nonstick cookware are known to have very short lifespan. Personally, if you want to invest in Telfon or ceramic nonstick cookware, then you shouldn’t invest way too much. No matter how great the cookware are constructed, their weakest link is the nonstick surface, which don’t last that long.
In term of which cookware to invest first, I will say it depends how you use your cookware. If you like to make delicate sauces, then I recommend the saucepan be the first one to get upgraded. Otherwise, I would say a fry pan or a saute pan.
