I can’t remember the last time I cooked and didn’t move pots and pans on and off the hob, glass top, whatever, and in a commercial setting in different spots on a target top/flat top. It’s called cooking. But I think you know that.
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Many years ago when Sunshine got her first smartphone, she kept having issues/problems. After helping her one too many times, I told her she had a PICNIC error and would need to go to the cell phone store for help.
When she arrived, she told the (very nice) clerk that her boyfriend had told her she had a PICNIC error with her phone, he chuckled and explained what that was.
She called me up immediately and was furious, I said “Well, now that you are in the cell phone store, ask the clerk to sell you a flip phone or less complicated smart phone.”
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The better the cook, the crappier the cookware can be and still achieve a good result. Inversely, the worse the cook, the better the cookware should be to increase the chances of that good result. A really great cook can probably do pretty well with a match, a pile of wood, and a flat rock. A crappy cook would be best served using the match to light a signal fire to order Doordash via smoke signal.
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I remember gas stoves of old where the burner grates covered only the burners and there was a bare space around them. Grates that cover the entire stovetop are a big improvement for that reason. It is great to be able to bring a large pot full of something to temp and slide it over a low flame.
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Pare your operation down to equipment you know like the back of your hand, then buy the best ingredients, and stock your pantry, with the best you can afford, and then spend a little more.
THIS, increases your chances of putting something on the table worth eating.
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It is.
I am not suggesting the cooking equivalent to a wearing a hairshirt.
You are correct… You can’t really move the pan off the hob without an error.
If I tried to flip ingredients in a pan (like I’ve seen done on many cooking shows and videos), I’d have food everywhere. I have a small spatula that I use to move things around. And yes… its cheap and can go into the dishwasher.
And again, you are correct. I am very much a novice home cook, but I am learning to be better (thanks to the posters on Hungry Onion). My goal… stay on budget and put a hot nutritious meal on the table.
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Well isn’t this a nice qualifier 
I’ll go out on a limb and say that equipment obsession is a western (to go even further, elite) construct.
The whole rest of the world seems to cook magnificent food without “high quality” cookware as meant by most discussion around here.
Not just the world, but ordinary people in the west, too, cook plenty of delicious food without fancy cookware.
So equipment matters in that using appropriate vessels and tools for the job are more efficient than not, but not in that “high quality” or expensive cookwate is necessary for good (or great) results.
Equipment is a (pleasurable) hobby. So, no.
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Yes.
No.
Maybe.
Always.
Sometimes.
Depends.
Obviously, the tools we use (whatever our task) will have some amount of impact on the performance and results of whatever we’re doing. Can I tighten bolts with an adjustable wrench? Sure! Is it faster, easier, and (possibly) more secure using a ratcheting socket wrench? Probably. Can I cook my breakfast using an empty Jiffy Pop pan on a calrod stove? Yes! Can I get better results using a tri-ply pan and a gas stove? Probably.
I like riding bicycles. I paid someone to make me a bicycle frame from a small pile of steel tubes. I could’ve bought multiple, fully built, ready-to-ride commercial bikes for the same money. They’d perform exactly the same function of getting me from here to there. But riding this bicycle makes me happier than riding an off-the-shelf bike. It makes me smile just looking at it. Yes, it has features and performance characteristics that I define as improvements over commercial bikes. But, for me, there’s unmeasurable value in the feeling I get from riding it. Does being a happier cyclist make me a better cyclist? As I define my life, yes, it does.
Again, this is the Cookware Forum. We’re all here because the nuances and differences of the tools we use in the kitchen interest us. Maybe we’re looking for a change (clad to copper, chef to santoku, gas to induction), maybe we’re looking for an upgrade (a knife made of steel that can hold a more keen edge, a pan with more even heating, a stove with quicker response), or maybe we’re simply looking to increase our enjoyment of our time in the kitchen (pretty tools (damascus-patterned knives or inlay cutting boards) can make you happy just to use something beautiful which, in turn, makes you happy to be in the kitchen which, in turn, entices you to cook more often and explore the wider world of cooking). If there wasn’t an interest at one level or another, there’d be no reason to have a Cookware Forum.
Life’s short. Don’t be miserable.
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Words to live by 
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LOL, I feel this!
I’m a coffee fanatic. I’ve enjoyed making various styles of coffee over the years, particularly the strong, robust versions (Turkish, Moka, Espresso). Way back in the early '80s ( 
) I bought my first “espresso machine” – a Bellman CXE25 electric. Although marketed as an espresso maker (even today!), it’s actually a very cumbersome moka pot/milk steamer combo. I only used it for a few years before realizing I could make the same coffee more easily with a stove-top moka pot, which I continued to do until the late '00s. At that point I “upgraded” to a home/consumer espresso machine and espresso-capable grinder. The coffee it produced was markedly tastier (to me) than moka coffee, and was far easier to make. I used that combination for about 10 years before “upgrading” again, this time to a so-called “pro-sumer” machine and espresso-specific grinder. The coffee took another jump up in taste, but convenience and ease of use took a step backward. To a lot of people, the dedication of learning to use a more complicated coffee machine isn’t worth the results. Add to that the expense and size (it takes up a significant chunk of counter space), and it’s a non-starter for most people.
Would I go back to a moka pot? Actually, sometimes I still use my moka pot for an after-dinner coffee when I don’t want the waiting time and cleanup of the espresso machine. But for sheer enjoyment of results, I’m happiest using my current espresso setup.
Yes, tools do make a difference.
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Clearly time for a lever machine!
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Still happy with my Vibiemme Domobar single boiler even after 15 years. No fuss, little to no maintenance, always ready to go once warm. Not considered a ‘prosumer’ machine I guess, but imho the grinder is at least as important.
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It seems pro-sumer to me. It is an impressive machine.
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very amusing thread.
I’ve cooked with cheap stuff.
I’ve cooked with expensive stuff.
“good” cookware simply allows a skilled cook to make it happen with less effort.
an experienced “good” cook can make crepes in a coffee can over a wood fire.
an inexperienced cook can’t make crepes in a coffee can with or without a wood fire.
amateur cooks “enjoy” the traits (which vary . . . ) of “good” cookware.
they’d probably also master doing an omelet in a $3 pan - simply because they have the experience and desire to make it happen.
million-dollar cookware does nothing for an inexperienced / non-caring cook.
if the cook does not know/see/recognize the issue of really good cooking x,y or z - the pan is not going make any difference.
Is there really million dollar cookware? 
Of course, I am going to look
But seriously, is anyone conflating quality with expensive? That would be a different discussion, wouldn’t it?
ETA this is the basic premise of the show Next Level Chef
“In each episode, chefs are assigned to cook in one of three kitchens stacked on top of each other. The top level is equipped with a wide range of modern tools and devices, the middle level is a standard commercial kitchen, and the bottom level contains a limited collection of lower-quality equipment.”
Don’t judge me. 
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I think it all depend on what does “better” cookware mean. There are “better” cookware which make life easier and more fool-proof. These are a better control rice cooker, a more even heating stove, a more stainless (rust resistance) knife… Everyone can benefit from these, but a skillful person likely can work around with a subpar equipment, like a less even cooking stove.
On the other hand, there are “better” cookware which push the limit and offering new and difficult boundary such as a more powerful stove. In which case, the opposite is true. A more skillful person can handle the powerful stove better than a less skillful one.
To use a car analog. An good automatic transmission car, make it easier for less skillful person to drive. However, a faster and more powerful race car is harder for a less skillful person to control.
So I think we need to differentiate these types of “better” cookware. Some are easier to use, but some are more difficult to use.
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I certainly do think cookware matters. There are some people who overestimate the effects and some underestimate the effects. That being said. It is cookware forum like you said. To me, this is like someone who routinely come visit an Indian recipe forum and talk about how they dislike Indian foods.
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It is hard to define good cookware. I would think it needs to be regarded highly by a wide range of cooks, including very good ones. It probably needs to have good heat dispersion. Most good clad cookware fits. Other than those things it starts to break down quickly. Extra fort tinned copper is too heavy, often has tight corners unlike modern evasees. Its handles can heat up. Its lollipop lids don’t seal tightly. It is a challenge to figure out how much or little heat to use. Yet, I think of it as good cookware. Ditto for heavy Lyonnaise carbon steel pans. For some good means light enough to lift easily and maybe even nonstick and with a glass lid that seals well.
Practice like this:
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