I was sorry to see this topic flicker away. I think it is a fascinating topic, and even if there are earlier discussions, it is almost always timely. Furthermore, things I might think of as new and thought by many to be SOTA, like AC original pans, might now be deemed vintage by others. It is easy to dismiss newer things because the old ones work so well, at least for me, but that forecloses the idea of finding newer and better things. Hopefully I am not going to pitch a knife, pan, appliance, or other item just to replace it with something newer.
I have a few items I wish I could still find out there, so I guess they are now in the vintage realm. Emile Henry had a line that had bottoms that were brown, dark green, or dark red, and above that they were the color of uncolored ceramic. In addition to the color scheme, well suited to a very traditional kitchen, they made a few items no longer to be found, including a vinegar crock.
Matfer made thick, hammered aluminum pans with pigtail handles. They are incredibly good pans and missed by me. I found them pretty superior. I cannot think of SOTA aluminum pans that are better.
Speaking of aluminum, I much prefer vintage heavy aluminized steel for baking sheets, jelly roll pans, cake pans, and bread pans to the SOTA coated pans that have crowded uncoated pans out of most stores.
It is purely a personal preference, but I enjoy carbon steel knives. That preference, however, is probably more due to a preference for French profiles rather than German or Japanese.
I certainly prefer old borosilicate without leaded paint to the newer stuff. I would actually call the vintage stuff state of the art that was ditched for profit motives.
I have yet to see a state of the art pan I would choose over a heavy carbon steel frypan for high temperature cooking. While I have and love CS for cooking eggs, I think heavy aluminum like the Boston Pot Shop offers is the real state of the art there, despite being an old design. I am sure those who love their nonstick pans would disagree and contend that theirs are the true state of the art. Given their environmental impact, it seems like a dark art.
I prefer vintage for most electrics. They are more repairable and durable and work as well or better. I would put up a vintage Robot Coupe Cuisinart, a Hobart stand mixer, or a Dualit toaster against the modern competition. State of the art, however, seems to have won out in drip coffee makers.
So on balance I guess I am a vintage guy, but in the arena of pots and pans, early Calphalon, AC, and no name disc bottom stainless are all I have used extensively.
