Stainless. My wishlist is Demeyer stainless but there are a few brands out there. Just make sure you buy multi-ply and for frying pans you want multi-ply up the sides of the pan layers for even heating and better heat retention. For large soup pots a less expensive stainless steel disc bottom pan is going to do the same job as a more expensive one that also has a disc bottom - I have some 20+ year old Faberware 6 Quart and 8 Quarts that do as good as anything else.