History

• A New York tinsmith founded Farberware in 1900, offering pots and pans in a variety of metals. The brand expanded its product line, introducing a coffee percolator in 1930 and an electric fry pan in 1954. Farberware is perhaps best known for its copper-bottomed pots.

  T-Fal began its foray into cookware in 1954 in France with the introduction of nonstick cookware. This innovation was accomplished by bonding Teflon, a slippery plastic coating, to aluminum cookware.

Products

• While T-Fal is best known for its nonstick cookware, its also has a wide range of stainless cookware products, with and without copper bottoms. All are oven-safe up to 500 degrees and come with glass lids and riveted handles. The nonstick line is aluminum and is oven-safe up to 350 degrees. These also feature glass lids.

  Farberware has a variety of cookware lines, from its classic stainless steel with matching lids--oven-safe to 350 degrees--to its Premium nonstick line, which is made of aluminum, features glass lids and is oven-safe up to 500 degrees.

Other Products

• The companies' product lines go beyond cookware to include appliances such as coffee pots in varying price ranges. T-Fal makes steam irons, toasters and deep fryers. Farberware offers nonstick bakeware and teakettles.

Innovations

• T-Fal improved upon its nonstick cookware with the 2000 addition of Thermo-Spot technology, an embedded indicator that reddens when a pan reaches searing temperature. Farberware's innovations include an electric frying pan with a removable heat probe so that the pan can be immersed for washing.

Pricing

• Prices for Farberware cookware start with a 10-piece set with a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $79.99, as of 2009. T-Fal has a similar set available for $103. T-Fal cookware has a one-year limited warranty. Farberware offers a lifetime warranty.